Listen, Learn, Connect: Cultural Organizations and Digital Strategy in the COVID-19 Era

The Wyncote Foundation recently released a report on recent digital media efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study focuses on 29 organizations that demonstrated fieldleading approaches to digital programming and engagement in response to the pandemic’s lockdowns.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. During the ensuing weeks, businesses shut their doors, schools transitioned to virtual formats, and nations closed their borders. Arts and cultural institutions were shuttered as well. In the United States, the financial impact on the arts sector was nearly twice that of the overall economy, with performing arts presenters and companies among the hardest hit. While the arts and cultural economy rebounded in 2021, it has not recovered to 2019 levels.

This report explores the resilience, courage, and creativity among arts and cultural organizations in the midst of crisis. Within unprecedented constraints, many cultural organizations found new ways to use digital technologies, serve core audiences, and expand their reach and programming. We draw from the experiences of organizations over these past two years to identify promising approaches and areas of activity likely to benefit organizations through the continuing uncertainties of this era.

Click here to read the full report.

Source: Wyncote Foundation