Initially, Kyle Homstead of Easthampton-based Laudable Productions wasn’t planning on canceling any of the organization’s events featuring international artists at local venues such as New City Brewery and Gateway City Arts. But on Thursday, he announced he had changed his mind.
“We do not wish to be alarmist, but believe that it is our civic and moral duty to support the global effort to reduce transmission and mitigate the burden that falls on our health care institutions,” read a statement sent by Homstead announcing the cancellation of all March and April events.
Homstead is one of many arts organization leaders and artists across the Pioneer Valley — an arts haven full of events of all kinds — who are dropping performances over concerns of the spread of the new coronavirus. They hope to help slow the disease through ending public gatherings of people — though many question how these organizations will get by without the events that bring them needed revenue.
For Steve Sanderson, event producer for the Northampton Arts Council and many other arts organizers, the coronavirus is unprecedented in the number of cancellations of eventsit’s caused.
As for how people can support arts organizations andthe arts when events are being canceled, Sanderson admitted that it’s a difficult question when “so many are working paycheck to paycheck.”
“The musician in me says, ‘Buy records and merchandise if you can’t come to the show,’” he said. “Support them in that way. We have social media and the internet now. You can support people and art that way. Hopefully, this doesn’t last too long and we get it contained and take it seriously.”
Sanderson said he thinks members of the arts community in the Valley should remain cautious during the next few months and take care of one another.
“I hope that what happens is that when people have to hunker down, they’ll come out in droves when the coast is clear … The arts are used to having things taken away from them — we’re a resilient bunch,” he said.
For some, arts events represent times to escape from the difficult news of the day — which would include the spread of the coronavirus. But with so many cancellations, that becomes less possible.
Without live entertainment or events, Sanderson suggested that would-be concertgoers or patrons get creative by learning something new, whether that’s how to play an instrument or working on a project.
Attendance has been down during recent arts events, according to Debra J’Anthony, executive director of the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton.
“Typically we have some no-shows, but just last night we saw a drop in attendance,” J’Anthony said Wednesday, about 20 percent below what was expected.
At the Academy of Music Theatre, several events were recently canceled or postponed. A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn, which was set for tonight at 8 p.m., is canceled, the Saturday show with Jonathan Richman and Bonnie Prince Billy has also been canceled, a Sunday performance by Postmodern Jukebox is now postponed with a new date to be determined, and the March 21 fundraiser show, “Rise Up for Irida: Songs for Sanctuary,” has been pushed back, J’Anthony said.
The decision to cancel the events, J’Anthony said, came from “caring for the community and not spreading the virus” to patrons, who are oftentimes diverse in ages ranging from families with young children to elders.
Further information about rescheduling events is pending and for the events that were canceled, patrons will receive refunds, she said.
As for how the arts venue will survive during the response to the pandemic, J’Anthony said the Academy of Music is taking it one day at a time.
“Our staff is still going to be coming to work and preparing for the future,” she said.
It is a rapidly changing environment. On March 10, Signature Sounds was not planning to cancel any of its 30 coming live shows, but a day later they announced that all shows March 13 through 31 would be canceled at The Parlor Room, The Shea Theater, The Academy of Music and Gateway City Arts due to the coronavirus.
Signature Sounds is working on rescheduling some of its shows, and would honor already-purchased tickets at a later date. The shows that are canceled will be refunded.
Jim Olsen, president of Northampton record label Signature Sounds Recordings, said that in addition to venues and their staff, traveling musicians on tour face difficulties with cancellations.
“They’re on the front lines because they’re playing in a different room every night and meeting people every single day,” Olsen said. “We’re sensitive to their needs, our employees and also our audience.”
Lori Divine, co-owner of Gateway City Arts in Holyoke along with her husband, Vitek Kruta, said Monday the venue would take a wait-and-see approach to canceling events at the arts space, but on Thursday, the venue announced that it was canceling all events for the next five days.
“We don’t want to take any chance with people’s health, either the public or our staff,” Divine said.
Divine said the threat of the coronavirus represents a frightening dilemma for the local arts venue, which employs almost 40 people.
“People depend on us,” she said.
Jeffery Bliss, executive director of the Northampton Arts Trust, stated in an email that beginning Saturday through March 31 there will be no performances or workshops of more than 50 people at 33 Hawley St. in Northampton.
“Our professional cleaner is wiping down all door handles and railings outside and inside the building every day with disinfectant, in addition to their regular careful cleaning of the building,” he wrote, adding that staff, faculty and community members are encouraged to stay home if they have symptoms of COVID-19, the sickness caused by the coronavirus.
Carla Racine, a Northampton music promoter and event organizer with The Buzz, A Honey Pot Productions, planned to place flyers for her three coming events throughout the downtown Northampton area on Wednesday. Later that day, she decided against posting for the events due to her uncertainty whether the shows would go on.
Racine said she’s not sure how promoters and others in the arts industry will continue during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Honestly, we don’t know. We’re in a state of emergency. There’s no economy if there’s no people,” she said.
An annual South Hadley Chorale performance was slated for Sunday in Mount Holyoke College’s Abbey Memorial Chapel, but due to the college’s coronavirus response, the show is now being rescheduled to sometime this fall, said Barbara Ayers, president of the South Hadley Chorale.
“I have never had a situation like this,” Ayers said, adding that the only other times the chorale has canceled events in the past 35 years have been due to a blizzard and another weather-related event.
The virus has impeded participatory events as well as performances. Downtown Amherst Contra Dance, which hosts contradances every Wednesday at 99 Main St., also decided as a committee Wednesday to cancel all dances until the end of April at the earliest, dance organizer Steve Friedman said.
Organizations have been announcing cancellations throughout the week, and the growing list of venues and events that have canceled or postponed events includes the Stone Church in Brattleboro (with weekend events postponed), Historic Northampton (closed until April 1), the Shea Theater Arts Center (with all productions canceled until April), Amherst Cinema (closed until April 16) and the Eric Carle Museum (with all events canceled until April 5).
At the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center, three events were canceled on March 11 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus, including Cirque Flip Fabrique: Blizzard, which was set for morning and evening performances on March 18, Román Díaz Rumba Ensemble’s March 26 performance and a show by SF JAZZ Collective on April 1, according to a press release from the university.
Not all venues or arts organizations are closing their doors yet.
Jim Neill, marketing director of Iron Horse Entertainment Group (IHEG), which operates the Iron Horse, Pearl Street, the Calvin Theatre and Mountain Park, said currently IHEG has no plans to postpone any shows.
“But we have lines open to all involved parties and if there are any official decisions, we are ready to respond accordingly,” Neil said in an email response. “For now, while our local schools, restaurants, stores, etc., remain open for business as usual, we’re carefully monitoring developments along with everybody else, hoping that our region remains safe.”
Steve Goldsher, owner of Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield, is also a doctor specializing in periodontics. He’s taking the same precautions at his venue that he’s taken with his medical office in terms of disinfecting the location.
“We’re wiping down all the door handles, elevator buttons and toilet handles, sink knobs, water fountains — anything where someone could catch anything — before, during and after each show, so that we minimize the risk,” he said.
Hawks & Reed isn’t planning on canceling shows right now, nor has it seen a noticeable decrease in audience sizes, Goldsher said.
He added that he brought devices from his medical office that produce infrared light and a hygiene station used to disinfect hands. The venue is also encouraging patrons to wash their hands and to stay home if they have any symptoms of being sick.
If patrons are sick and can’t attend a show, they can transfer their tickets to someone else or receive a voucher for a future show, according to a press release from the venue.