On this week’s episode Richard explores the impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector.

Richard talks to Daniel Santangeli, Artistic Director & Co-CEO of Footscray Community Arts Centre which is a part of the Arts West Alliance. Footscray Community Arts Centre have shut their doors out of respect for the members of their community who are most at risk during this crisis, especially those with a disability and Indigenous Australians. However, they are keeping the space open just for artists with a disability. They are hoping to provide a place where there’s a reduced risk of infection for these practitioners to work. Footscray Community Arts Centre are also advocating for the government to provide an arts stimulus package, so the arts sector can do what it does best, “which is provide community connection through creativity”.

Next Richard talks to Esther Anatolitis from the National Association for the Visual Arts. Her organisation is keeping track of the disruption to the arts industry and is also lobbying the government for a stimulus package. She hopes that the Australian government will rediscover its role through its handling of the crisis.

Finally Richard talks with Amelia Wallen who is the Director of West Space. West Space have just moved to a new location in Collingwood. They were preparing to put on their first exhibition in their new gallery when they had to postpone due to the pandemic. They are currently working on ways to make the work accessible to the public through this crisis. Wallen says that the exhibition is timely in that it’s “looking at the different conditions under which artists produce work and this is a condition unlike no other.”