Letter from the Editor: Support the arts
Aiding them now ensures they stay in the community for the future
The Washington-Idaho Symphony Orchestra is one of the many organizations that had to cancel their events due to COVID-19
August 26, 2020
The whole purpose of the Mint section is to cover the arts and culture scene of the Palouse, and I feel like we’ve done a disservice by not mentioning one of the biggest problems affecting it right now: COVID-19 and the shutdown.
Most of the events Mint usually covers obviously won’t be happening this semester, which is sad but often necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep people safe. However, most of our art centers rely on the money they get from those events, and without it, it’ll be hard for them to pay their artists or put on any events once it’s safe to — especially when many of them already rely on donations on top of the money they get from these events.
Everyone is in a tough place with COVID-19, and this is not to guilt anyone out of their last dollar or to make you stretch your pockets thinner if you can’t afford it. If you have the means to and you’ve enjoyed your local arts scene, consider supporting it. A lot of places won’t get the money that funds their art and pays their artists, and that’s going to hurt. Even places that are still putting on events during COVID-19 will see less money coming in.
If you’ve watched a show, listened to music or looked at an illustration at some point, you’ve enjoyed art. It’s very easy to forget how often we do that with how much we consume, but we do it constantly and making it always has a price in time, effort and money. Artists love making art but presumably they also love eating and paying bills, so with all the time and effort good art takes, they can only hope to get enough money out of it so they can survive and make more art.
Below is a list of places that are accepting donations. This is by no means a complete list, and if you notice a place or an organization you like is missing, we encourage you to support them, too. Art adds so much to a community, and we take that for granted. If we still want to go to a show or a concert once it’s safe to, we have to support them now.
