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“Like everyone right now, they are facing extreme challenges. With venues closed and large gatherings on hold, local artists have had to adapt and find creative ways to connect with audiences.”
Tucker said the impacts of COVID-19 affect artists not only in terms of being able to feed themselves, but also keep a roof over their head.
“One of the things I was concerned with early on was food insecurity,” Taylor said.
“Food is not just having food to eat in your cupboards, it’s like more nefarious than that, it’s the fear you may not be able to feed and shelter yourself. It affects your well-being if you’re not able to work on your practice … or don’t have a stable place to live or enough food to eat.”
While most artists have been able to draw on the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit program, that is not a long-term solution, Taylor said.
The city says data collected in the survey will be confidential and will only be reported in an anonymous and aggregated form.
Artists are asked complete the survey, which is open until Aug. 7 at 4:30 p.m.
