COVID-19 has created huge challenges for artists and arts and cultural organizations in Wisconsin, which play an important role in the state’s economy and quality of life. These challenges come on the heels of a pre-pandemic employment decline in the sector and declining state support, with Wisconsin allocating fewer state dollars per-capita to arts and culture than any other state. Several Midwest states are now providing emergency support for arts and culture in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Though Wisconsin faces many other compelling needs, the severity of the challenge for the arts and culture sector, which is likely to be among the last to normalize, may merit consideration of a similar response here.
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