Vital Signs: Pandemic job losses hit Hamilton artists particularly hard

When the pandemic first hit, Lisa Tziatis - owner of the Stoney Creek School of Art - was locked out of her business by the city. She rented at a city-owned building, and when it shut down, she lost access to her space and her art supplies overnight. Soon it became clear she wasn't going to be teaching in-person art lessons any time soon, putting the business she'd run for 12 years in jeopardy.

I didn't know what to do," said Tziatis, who started offering online classes near the end of year. 2020 was a really dark time."

She estimates her business made 10 per cent of its 2019 earnings last year. I was just trying to figure out how I could keep the business without putting myself and my husband really in debt."

Artists have been particularly hard-hit by the economic effects of COVID, especially those relying primarily on in-person attendance," according to the Hamilton Community Foundation's latest Vital Signs report.

Local playwright Michael Kras felt COVID's effects almost immediately when Theatre Aquarius, where he worked a side-job in administration, shut down last spring. He was laid off, and as more theatre companies shut down, there was no one to produce his plays.

Grants are one of the only ways you can make money in theatre right now," said Kras, who estimates he made 30 to 50 per cent of what he normally would have made in theatre income last year, mostly through development grants and residencies. The resources in theatre are already so minimal, even in a good year. It's just gotten harder."

The Vital Signs report cites the City of Hamilton's Business Impact and Workforce Needs Survey, which found jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation organizations decreased by 48 per cent between January and December of last year.

Those numbers are worse than those for Canada overall, where 25 per cent of people in those fields lost their jobs, states Vital Signs. National job losses in performing arts totalled 41 per cent - performing arts are probably the worst off of the whole sector," said Vital Signs project manager Jeff Wingard. The report also found artists who kept their jobs worked 36 per cent fewer hours than in the prior year.

The city report has a positive outlook, however: it expects most arts jobs to come back, forecasting only a 0.02 per cent net reduction of jobs after all restrictions are lifted.

Another recent survey conducted by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Women out of Work, found 71 per cent of female arts employees surveyed reported a negative job impact due to the pandemic. That was much higher than the average for all women workers, 46 per cent, said lead researcher Alix MacLean.

The Vital Signs report cites national research from Hill Strategies that found job losses were not equally distributed: women artists earned 18 per cent less than men, Indigenous artists earned 32 per cent less than non-Indigenous artists, and racialized artists earned 28 per cent less than non-racialized artists.

Even if all artists were hit, we didn't start on an equal footing," Wingard told the Spectator.

Liam Tyndall, a hip-hop performer who goes by LT The Monk, says it has been extremely difficult to reach new audiences with online performances as the main vector. In addition to livestream shows, he also performed at Supercrawl's rooftop series in September, and has continued selling merchandise.

He teaches rapping and poetry online through the Art Gallery of Hamilton, but says his income from performing is at 30 to 40 per cent of what it was pre-pandemic.

LT says he's not surprised that people of colour are faring worse than their white counterparts. He says those dynamics exist in better times as well, and may be exacerbated by the limited amount of support available during the pandemic.

It could have been because of the genres of music we make," he said. Maybe the organizers of the relief shows thought the music was less accessible. Maybe (they lean towards) white rock artists ... They may go to the safe thing they think everyone will like."

By the numbers

A look at some of the stats on the arts in the Vital Signs report, comparing 2020 to the previous year.

43: The number of outdoor events on City of Hamilton properties in 2020, compared to 447 in 2019.

34 per cent: The decrease in film permits issued in Hamilton between 2019 and 2020

82 per cent: The decrease in visits to city galleries and museums between 2019 and 2020

25 per cent: National job losses in arts, entertainment and recreation

41 per cent: National job losses in the performing arts

36 per cent: Artists who kept their jobs worked 36 per cent fewer hours nationally

48 per cent: Local job losses in the arts

$24,300: Average artist income nationally in 2020

$16,600: Average income for Indigenous artists

$18,200: Average income for racialized artists

$22,300: Average income for female artists

$27,100: Average income for male artists

Saira Peesker is a freelance writer who lives in Hamilton.