Room for Innovation
Creativity has a way of thriving against adversity, and no other event in recent memory has challenged performing arts quite like the COVID-19 pandemic. But as Sioux Falls artists faced a lengthy pause in what they considered “normal” pre-2020, many have seen an opportunity to not just think outside the proverbial box but to build a brand-new one. We recently talked to three such artists.
How have your respective arts organizations responded to COVID-19?
Alex Gilbert-Schrag: I inherited a lot of programming that had already been planned. The first thing I did was, since I knew our local musicians were going to struggle with everything shut down and no gigs—a lot of them depend on it for a part of their income, a short virtual concert series where we allowed them to utilize our platforms to collect virtual tips. Then we went back to our roots over the summer, since we could be outside, and we did a series of porch concerts, which was great to help with fundraising, too, that we desperately needed. It was nice to see the community come together in the way that JazzFest started—in somebody’s backyard.
Madison Elliott: Headlights Theater started because of COVID, and when Madeleine (Scott) and I first had this idea, we thought it was going to be a way for us to collaborate with local artists and maybe put on a show for our friends and family. We had no idea that it would turn into a much bigger thing than we had ever imagined. It just, right before our very eyes, really took off. It makes my heart very happy to see how well the community has responded to it and how people are so excited and willing to support our local artists during this really hard time—they’re just willing to do anything that brings people together in a safe manner, which I think speaks a lot of our Sioux Falls community.
Pictured: Alex Gilbert-Schrag, executive director of Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society (Credit: Peter Chapman)
AGS: It was interesting—at first, I felt like a lot of audience members were desperate in March, when so many things ended up shutting down. I noticed as summer got closer that our viewership on our virtual concert series started to decline, because you could do things outside again. It meant that something we thought would be continuously viable would have to be pivoted toward the porch concerts, where we could distance outside.
R Wine Bar has been a great partner for us and (owner Riccardo Tarabelsi) is very supportive of the jazz scene and takes it seriously and promotes it every week. We’ve been lucky to have that partner. But as things keep going, there is that unknown about whether or not we’ll have to end up shutting down again, and what will happen to musicians? Do we go back to that virtual component? Some of those questions are rumbling around in our heads at the moment. But the residency we’ve been doing (with Phil Baker) has opened so many new doors.
Nick Jackson: With Good Night Theatre Collective, their main thing is live, musical theatre. So not being able to do that in the capacity they wanted to do it, since the pandemic hit, forces you to either innovate or go away. Getting involved right away and seeing that innovation and the flexibility Good Night has been able to have on the fly—to keep arts going and to keep artists creating art and to keep audiences engaged—has been really outstanding to be a part of. I was asked to help create a type of show they’d never done before—an online virtual variety show that involved original comedy sketch-writing and original music.
I had never done any sketch-writing before at all—I have a background in improv, musical improv specifically. It was never something Good Night would’ve thought to do had it not been pushed to innovate and forced, in a way, to think outside of the box. It also forced a lot of new people into theatre as well—since (when quarantining) you could only really act with whomever lives inside your house. So my wife was in a couple sketches, and that’s not something she’s ever really done. It was really cool for me to see my own writing come to life.
Pictured: Madison Elliott, co-founder of and dancer for Headlights Theater (Credit: Peter Chapman)
What are your artistic hopes for a post-COVID world?
ME: I have a very hard time imagining what the world’s going to be like after COVID. It’s almost like the new normal. Tragedy is normal right now. I hope that if and once all of this does pass that we can take all that we have learned from this time—flowers grow from s**t, and that’s what’s happening with artists here. I hope that we can take what we’ve learned and what we’ve cultivated and have it continue to grow and flourish. I just hope things continue to go up—not the COVID numbers, just love!
[Laughter]
NJ: My hope is for people to come together. It’s obviously a super-divisive time, and COVID doesn’t help that when we’re not able to physically come together and be with one another. At our cores as human beings, I think that’s something that we crave and we need. We need one another. That’s been taken from us in a lot of ways. And with everything else that’s gone on—from the election to racial unrest—it feels so divisive right now, and that interconnectedness is really severed. I feel it in a deep way as someone who’s an extrovert—not being able to hug people and laugh with a person and high-five. It’s draining. So I hope that post-COVID we can remember our commonalities and our goodness and see the best in one another. Really see what we all share. I think the arts has a big role in that. Arts, for me, has always taught me about humanity and shown me all the ways we are, in fact, interconnected. I think arts could play a really crucial role—not just now, but as we’re coming out of this COVID era.
