COVID-19 UPDATE
DEDICATED DELIVERY
ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE
WINNIPEG CHARITIES DEMONSTRATE INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY DURING PANDEMIC
Winnipeg’s charitable sector is driven by a passion the Coronavirus cannot kill. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, charities in Winnipeg have come up with creative ways to serve clients and offer programs and services while maintaining physical distancing requirements. According to Winnipeg Foundation-initiated surveys, most charities have altered programming to serve pressing needs or offer alternate ways to stay connected, despite having experienced a loss of revenue and staffing adjustments. Learn more on page 13. Here are just a few examples of some of the incredible work carried out during the pandemic.
This page: Images from PTE’s “INHALE/EXHALE – 90 Seconds to Breathe.” Photos by Hazel Venzon, courtesy of PTE. Opposite page top: Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Creature Features. Photos courtesy of Assiniboine Park Zoo. Opposite page bottom: Elmwood Community Resource Centre Executive Director Nina Condo.
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JUST BREATHE When Thomas Morgan Jones noticed his colleagues, friends, and family were under increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his team at Prairie Theatre Exchange decided to try to help remind everyone to just breathe. Jones, Artistic Director of PTE, and team launched “INHALE/EXHALE – 90 Seconds to Breathe” which combines still photography of an isolated Winnipeg, along with 90 second musical compositions, in the hopes that viewers will slow down, listen, relax, and take a deep breath. “There are artists all over the country doing brilliant things with technology, live streaming, all sorts of things,” Jones says. “We've been doing things like sending plays to audience members to read, sending notes, videos.” INHALE/EXHALE was made to address the increased anxiety, fear, loneliness and other mental health stressors that social isolation causes, to inspire viewers to meditate and relax. Jones and his team plan to continue delivering innovative digital content and finding ways of connecting with their audience, until PTE is able to open its doors to live performances again. “The health and safety of the performers, the volunteers, our staff, and the audience is paramount,” Jones says. “But I think fundamentally, when I think about Prairie Theatre Exchange as a company, we're about being in the room with people. It's about that kind of experience.” Learn more: pte.mb.ca/exhaleinhale
