S2E16: No Starving Artists

Your Nonprofit Life

Long time no see. Can you believe it’s already October and the holidays are right around the corner? Literally. And I think we’re all still waiting to see what it’s going to be like this year as we begin peeking out from behind this life-altering global pandemic. I know one of the traditions my family missed out on last year was an in-person holiday handbell concert by the Raleigh Ringers. It wasn’t safe and like most arts organizations, they took their performance to cyberspace.

This pandemic has really turned the way we experience life upside down, and I truly believe that one of the hardest hit subsectors in the nonprofit world is arts & culture. And yet, the sector rose to the occasion as it provided us with virtual concerts we’d otherwise never been able to attend (Third Coast Baroque and Broadway Inspirational Voices, I’m talking to you!), virtual gatherings to create and reflect on beauty, and so much more.

My guest today is Dionne Powlenzuk, the Executive Director of the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington in Bowmanville, Ontario Canada. We recorded this podcast earlier this year before adding video, so ironic as it is, we only have audio for this interview.

So… could you imagine how to run a public art gallery during a pandemic? Like how can you even? How do you continue serving your community when everything is on lockdown? Or not? Or again?

The fact is: Even though we are finally seeing the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, this pandemic has hit the arts sector the hardest of all.

And yet, I cannot fathom how we would have survived this pandemic without leaders like Dionne who took what was primarily an in-person only experience and moved it online and outdoors so we could learn and refresh our spirits during one of the darkest times in our lifetime!.

In this interview, Dionne and I talk about how she started volunteering at the organization she now leads, and what that journey has been like. We also explore the various ways the pandemic has changed the way we experience the arts, and how her local gallery has not only expanded their audience, they’ve also grown the pool of artists they support—with living wages—to include artists worldwide.

So with no further adieu, allow me to introduce you to Dionne Powlenzuk, the Executive Director of the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington.

https://yournonprofitlife.com/s2ep16-dionne-powlenzuk