AGS: I think that we’re not quite through the worst of it yet. I’ve had a lot of emails coming through from organizations I never anticipated desperately needing funds, and some of the largest national institutions of art that you think can survive through anything are completely being depleted of resources. The arts is definitely going through a change for those who depend on it full-time. We’d gotten to a place in society where we could depend on being an artist to make a living, and that was so exciting. I’m curious to see what it looks like when we can start to bring back some of that regular programming and even if we’ll be able to, depending on how “ravaged” the industry has been. I think there are a lot of positive things that will come out of it, where, hopefully, nonprofits especially change their business model. Moving forward, you can’t just have a month of runway in your bank account. You’ll have to be savvier in case something like this were to happen again so that you might have more virtual and financial components in place much more quickly. I think we’ve also seen a lot of new collaborations come out of this—unlikely pairings coming together. I’ve met so many more leaders in Sioux Falls because of this. We needed to lean on each other, and that’s something that will carry through to wherever we go from here.
Pictured: Nick Jackson, comedy writer, musician and co-founder of Midtown Coffee Radio Hour (Credit: Peter Chapman)
How can the community support performing arts thru—and beyond—this time?
ME: To continue to show up. To continue to acknowledge how heavily society does rely on the arts. I think a lot of times when people ask what you do and you tell then “I’m an artist,” they ask what you “actually” do—“What’s your 9-to-5?” So just to remember all of the time, energy that gets put into art is part of a career.
AGS: Even growing up, being an artist was never really considered a “real profession.” But I’ve really felt that Sioux Falls as a community has gotten itself to a place where you can have full-time artists. You see someone walking down the street and can say, “You’re so-and-so, and you paint murals everywhere!” I am hopeful that the community continues to be vocal about how important the arts are so we still get the funding and the recognition. We don’t want to lose any of the arts organizations that we have, and we want to add more because there are so many opportunities that could still be fulfilled.
ME: Yes, the community support is what keeps everyone alive—the donations, the showing up, the love and recognition. But it’s also between artist-to-artist—the collaborations, the uplifting and supporting one another.
NJ: For all these different companies and performers to band together is really crucial. We need each other right now. It can’t be a competitive spirit. It has to be a collaborative spirit. In my two years back in Sioux Falls I haven’t felt that competitiveness amongst all the groups, and that’s been really inspiring to me. That’s been neat to be a part of. Seeing what Good Night has done, reaching out and connecting with so many groups—it makes everybody better. It’s that strength in interconnectedness. And what we need other people to do is the three T’s—time, talent and treasure. We need people to give their time to these groups and show up. And there has to be money that goes toward these things or they won’t survive. We as humans want to pass it off to other people and say, “Oh, someone else will donate. I love what Headlights Theater is doing, but someone else will take care of it.” But we need to step up for this now, because if not us, who? And there is so much talent to be unearthed—especially at this time. Seeing where you can get involved—maybe even just in a volunteer fashion simply to be a part of something.
What keeps you invested in the local arts?
AGS: I like to call myself a closeted lifelong musician. I started playing piano and dancing when I was three—I love performing. When I was 16 I had a huge blow-up with piano and didn’t love it anymore and found the church organ. And that incorporated dance with the foot pedals and every organ sounded different. I went to music school for one year—I didn’t love being on stage but I just loved being around musicians, and that was the pivot in my life where I realized that. They’re some of my favorite people—artists in general. I started to look into administrative opportunities—how do I help artists to be their best selves without having to worry about the little mundane things? I realized that, for me, I want to stay in this because I want to help others succeed and do what they love.
ME: I love it. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. It’s not easy. It’s exhausting—and it’s physically taxing and mentally draining. You put your emotions in there, too, to make vulnerable art and sometimes it just really sucks… but you love it! Art is the easiest way for me to connect with people. It’s the easiest way for me to understand someone. When I listen to a musician or see someone dance or see someone’s painting—I get to know them better. For me, I hope that if someone sees me dance that they’re getting to know me. Because that’s my most vulnerable state, when I’m dancing. Staying curious is also important—always learning from other artists. I kind of feel like a hamster on a wheel just running and running not really getting anywhere but loving it. I’m like a crazy hamster! (I didn’t realize where that analogy was going, but… I got there.)
[Laughter]
NJ: I’m a stay-at-home dad right now, so it gives me time away from my kids to get involved with some art and create—to have some time for me. As a teacher, teaching a class of 30 kids for seven, eight hours a day is no problem. Being at home with my own two kids all day is eons more difficult than being in a classroom with kids who aren’t mine.
[Laughter]
NJ: It’s taxing, and art fills me up. It’s a time when you get to create. Whether you’re participating in it or soaking it in. Any interaction with art. I firmly believe that you can’t serve from an empty plate, and I feel like so many people have empty plates right now with the pandemic. Art plays such a crucial role in that for me. It’s a bonus when we can do it with other people. It’s a reason to get to know one another. We have to be creative about continuing to do it, even if it feels a little more difficult now.