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Arts & Culture

#MiamiArtStrong Says COVID-19 Is No Match For South Florida's Arts Community

New World Center
Emilio Collavino
New World Center

Dozens of Miami-Dade arts organizations banded together under a hashtag to support each other — and inspire artistic expression from audiences.

Miami-Dade arts organizations are hoping a social media hashtag will remind people that the arts are still going strong — even in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis.

Over the summer, dozens of arts organizations banded together to launch the #MiamiArtStrongsocial media campaign, in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The hashtag is being used to reach out to professional artists and hobbyists alike.

"If you look at #MiamiArtStrong on any social media, it is such a vibrant collection of art," says Kathleen Drohan, vice president of public relations for New World Symphony and spokesperson for #MiamiArtStrong.

"Musicians showing us their compositions. Quilters showing us what they're doing!"

Among the dozens of participating organizations are the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami City Ballet, Miami New Drama, the O, Miami Poetry Festival and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Since March, the pandemic has forced venues to shut down; the lost revenue from lack of ticket sales has hit those organizations hard.

The latest monthly survey of Miami-Dade's arts groups has numbers the county's cultural affairs director calls "frightening."

The study shows that since March, the total financial hit from lost ticket sales and canceled fundraisers has escalated to more than $99 million, with a loss of nearly 16,000 jobs.
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This story is part of “Intermission,” WLRN’s series looking at how South Florida’s arts community is coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’ve got a story for us, please send an email to talktous@wlrnnews.org, with the word “Intermission” in the subject line.

Christine DiMattei is WLRN's Morning Edition anchor and also reports on Arts & Culture.
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