HEartS Professional: The Health, Economic and Social impact of COVID-19 on PROFESSIONALs in the ARTs

The arts and culture sectors play a vital role in connecting and inspiring communities. In the COVID-19 crisis, these sectors are also among the most disrupted, with performances, exhibitions and exchanges of all kinds all but halted. The arts and cultural economies, and those who work within them, face unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. HEartS Professional addresses this by investigating the health, wellbeing and financial impact of the crisis on professionals in the arts and culture sectors, providing knowledge, leadership, advocacy and new ways forward when and where they are needed most. The project surveys arts and culture professionals to determine precisely where challenges lie and how they evolve as the crisis unfolds, responding to those challenges with targeted investigations. It celebrates innovative responses to the crisis and shares examples of good practice. Moreover, it explores how digital tools can be quickly designed, adapted and implemented to ensure that culture and arts professionals have available new methods to sustain their practices and serve their communities.