SAN FRANCISCO: Over 100 arts and cultural organizations from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area have joined forces to create #BayAreaArtsTogether, an integrated marketing and communications campaign aimed at building confidence for the safe and healthy return to in-person performances, exhibits, and events.
Using a series of videos, print, and digital assets that focus on one word, “Ready,” the campaign will serve as a reminder to patrons of the power of the arts to connect, heal, and unify. According to American Conservatory Theater executive director Jennifer Bielstein, who spearheaded the effort, many arts and cultural leaders have discussed how the Bay Area arts community could unite and return to live work. #BayAreaArtsTogether was created out of a shared interest in working together to ensure Bay Area residents feel comfortable returning to arts and cultural organizations that have been closed for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We rolled up our sleeves and came together around how our community has missed what arts and culture bring to their lives and how we are collectively ready to welcome people into in-person arts experiences again,” Bielstein said in a statement. “We’re ready to explore, learn, laugh, be moved, be inspired, and get reconnected to each other.”
While numerous studies have shown that patrons are excited about the return of in-person events, there remains some hesitancy about the reentry process. With safety and health at the forefront, #BayAreaArtsTogether aims to unite the community around a safe return the arts. Each #BayAreaArtsTogether organization has established its own set of COVID-19 protocols and guidelines that follow updated protocols from the state and their particular county’s protocols. They encourage patrons to visit respective organizations’ websites for up-to-date information on entry requirements.
#BayAreaArtsTogether is the result of a collective effort with a number of volunteers behind the shared campaign. Larry Williams, creative director of the San Francisco Symphony, and Jayme Catalano, director of marketing and communications at Shotgun Players, created the messaging concept and designed the materials. Bay Area marketing and communications managers at arts organizations, including Elizabeth Orcutt of Diablo Regional Arts Association, Peter Chenot of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Sunshine Lampitoc Smith of Theatre Bay Area, developed the website for the group’s efforts. Lindsay Wright and Nisha Gulati of Oakland Museum of California wrote additional copy, and Kevin Kopjak, founder of Prismatic Communications, leads the public relations efforts.
The #BayAreaArtsTogether Steering Committee includes members of Ambassador Theater Group/BroadwaySF/Curran (Rainier Koeners), American Conservatory Theater (Jennifer Bielstein, Gracie Brakeman), Arts for a Better Bay Area (Susie McKinnon), Asian Art Museum (Tim Hallman), BATS Improv (Alazja Kirk), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Susie Medak, Steve Tate), Berkeley Symphony (Jim Tibbs), California Shakespeare Theater (Sarah Williams), David Brower Center (Verna Lim), Diablo Regional Arts Association (Elizabeth Orcutt), Feinstein’s at the Nikko (Randy Taradash), Festival Opera (Zachary Gordin), Lesher Center for the Arts (Courtney Egg, Toni Kilcoyne), Livermore Arts (Ruth Egherman, Andrew Kracht), Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (Anita Wiglesworth), Marin Theatre Company (Meredith Suttles), Museum of the African Diaspora (Monetta White), Oakland Museum of California (Mary Dixon, Lori Fogarty, Nisha Gulati, Lindsay Wright), ODC (Carma Zisman), Playful People Productions (Barbara Galiatto), Prismatic Communications (Kevin Kopjak), Project Level (Danielle Banks), Safehouse Arts (Joe Landini), San Francisco Opera (Jordan Amann), San Francisco Shakespeare Festival (Toby Leavitt), San Francisco Symphony (Laura Bergmann, Marni Cook, Larry Williams), SFBATCO (Adam Maggio, Isa Musni), Shotgun Players (Jayme Catalano, Liz Lisle), South Bay Musical Theatre (Sara Dean), Theatre Bay Area (Brad Erickson, Sunshine Lampitoc Smith), TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (Peter Chenot, Phil Santora), Walnut Creek Arts and Rec (Carolyn Jackson), and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Deborah Cullinan, Leslie Irwin, Jonathan Moscone).
