Returning to in-person provision
During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person arts and cultural engagement, upon which a significant number of vulnerable populations relied for regular contact, were ceased. As people were deprived of opportunities previously taken for granted, arts providers and practitioners described the first in-person gathering following the conclusion of lockdown as ‘absolutely joyous’ (Participant 1, Dance organisation), a ‘celebration’ (Participant 9, Musician), with beneficiaries experiencing positive emotions upon re-engaging with others in-person:
When that live recording weekend happened, which was the last weekend of August… It was just like a big party… the joy, the over joy of the young people getting back with each other was just something really, really special (Participant 9, Musician).
Some, however, felt apprehensive, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. In-person engagement involves risk assessment, for both arts providers and beneficiaries. Amongst customary beneficiaries, there remained a sense of caution, anxiety, and risk around re-engaging in-person, particularly in indoor spaces:
As we’ve gone to larger groups and restrictions have eased off a little bit where we can do that, there is definitely still an anxiety to doing that and a mixture of energies in the room from those who are anxious about returning and those who are incredibly enthusiastic. That juxtaposition of attitudes can create sometimes not the most smoothest running session I think in these new COVID times (Participant 10, Music organisation).
In this context and as many arts organisations cater for vulnerable populations, COVID-19 safety measures, such as social distancing and face coverings, remained in-place:
Because we’re working with a lot of vulnerable adults and young people, we’ve been using the same [face-to-face] COVID procedures that we had pre things becoming more open in July… masks, social distancing, we don’t provide refreshments (Participant 10, Music organisation).
These young people have very individualised care plans and it’s very rare in the week that they do a group activity [in an NHS in-patient setting] because that is very challenging for them… So pre-COVID, it was a real task and always a bit of a challenge every week to gather the young people around the table, and then post-COVID when we resumed, we had to observe social distancing measures… I’d have an average of five young people… each on one desk. So that made that task of bringing people together even more difficult (Participant 9, Musician).
The importance of trusting organisations to ensure COVID safety during in-person provision was acknowledged. Continued clear communication and messaging about safety measures implemented by organisations was necessary to mitigate some of the anxieties that vulnerable people feel in relation to returning to in-person provision:
There is a continued nervousness about that [referring to older people returning to in-person provision]. So, we have to make sure that we give that reassurance that it’s safe to connect with House of Memories… I think we will continue to do that (Participant 2, Museum).
They’ve [referring to a chronic pain reading group] decided that they’re going to meet up and have an afternoon tea at Calderstones. I think it’s partly because it’s seen as a safe environment… I imagine that when you are constantly managing your health, you maybe feel like you need to have trust in the organisations that are around you, particularly with a risk that needs to be so carefully controlled (Participant 8, Shared reading organisation).
As some beneficiaries were reluctant to share their engagement preference, or preferences could be ‘hard to gauge’ (‘you’re never sure if people are just being polite and saying they are fine when they’re not’ (Participant 14, Photography gallery)), one solution implemented by a small arts organisation was to circulate a ‘COVID survey’ anonymously seeking participants’ views and based on that develop their own risk assessment. This allowed them to combine online and in-person engagement:
We’ve got a COVID survey that we send out to the participants. On the basis of that survey, we develop our risk assessment… We basically bring people together when there’s either a big need within the participants or… when we think there’s real value to it in terms of the development of the project… I think in terms of wellbeing and mental health, if people are happy to, they get a lot out of being in the room. So, for example there’s a project that we run called Above and Beyond, which works in Knowsley, Bootle and Birkenhead. Those groups have weekly sessions in the online space, but then once a month, we will bring them together to do specific either issue exploration or skills development activities… We’re really mindful of the fact there are many people out there that aren’t comfortable coming back into the space for different reasons. So, we’re trying to make sure that nobody’s left behind in terms of how we deliver our provision moving forward (Participant 7, Theatre).
