Seeing red: the outside of the EA Rawlinson Centre for the Arts in Prince Albert was illuminated to raise awareness for the Arts and Entertainment sector. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

red alert

EA Rawlinson Centre raises awareness for Arts and Entertainment sector

Sep 23, 2020 | 8:00 AM

The EA Rawlinson Centre for the Arts in Prince Albert took part in a nationwide effort Tuesday night to raise awareness for the arts and entertainment industry. The sector was one of the first to close due to COVID-19 and will be one of the last ones to open.

The Rawlinson shone big red spotlights on their building to bring attention to events venues re-opening under COVID-19 restrictions.

According to production manager Dannyll Challis, the industry has suffered major losses to employment across the country.

“Venues are lighting themselves red to bring awareness to the arts and entertainment sector which has lost approximately 150,000 jobs across the country out of probably 450,000 employees,” Challis told paNOW. “Eighty per cent of businesses have had a high level, if not complete loss of revenue because they can’t host events.”

The EA Rawlinson Centre was awash in red to raise awareness for the Arts and Entertainment industry that has been seriously impacted by COVID-19. (Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

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Locally, the Off the Cuff Improv and Interactive theatre program is one of those businesses that has faced major losses, coordinator Adreanna Boucher said.

“We lost about a dozen shows, and it’s not about the money, although we did lose a lot of money. It is about knowing that you are presenting something that you have created and seeing how much joy you bring to people. So, we feel it on an emotional level too,” Boucher said.

According to Challis, the Entertainment industry is one Canadians should not be forgetting about in these times.

“This is all of us standing up as a family to say the arts and entertainment industry are important,” Challis said. “To make people aware that this is highly impactful to a lot of communities.”

As we head into the winter months having a place to perform indoors is important for those in the arts industry, including Gord Vaadeland and his local band One Bridge Town.

“A band like ours relies on opportunities with indoor events or festivals,” Vaadeland said.

He added the pandemic has impacted people in multiple ways.

“It’s had an impact on venues and artists of course, being completely shut down,” Vaadeland said. “I think it’s also had a profound impact on the public as we’ve all been forced to stay home, we don’t have that outlet to go out and enjoy ourselves.”

Not only are COVID restrictions going to make it difficult for these venues to open, it will be tough to get back to where things were pre-COVID without the support of their communities.

“The arts have such a small profit margin. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that goes into each ticket price, and really for very little profit return,” Boucher explained.

“One show, in a sense to pay for the next show, and that is part of the reason why theatres can’t open or are choosing not to open yet because they can’t go forward with very limited audience sizes because they are just going to lose money.”

Off the Cuff will be returning to the stage to perform this Saturday. More information of their upcoming shows can be found on their Facebook page.

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dawson.thompson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: dawsonthompson8