As restrictions continue to ease up and life starts looking (and feeling) like the pre-pandemic days, we’re curious about the ways arts and culture will come back. We got some industry intel straight from the pros, from the latest innovations museums are embracing to the IRL events to get excited about. Here’s how you’ll be getting your arts and culture fix for the foreseeable.
IRL is back, but it’s still limited
“First, Frieze New York will be happening IRL the first week of May but at a very limited capacity, and with proof of vaccination at least two weeks prior or a negative covid test. It’s the first US art fair to happen since the pandemic started and some really great galleries are participating. From what I hear, people are traveling from throughout the US and even from internationally to attend the fair (safely, of course), so I know the art world is very excited about that. There will be other IRL art fairs in person beginning this summer in Los Angeles with Felix, I believe, and then in the fall many in Europe.
Ivy Haldeman, ‘Full Figure, Twist Left‘, 2021 (Frieze New York)
My understanding is the goal is to move back mostly to an IRL situation as soon as and as safely as possible, but not without understanding that an online presence is still super important. I’ve heard that a lot of galleries are opening new physical spaces, whether it be West Palm Beach area or additional spaces in New York (specifically the Tribeca area has been booming lately and will continue to do so). I think everyone is eager to have things resume to the way they were because all of us realize that an online presence ONLY really doesn’t do the artists and their artworks justice, because art is meant for an in-person interaction that we’ve all been missing.” -Rachel Cole, Founder, Rachel Cole Art Advisory
Digital won’t go, though
“Even as businesses begin to open in the United States, digital events will still remain a reality, although they will likely not occupy the same presence that they did prior to the vaccination rollout. We’re all eager to get back to Art Basel, but the likeliest scenario is that we see some hybrid of online and in-person programming in the arts for quite a while longer.
Digital events will remain part of our reality for several reasons. The first is that many businesses and organizations work internationally; so, we must account for the fact that most countries around the world are in a very different place than the United States when it comes to vaccinations. Perhaps the most the significant driving force behind this is vaccine apartheid, which is the intentional deprivation of vaccine supplies, patents, and aid to the Global South for the purposes of profit by big pharmaceutical companies in the Global North.
We must also take into account one of the more obvious reasons why digital events will still be a reality for the near future, which is our own community’s health concerns. With the rise of variants, some folks are still uncomfortable resuming to live events. Some folks have compromised immune systems themselves, or they might have a loved one with a compromised immune system, which makes them especially vulnerable to the virus. For these individuals, returning to fully "IRL" experiences is simply not an option.
While Zoom fatigue is extremely real, people also appreciate certain aspects of the digital event experience: the flexibility of attending from home, for instance, or the ease of re-watching a recording of something they missed. The convenience of absorbing art and culture from home, especially thanks to the growth of niche platforms like Clubhouse, is a real asset that people might not want to let go of just yet. For these reasons, and likely many more, my prediction is that while live events will continue to expand as vaccine rollout progresses in the US and beyond, digital events will occupy at least some part of the landscape indefinitely.” -Amani Olu, Founder and CEO, Olu & Company
A move towards the meaningful
"The pandemic forced us all to change our tactics for engaging audiences, particularly during events - no longer could we simply lure people with free drinks or the promise of social interaction. Digital-only programming had to be targeted, relevant, and meaningful to get people to sign up and log on. And while we've adapted to these challenges, we've also learned that there is no replacement for the human interaction we all crave. Moving forward, I think we'll all be better off in applying these lessons to our post-pandemic world, whether they're in-person or digital." -Reid Myers, founder, The Cadre
“Heat Wave” Exhibition Showcases NFTs with Paintings at Room57 Gallery (The Cadre)
The future is here
"We created a Zoom Room recording studio at Christie’s for our virtual events. It’s a place where our specialists can sit with art, jewelry, handbags to show on screen. We have different backdrops as well like a bookshelf filled with art books from Phaidon. We are working to get one wall covered with de Gournay paper too. The camera, lighting and sound are high quality. It’s a space where the presenter can just show up and not have to worry about wifi or how they look.