Given the juxtaposition of attitudes, some arts organisations offered engagement opportunities in alternative spaces. For example, higher transmissibility in indoor spaces resulted in arts organisations bringing participants together in outdoor areas. Some organisations viewed this as an opportunity to involve new audiences, as engagement in streets or parks may feel more accessible to those who do not feel comfortable accessing arts venues or unfamiliar arts forms:
We’re actually [doing] the men’s group and the women’s group outdoors… We just thought it’d be a nice way to celebrate dance and celebrate being together, but just do it in an open space and see if anyone else wants to join in (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
Arts providers and practitioners have also started offering services within familiar community spaces to engage a wider range of people. Organisations have therefore reimagined themselves in order to better serve society’s needs, delivering provision in alternative venues, such as libraries and supermarket carparks:
We are working with… the council and the libraries network, taking workshops to the libraries to reach communities that might have barriers. Sometimes just the thought of coming into a dance studio is a barrier, or going into town… We are going to start small with four or five libraries… see how it goes, and then we can expand it to reach more people (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
The other new initiative that we have just gone live with is called House of Memories On the Road… On the Road is a 30 square foot, immersive cinema and activity space. It can drive into local community settings, into neighbourhoods, it can work with voluntary sector groups, with primary care networks, it can go to a hospital trust, it could be in a GP carpark or a supermarket, and the idea is that we bring the museum to you, where you are…With Local Authorities support, we can identify those neighbourhoods that have least opportunity, and perhaps those groups of elders who are the most socially isolated or older people that have experienced loneliness. We can target specific groups and that makes it really responsive as an experience (Participant 2, Museum).
New collaborations, such as those between museums and local authorities, have therefore created new ways of working to support vulnerable, marginalised, or isolated members of communities. Taken together, the focus was not on returning to ‘normal’ provision, but instead on finding ways to adapt or reimagine conventional provision. Arts providers and practitioners referred to this transitionary phase as a period of readjustment, with participants and staff adapting and ‘adjusting to this as being the new normal’ (Participant 10, Music organisation):
For many people who have had really, really tough experiences, real challenges because of COVID, to readapt to this is like another huge change. We had a huge change two years ago and now we have to go through another huge change. I think this readaptation could nearly be as important for some people as the adaptation when we had to go into lockdown (Participant 9, Musician).
The importance of the arts during this transition period was highlighted in relation to helping people ‘to build a sense of routine and a sense of purpose’ (Participant 4, Concert Hall), which is always an important consideration for people experiencing mental health difficulties. Although there is a continued nervousness amongst vulnerable populations, in-person arts provision provides ‘meaningful activity’, and participation may inspire and enable people to feel confident about returning to other in-person events and activities in the city centre. In this respect, in-person arts engagement has been perceived as a ‘steppingstone’:
I think that city centre cultural scene could play a massive part in bringing people who are less keen to come back, people who are still finding it really challenging to get back involved in things because they’re still very, very worried about COVID. The shops and going for a meal aren’t going to be enough to tempt them out but something that’s more meaningful to them, like coming to an exhibition or a workshop, where they can get involved in something that they love doing or going to the theatre or a concert. All of those experiences are going to be really important to getting people back out and engaged again, particularly when you think about more vulnerable groups, many of whom will be particularly cautious. Some of our Blue Room members probably still wouldn’t really be going out if it wasn’t for Blue Room. Because they’re motivated enough by that and they really want to come back, that’s a steppingstone hopefully to other things for them (Participant 5, Contemporary arts centre).
The importance of in-person arts and cultural engagement as a catalyst for providing a sense of community through shared collective experiences was highlighted by arts providers and practitioners. They talked of an ‘overall sense of comfort, of togetherness, of coming together’ especially as ‘we’ve all been through periods of isolation’ (Participant 9, Musician):
Being physically in a space together, being at [name of organisation] is being part of a bigger community of people… To see Blue Room members coming back in, and just being able to be around this [platform installation] and to be in a place where there’s something beautiful to look at when there’s other people around and children and families around and be back as part of our community again. It looked like people are really enjoying it… During lockdown… a lot of our Blue Room members would have been very much at home, not being anywhere else at all… It’s probably going to have a huge impact on people being back in a community, because Blue Room members have always been a real part of [name of organisation] community (Participant 5, Contemporary arts centre).
