Community Conversations: Can Dayton’s arts community survive the pandemic?

" We know our region and its institutions are going to come through COVID, but we at the Dayton Daily News are trying to have our coverage help our community come through in as strong a shape as possible,” editor says.

Local News
Sept 2, 2020
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They say the show must go on, but that’s easier said than done.

Arts organizations have lost millions in revenue since the coronavirus pandemic began this past spring, forcing many organizations back on their heels.

ExplorePHOTOS: Local event venues light up red for change

Hundreds of workers have been laid off or furloughed. Most shows were canceled, and venues closed temporarily.

ExploreIDEAS: Millions in revenue lost, 90 percent of our employees laid off. Can stage be saved?

Community Impact Editor Amelia Robinson held Dayton Daily News Community Conversations: Will the Show go on? on Tuesday night.

This livestream event is on the Dayton Daily News Facebook page and included artists and leaders of some of the Gem City’s most vital arts groups. A recording of the conversation will soon be on this story.

“We know our region and its institutions are going to come through COVID, but we at the Dayton Daily News are trying to have our coverage help our community come through in as strong a shape as possible,” Dayton Daily News Editor Jim Bebbington said. “This conversation with the leaders of our local arts institutions is part of that promise. Our readers will hear from these leaders about what the future looks like for their groups, and come away knowing what they can do to help keep Dayton a strong arts community.”

ExploreDeWine: Performance theaters will be allowed to reopen soon

The panel included:

  • Neal Gittleman, artistic director and conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic.
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts will tentatively resume in June but the organization is currently collaborating with Discover Classical to present “Concert Night,” a new series spotlighting DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman’s 10 favorite concerts from the last five seasons. CONTRIBUTED

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  • Lisa Wagner, executive director of Levitt Dayton.
  • Bing Davis, artist, curator, educator of Willis “Bing” Davis Studio and Ebonnia Gallery.
Willis “Bing” Davis is the curator of the 2018 Visual Voices art exhibit, “The Preacher, The Poet, The Vision.” Artists were tasked with commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through the literary voice of Dayton poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The display can be seen in the Wintergarden at the Schuster Center in Dayton. LISA POWELL / STAFF

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  • Shayna McConville, division manager of Cultural Arts, city of Kettering.
  • Tiffany Clark, muralist and artist of The Mural Machine.
Dayton Fire Fighters Local 136 has teamed up with mural artist Tiffany Clark to create a 20-panel mural along Buckeye Street between Main and Warren Streets. The mural will tell the history of the Dayton Fire Department in vintage comic book style. LISA POWELL / STAFF

Credit: Lisa Powell

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Credit: Lisa Powell

  • Eva Buttacavoli, executive director of The Contemporary Dayton.
  • Ty Sutton, president and CEO of Dayton Live (formerly Victoria Theatre Association).
  • Michael Roediger, executive director of Dayton Art Institute.
ExploreRoediger: COVID-19 has been ‘disastrous,’ for Dayton Art Institute, others. Fight continues.
  • Debbie Blunden-Diggs, chief artistic administrator and producing director of Dayton Contemporary Dance Community.
ExploreIDEAS: Will DCDC dance on through the coronavirus?
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