I do think virtual will be with us. Our Zoom license increased to 3,000 users per event and we are seeing engagement from clients from around the world. We generally have people viewing from about 12-20 different countries. Cocktail parties in the gallery only attract people who are close to NYC.” -Michael Moore, Director of Events and Tours, Christie's
A focus on community connection
“It’s not a coincidence that the buzzword across industries-venture capital, tech, art-is community right now. Digital events are going to be severely curtailed and in-person, experiential productions will become coveted and a sign of privilege, eventually. Public art will also see a boom in the next few years as more communities invest in making their surroundings more reflective. Public art is how we connect with our settings.” -Robin Terry, founder, Public Theory Agency
Digital opens up opportunities
“Normal” is by definition a relative condition. Though taken for granted as common practice, the demands of the art world social calendar before activities were suspended in spring of 2020 were anything but ordinary. As we approach the prospect of in-person programming, the consensus among many of my art market colleagues is a reticence to be cast back into the throes of that vortex."
Hayworth Company founder Ellie Hayworth at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with El Anatsui artwork. New York, November 2020.
"Many organizations will continue to champion hybrid models — offering digital access to events and programs that take place in a limited capacity in person and therefore demand less resources (think time cost, production cost, coordination cost). While I believe that we will see a constriction of the digital programming to accommodate for the return to in-person receptions, with the normalization of digital and crypto media in the present market, I am confident that digital is here to stay, both as a platform and as a medium. How refreshing to be able to choose which fairs to participate in, without the presupposition that as an art professional you’ll somehow live this omnipresent life, appearing at every global fair.
I further am optimistic that individuals will reprioritize the gallery- or museum-going experience over that of the art fair circuit. It would benefit us greatly to consider art — and therefore to acquire it — from a curatorial perspective, taking care to consider the work over quick-trigger purchases and a frenzied out-of-the-gates experience.” -Ellie Hayworth, founder, Hayworth Co.
Continuous learning will be key
“We have already shifted gears, but gingerly. While we’re still not planning any large-scale media previews and press trips, over the last few weeks many of our clients have agreed to host smaller-scale, well-controlled and timed events in New York. We have also been given the green light to invite media on press visits to projects in Philadelphia and Miami Beach. We are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and rebuilding some social capital.
Since the second quarter of 2021, there has been much discussion with clients about the future value of virtual experiences and transactions. We all have to ask ourselves, what did we do well, what do we improve, how frequently do we deliver a virtual experience before it’s tiresome, and what do we need to ditch beyond the incessant zoom chats? It’s still a work in progress. With the risk of predicting the future, the data suggests that new audiences have been reached via clever digital content and online events during the pandemic. Our art and design clients have also become more comfortable and tech savvy in the virtual space. Even after pandemic restrictions are lifted, we believe many of them will want to retain some of these new audiences, especially in the nonprofit domains, but the general sense is that these virtual events need to be more sophisticated and definitely less frequent. In terms of the commercial side of art and design, many of the virtual aspects on the sales, marketing and logistical sides are here to stay as we continue to see growth in online sales.
That said, we also want to continue working with the media to tell our clients’ stories, many of which just can’t be experienced virtually. Ultimately, the catalytic effect of art and design can’t be derived from a device, but the potential to educate and market virtually will endure.” -John Melick, founder, Blue Medium
Excited for the arts & culture comeback? Here’s something to see now in NYC!
David Hammons, Day’s End, 2014-21. © David Hammons. Photograph by Timothy Schenck.
“Nearly seven years in the making, renowned artist David Hammons’s permanent public sculpture Day’s End (2014-21) is one of the largest public art projects completed in the United States this year. Located in Hudson River Park along the southern edge of Gansevoort Peninsula, directly across from the Whitney Museum, the monumental sculpture measures 52 feet high at its peak, 325 feet long, and 65 feet wide. Day’s End was developed by the Whitney in collaboration with the artist and Hudson River Park Trust and is visible from numerous vantage points at the Whitney and from multiple locations along the Hudson River Park promenade. The sculpture derives its inspiration and name from multi-media artist Gordon Matta-Clark's 1975 legendary intervention in which he cut openings into the abandoned Pier 52 shed. Hammons’s Day’s End was completed this month and is an inspiring contribution to New York’s waterfront that will be enjoyed for generations to come.” –Danielle Bias, Director of Communications, Whitney Museum