With the dance for Parkinson’s, they have been engaged online with us for a while but there would be times during the proper lockdown where dance for Parkinson’s participants were telling us that their conditions have worsened, because they couldn’t come into the studio and get that connection and that movement. So, I think that will make a huge, huge difference. I think it was the connection that they were missing… It’s easy to follow instructions on the screen, but it’s just not the same because especially in the dance for Parkinson’s classes, we have live music, volunteers, people can bring their carers or their family and it’s such a joyous atmosphere (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, usual ways of interacting and obtaining social support were also disrupted. In-person provision provides the opportunity to interact, connect with others, and obtain social support, thereby boosting community connectedness and a sense of collective healing:
Nothing beats that in-person connection… One of the groups lost someone during the pandemic and had they have been coming to in-person classes, they would have been able to deal with it together, and I think it’s quite healing for them to all be together again (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
In line with this, there is a revitalised appreciation of the humanising and connective power of arts and culture, particularly a new sense of their value for processing the trauma and the negative emotions spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic:
It’s an opportunity to reflect on the last 18 months as well because when you’re in it, you can’t really see what it is. But when you look back on it, it has been such a massive thing in people’s lives. It’s not you open the door and go outside and suddenly it’s all better; you’ve been through quite a traumatic experience. So, there’s an element of recovery that’s going on at the moment, which is slow (Participant 7, Theatre).
Ancillary social and relational qualities enrich in-person provision. For example, sharing spontaneous one-on-one conversations before or following social bonding activities, such as singing or dancing - ‘the little conversations that you have over a cup of tea, the one-to-one check ins’ (Participant 7, Theatre), ‘a little chat beforehand… a chat afterwards’ (Participant 1, Dance organisation) - enhance collective experiences. Interacting with others online often does not provide the same opportunities for physical intimacy, when compared to being together in a shared physical space:
When you’re in a room with people, there’s a connection that happens, bodies align, we align with each other, we learn about each other, we take emotional and physical cues from each other without even recognising that and there is a way of syncing our bodies not by physically touching, just by being in a room together (Participant 3, Theatre).
Connecting with people I think is the one that’s probably always the most important to our Blue Room members as well as being physically active because a lot of people can end up very sedentary at home and physically that can take a toll on people… So just getting back out and walking around rather than just sitting all day is going to make a big difference to people’s health directly, as well as the impact on their wellbeing (Participant 5, Contemporary arts centre).
Continuing online provision
The embedding of a hybrid delivery of arts and culture – ensuring continued online access alongside in-person provision – appears to meet public demand as many beneficiaries remain hesitant about re-engaging in-person. Arts providers were keen to ensure that their ‘programme is fully accessible’ (Participant 11, Cultural and creative hub) by providing a range of engagement opportunities, necessitated by the need to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’ (Participant 7, Theatre):
We have learned that a blend of both in-person and online activity is beneficial to provide a range of points of access for people to participate on their terms, so that they have choice (Participant 4, Concert Hall).
We’ve learned that we probably need to keep all options open, like all different avenues for ways of engaging with people… We’re going to be having a blended delivery, tentatively moving more to physical with less digital, but digital always still being there (Participant 14, Photography gallery).
As online provision remained vital for many, arts and cultural organisations explored creative means of integrating online and in-person provisions, which afforded beneficiaries (as well as practitioners) the option of attending a session either in-person or remotely:
We always set up… a hybrid of Zoom and face to face work… a Zoom link, and a big screen with a mic and an audio interface so people can engage with it on Zoom if they choose not to attend… Last night’s session really benefitted from that, because the composer, who is working with young musicians on new music actually had COVID. So, he couldn’t attend the session and led it over Zoom… and also anyone else who didn’t attend could also access that link (Participant 10, Music organisation).
