Why You Should Support Artists during Lockdown

Times are tough. People are ill and dying of Covid 19. Help is needed to make sure that hospitals and care homes have enought protective equipment for their staff. Businesses are failing due to the economic effects of lockdown. But what about artists? Many like myself, have had to close down art classes and workshops, which were our ‘bread and butter’ and selling work is not easy when everyone is concerned about the economic uncertainties of lockdown. Yet we still have liabilities, like ongoing studio rents.

You may think that what we do is a ‘nice to have’ , art, after all is a luxury. But think of it another way – art, whether on the wall, or in some other form, be it sculpture, drama, music, film, is intrinsic to our mental health. Appreciating art is part of our humanity. Participating in art, through art lessons is often very important for many people. At present all classes are closed. But art remains just as important as ever for our well being. Now is not the time to sacrifice this.

In the United Kingdom our government has put together a package of measures designed to help business and the self employed. But in many cases these measures will not help artists. Some artists, like myself, are self employed, but we have yet to hear whether we will qualify for payments under the self employed scheme, and if we do, those payments will not come through until June. If we do not qualify under there are the small business grants that are being administered by local authorities. But these depend upon whether you have a studio that has an assessed rateable value. Something often done by a landlord, over which we have no control over. In my case my landlord does not appear to have had my studio assessed seperately, so it makes it impossible for me to enter the grant scheme. Many artists have home studios, so they will not be able to qualify for this grant either.

Some like me are supporting the Artists Support Pledge.https://www.instagram.com/artistsupportpledge/?hl=en We are putting work up for sale, often at a discount, with a maximum price of two hundred pounds. If we sell our work for this and manage to reach a threshold of a thousand pounds then we pledge to buy work of another artist supporting the Artists Support Pledge. This keeps some money flowing in the art world and helps us support each other.

Below is today’s painting, Ainsdale Sands, Summer Afternoon, shown as framed and shown at the start of this article unframed. I am reducing the price by £150 to £200 for the length of the Lockdown only.

Still available and at the same price is ‘Ainsdale Sands, Early Evening’ which is also on sale from my previous day of Artist Support Pledge, at £200. See https://www.sarahmorleyart.com/2020/04/ainsdale-sands-early-evening-on-sale-during-lockdown