10 things I wish my non-artist friends knew - (Pandemic Edition)
Niki Hatzidis
Features Editor
My Pre-COVID Life Brought Me Joy
You have probably heard me complain about my artistic career in the past. Probably a lot. I’ve come to you when I didn’t get the role I wanted when I had audition fatigue, tired from juggling all my other jobs and rehearsals. You listened, maybe nodded sympathetically, but I knew you pitted me; questioned why I would choose to do something so hard. I don’t know if you ever realized that it made me happy.
That I was surrounded by amazing open-minded people from all walks of life that supported me and cheered me on. That we got to create other worlds together, stand under hot lights, shoulder to shoulder, and tell stories, cry together and laugh together. I got to show people the beauty and honest human expression. That when I was with my creative peers I felt that I was encircled by truth, hope, and love; a wonderful collection of people that dared to be dreamers. I felt like anything could happen.
The Community is Hurting
Artists thrive on human connection, on other’s collective creative energy. Ask any actor where they feel most at home, and they will tell you it’s with their castmates on stage or playing in the rehearsal room. It’s also in the telling of our stories to you, sat patiently and eagerly in the audience. We haven’t been able to do this for months. We are not sure when we will be able to do it again and we are scared to death. We are hopeful that we will break the leg of the stage again someday, but it’s not at all a hope that is positioned on stable ground right now.
Some of us are trying to continue to create, some of us have never stopped, for others, the task seems impossible right now. This is because our industry, our passion, is dependent on the gathering of people. Something that is not deemed entirely safe at the moment. We can’t tell our stories. This is a major blow as our entire lifestyles are geared around this one purpose. Some of us feel like we have lost our purpose.
Every day we are hearing of institutions that will close forever. For some of us those creative connections, those safe spaces, will be gone to us. And we never got to say goodbye.
A Lot of Artists are Gig Workers And Those Jobs Are Gone Too
Then there is our financial burden. Many have lost jobs during the pandemic. This is true for a lot of Americans. For many artists, the way we supported ourselves between creating art was through various gigs. We were servers, bartenders, babysitters, temp-workers, trainers, and teachers. Those jobs are not what they used to.
For one, they are more dangerous. For those of us who have to go into work, it is like a game of Russian roulette, and for what? To serve you a margarita for which you will not tip me properly?
So we are looking for remote jobs like millions of others. The jobs are few and the risks are high. For a lot of us, there isn’t even a job to go back to. Many of us are relying on the PUA which is about to expire, hearing congress debate about whether or not we’re too lazy to go back to work, when in reality, many of us are trying to wear off the storm for as long as possible. Because we want to go back. We want our industries to survive. But as long as there is no vaccine we have to weigh putting food on the table, overexposing ourselves and our loved ones. Yes, that’s right, just like you. We’re just like you.
Your hypocrisy is Stunning
I’ve heard you scoff at my plea to save the arts. Roll your eyes at me trying to explain why they are worth saving. Yet you watched Hamilton on Disney+ this month, you’ve seen recorded performances, from concerts to sing-a-longs to dance productions. And you exclaimed, “thank goodness for these outlets! I’ve been so bored during the quarantine.”
Its amusing to me that the things that have kept you sane during all this were the same things you claim are unimportant. This was true before Covid-19 spread throughout the world too, but now that you really have the time to notice I urge you to imagine your sanctuary without its television, its books, its paintings, its Disney+. Seems pretty bleak, no? I’d like you to look at the coloring books your children have been busying themselves with, the toys, the music, the stories. Artists created those.
Content doesn’t just appear on your device by magic
The arts support countless other industries and workers as well. If the arts go then so do millions of other jobs. It would only deepen the economic crisis further. Those shows on your iPad don’t get there by the wave of a magic wand. They are the hard efforts of hundreds, from writers to directors, choreographers, designers, producers, technicians, costumers, performers, and countless others.
You are literally dismissing the careers of thousands. And as studios shut down completely or postpone productions you will run out of content. Would you then see the value in this work if it simply disappeared?
Your children need the arts
It has been proven that arts help child development. Imagination, play, drawing, music, help children develop better cognitive skills, science and math skills, they learn to work as a team and how to compromise. It encourages emotional growth and empathy. If the arts disappear now, so will those skills and where would that leave us in 5, 10, 20 years? Without writers, creators, artists, problem solvers? Without empathy and understanding? Without stories? What kind of world is that?
We’re going to demand more respect and pay
If artists have learned anything throughout all this, it is that we are vital to society. When things felt uncertain, when the world’s troubles felt heavy on all our shoulders, when we just wanted a little break, we all turned to art. What an incredible responsibility it is to make the thing that will lift someone’s spirits? Art has always done that, it will continue to do that. But now that artists have seen how much you need us, we will not go back. We will demand respect.
When arts funding is on the chopping block we will demand you protect it, you will pioneer legislations with us that will make art grants a crucial component of every budget bill, you will encourage youth to go into arts professions because you have proven that it is a worthy one. Gone are the days where will give our art away for free, it’s worth its weight in gold.
We’re fighting to survive
Arts industries are in danger but artists are not going to stop fighting for them. There are countless organizations that have given grants to artists who have lost gigs during this time, money raised to keep institutions afloat. We’re trying.
A lot of us are continuing to make our art because it’s not just a job for us, every play, song, story, painting is a little piece of us. We create to survive because when there’s nothing left to do, we eke out just a little bit of beauty and truth. We do this because we have hope; hope that one day we will gather and share again. We are using new tools and finding new ways to tell our stories. We are a resilient bunch. Artists have gone through hard times before, we can face up to them again. But I urge you to buy from local artists because we need your help.
We will be the ones that make our post-pandemic beautiful
When the country starts opening up again to what it was before when there is no risk of gathering shoulder to shoulder, you will come and see the art that we have forged despite all this. It will be sad, humorous, honest, and raw. But you will see it. It will make you laugh, or cry or feel a closeness to something you hadn’t known before. The songs, paintings, films, and plays that will come out of this will make the world a little more beautiful and full. Artists have done that throughout history. We will not let you down now.
We still have hope
This is what I like most about artists because we dream up new worlds all the time. We haven’t given that up. I’m dreaming of one that is full of empathy, beauty, and strength.
Niki Hatzidis is the features editor for Onstage Blog, an actor, writer, and award-nominated playwright based in NYC. NikiHatzidis@gmail.com