ARTS & CULTURE
Creative Pinellas
Working to help the arts community rebound
Online visitors can tour the Virtual Glass in the Gallery exhibit at creativepinellas.org. BY CINDY STOVALL It’s difficult to escape the impact of COVID-19 in what seems like every area of our daily lives. Here in St. Pete, where the arts rule, that impact has been particularly unforgiving. Though our community certainly considers theater, visual arts, literature and music among the essentials of daily living, for the purposes of public health, the reality has meant performance and event cancellations, lost commissions, salary and revenue shortfalls estimated to be over $5 million throughout Pinellas County to date. But, with hardship comes the opportunity to find the proverbial silver lining – and to develop new ways to survive. To no one’s surprise, there is simply no stopping the innovation of creative minds and there are no limits to our desires to lift each other up. One of a number of organizations rising to the moment is Creative Pinellas, which has developed multiple forums aimed at assisting large numbers of affected artists, arts businesses and arts nonprofits. The Pinellas Arts Community Relief Fund was established in March, early in the fight, when it was clear that the arts would suffer significant, possibly crippling losses. A partnership formed
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between Creative Pinellas, The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete and, managing the fund itself, Pinellas Community Fund. “We knew we needed to step in and offer meaningful support,” said Barbara St. Clair, executive director of Creative Pinellas. “Of course, the partnership with John Collins and the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, the Pinellas Community Fund and FHSP just made everything come together more quickly and put us in a position to really act on our idea.” Fundraising began and donations poured in from all directions from every-day people to local arts patrons and large community businesses. Applications were distributed and shared on every conceivable mail and social media platform. Proceeds in this first round approached $100,000 and were raised to benefit individual artists as well as arts businesses and organizations. Hundreds applied for awards ranging from $500 to $1,500 each. Reaction, as you might expect, was a mixture of gratitude and
