Given the public health crisis of the coronavirus (COVID-19), events all over the Capital Region and beyond are being cancelled or postponed to minimize the close contact of crowds.
So far, organizations like The Palace Theatre in Albany and Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga have postponed and cancelled upcoming shows such as Megan Hilty, Cody Jinks and Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros. Regional promotion organization Guthrie Bell Productions has postponed Friday’s Steal Your Peach show at The Hollow in Albany, however the bar and restaurant is still open. Albany Symphony Orchestra has cancelled all shows for March. The Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, Mass. has cancelled all events March 14-April 30, although their galleries will stay open.
Albany County has cancelled both St. Patrick’s Day parades in Albany and North Albany following suit with parade cancellations in larger cities like New York and Boston. The City of Troy has also pulled special permits for events drawing large crowds, leading to the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Day Block Party at Bootleggers, though the bar will still be open.
A Broadway usher was reported to test positive for COVID-19 this week and today, March 12, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a series of tweets:
“We are taking new actions to reduce the density of people across the state. Starting Friday at 5pm, gatherings with 500 people or more will not be permitted in NYS. Additionally, for facilities with an occupancy of 500 or fewer, we are reducing the legal capacity by 50% … For Broadway theaters in Manhattan, these rules will go into effect at 5pm TODAY. We have already spoken to the theaters about these new measures and they agreed.”
These cancellations present organizations, their employees and the artists who depend on booking gigs with serious financial jeopardy.
Several local creative freelancers, photographers, musicians, artists, videographers and others have recently taken to social media to share their struggles and fears surrounding the next few weeks.
We here at The Collaborative know freelancers and artists are probably seeing a work shortage due to the coronavirus and we want to help.
We invite all those seeking commissions and hiring to share an example of your work as well as contact information for your business on this post or to please contact us directly at dking@proctors.org or kcusack@proctors.org.
We’re creating a database to encourage folks to support local artists during this trying time.
