The Survival of Art During a Pandemic
The Arts District in Las Vegas is an integral part of the community within the city. The arts community, much like other communities, has been hit hard by COVID-19. Whether it is fear of the virus or the new regulations brought upon them, the arts district is finding ways to overcome the struggles brought on them.
Saturation Gallery is one of the many art galleries that have been hit by COVID-19 regulations. It is in the Arts Factory in downtown Las Vegas.
Gem Jaxx, a local artist and the co-owner of Saturation, has had to adapt and make changes to how gallery functions. One of the biggest changes is having to limit the amount of people who are allowed inside the gallery to 13. The Arts Factory is still trying to do in person event though.
The galleries are doing what they call “Second Saturday” in which they will create a space for artists to showcase their work, but still follow the mandatory guidelines to keep their patrons safe.
“It’s not what it used to be, but we are trying to build it back the best we can,” said Kennedy-Jordan, a local artist currently showing in Saturation.
Towards the beginning of the state mandated closures in March 2020 was quite a difficult time for artists to thrive and keep going. A study conducted by Richard Florida and Michael Seman of Brookings found that metropolitan areas like Las Vegas large losses of jobs and income within the world of creative jobs.
Joey Dederich, better known as his artist name Dirty Beatzzz in Las Vegas, has felt some of the struggles of being an artist during a pandemic. Currently he is working in a bar to make ends meet and continue his passion for art.
The Berlin Bar was one of the few bars in Las Vegas that was open during the closure, and Dederich helped organize some live painting shows at the Berlin Bar since there could not be any live music.
“It was pretty cool and kinda successful, but you couldn’t have to many people there… it’s been a rollercoaster ride up and down,” said Dederich.
The response of the Las Vegas arts community has been quite supportive of artists. Businesses have been commissioning artists to do murals on their builds. This response has also allowed a grant to be created for businesses to pay local artists.
“All my customer and new friends that we meet are incredibly grateful that we are still here during these times creating art for them to experience. They want to support us by purchasing or commissioning artwork.” Gem Jaxx stated.
Many artists have had to put a lot of focus into their online presence as a result of there being far more limitations to what artists can do in person. Some have put more time into their websites, others have started an Etsy page to try and sell some of their pieces.
Kennedy-Jordan went on to say that he recently created an Etsy to market his work. He feels though, that online sales never could replace how an in-person sale is like. The in-person interaction is far more organic and important to him as an artist.
Dederich also said that he feels the same about his online presence. Before now he never really thought about having a website for himself, but now it is something that is viable for him.
But in the same sense for Dederich, the sales just would not be equivalent for him. A big part of selling a piece is connecting with your client and having them feel what the piece is. He loves when he sells to a younger person and they get excited and take a picture with the artwork, Dederich gets “stoked” when he can provide that experience for someone.
Saturation Gallery also does not seem to be extremely interested in creating remote events, they want to stay more in-person. Kennedy-Jordan did not seem to be impressed with the idea of doing art in a more virtual space.
“I feel like in a sense, it is a degradation of the experience,” said Kennedy-Jordan.
He feels that art has always been boundary pushing and rule breaking. And he said that maybe the art scene right now should be more open and rogue, possibly even disregarding the guidelines to showcase artwork.
But what is most important right now and that each artist agreed on was to support your local artists because they are still here and still creating.
(Edit: this was written in December of 2020)