The hybrid option is probably our biggest success story, because it gives people the option to experience that in-person experience as it can feel like they are in the in-person class and see everyone and feel like they’re in the studio, but if for whatever reason they need to stay at home, then they can. It allows the in-person people to still connect with the people who can’t come as well (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
Other arts providers perceived online provision as an enabler to people engaging in in-person provision. One described online provision as a ‘springboard’ or ‘steppingstone’ (Participant 3, Theatre), allowing people to engage in arts activities online before transferring to in-person provision. This made it possible for beneficiaries to familiarise themselves with the course and facilitator before engaging in-person, and may be an important step for those with mental health difficulties:
In terms of the Life Rooms [community NHS service], we plan on continuing to have an online provision as long as they have the online platform… It’s a really accessible steppingstone to coming into the room… Doing drama online is great and there is definitely room for development and this beautiful space to be creative and to express ourselves and to try new things… It isn’t the same as being in a room. It can’t be, you’re stuck in a square or a rectangle. It isn’t a replacement. I suppose it’s a brilliant thing to have as a steppingstone to act as a springboard to support people to feel comfortable and confident coming to sessions and understanding what sessions look like (Participant 3, Theatre).
The re-use of the notion of ‘steppingstone’ here further highlights the variety of ways in which arts and culture are important, especially for those with mental health difficulties. It is crucial to retain online provision for certain groups, such as those with physical or mental health conditions, who may find re-engaging with arts and culture in-person challenging:
Even when they’re able to go back in person, which they’re taking very, very slowly because there’s lots of complex physical health difficulties in the group, COVID is such a risk. She [referring to a service user] said they want to keep an online group going and the in-person group because they have found that some people who could only patchily attend the in-person group pre COVID have had an almost 100% attendance rate during COVID… To have a service and activity that comes into your home, rather than you have to get out of bed and get to it, could be enormously beneficial… They’re saying, even when we can go back in person, we want to keep both these things [online and in person] because we want options. We want to be able to go and be with people when we can manage it, but we want to be able to access all these benefits when our physical health fails. It’s quite revolutionary to me when you think, wow, if we could have the time and the freedom to work in that way, what would people tell us that they needed? Everything breaking through COVID has actually allowed something else to happen, which has been something much nearer to innovation (Participant 8, Shared reading organisation).
It might cost to some people having to go out, having to pay for travel, having to face social challenges of getting on the bus… Social in the sense that if you’re in a group your social skills are very exposed… This feeling of suddenly having to face real life and be back in action and people expecting you to be like you were before COVID when we’ve all had loads of changes in our lives. I think for some of the participants, I’m referring mainly to the Life Rooms participants [users of a community NHS service], I can imagine how it could be challenging to come back and be expected to participate like the way they used to do (Participant 9, Musician).
The flexibility of online provision meant that arts providers brought people together across the city region and country, which enabled beneficiaries to connect with likeminded others and feel part of a wider community than would otherwise be possible:
Everyone’s realised the importance of putting mental health first. We’ve had a couple of things… where it was like… that doesn’t make sense for us, because it’s expensive, and we’re a really small team. Then when we were talking about it, we were like, actually, it will give this vulnerable group additional access to a community and a resource, and we put that before the money (Participant 1, Dance organisation).
Something else that struck me in what [name of beneficiary] said was the potential to meet people from other areas. She said that she’s really enjoyed going to other online shared reading groups that we’ve been running through the pandemic, as well as running her own. Because she said, I meet all these people from all over the UK, which, for any number of reasons, just wouldn’t be possible otherwise. So, what we mean by that notion of community becomes really interesting (Participant 8, Shared reading organisation).
If we’d had a session in Walton [Life Rooms, community NHS service], a session in Bootle [Life Rooms] and a session in Southport [Life Rooms], we would have three distinct groups of people who wouldn’t necessarily meet until we held a celebration event at the end of the project. Whereas now people from those areas and from other areas across the LCR can take part in one activity together (Participant 4, Concert Hall).
Given the benefits of digital provision, such as inclusivity and accessibility, arts and cultural organisations intend to provide both in-person and digital provision moving forward, showing that digital provision is now an intrinsic part of strategic decision-making:
When we began planning the new partnership with Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, for example, we planned online provision as a core part of the partnership alongside additional in-person activity because of the benefits around flexibility of time and accessibility for participants (Participant 4, Concert Hall).
Nevertheless, such strategic decisions are likely to be dependent on the individual financial circumstances of both civic institutions and grass roots:
What we’ve been able to do during COVID is to sufficiently adapt our programmes so we can support people digitally, face to face, we can come out to you, you can come into our venues. We’ve offered a wider range of engagement opportunity that, funding permitting and everything else, we are really determined to try and maintain (Participant 2, Museum).