Central Illinois artists are also among the many casualties in the battle against the spread of the coronavirus.
Art venues have also been hard hit. The Peoria Riverfront Museum is closed until further notice while the Peoria Art Guild is also shuttered.
The guild, located at 203 Harrison St., "was just getting traction when this happened," said director Shannon Cox, noting the facility was coming off its best month ever in January with a record number of students enrolled in guild art classes.
"It's not been good for us," said Cox of the shutdown required in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The state-ordered closing came on the heels of a successful guild show, she said. "Steph Van Doren sold five or six paintings at an exhibit, "My Midwest--A Closer Look" that opened March 1," said Cox, who expressed concern over the ability of many local artists to survive financially in the months ahead.
"So many talented artists I see in this area are suffering," she said.
The guild's chief fundraiser, the Peoria Fine Art Fair, held annually on the Peoria riverfront in September, is also a concern, said Cox.
"We're watching it very carefully," she said, adding that the guild had received 76 submissions to the fair since January.
"When art shows started cancelling across the country, submissions came to a screeching halt," said Cox.
Not knowing when a public exhibition becomes feasible makes planning difficult, she said. "At some point, we have to start advertising. This is all new territory for us," said Cox.
The Contemporary Art Center, 305 SW Water St., is closed through April but has posted art from current exhibitions at peoriacac.org.Mandy Roeing, a pastel artist who lives in Downs, is also navigating new territory. "I have three paintings in the Illinois Prairie Pastel Society show at the Springfield Art Association. Unfortunately, the reception had to be cancelled and everyone's beautiful work is waiting in an empty gallery," she said.
Roeing, who maintains her own website at roeingarts.com. acknowledged that she'll need to become even more active online in the near future.
"Time-wise, marketing usually makes up at least half of the business of being an artist, but it will take even more than that in the next weeks for artists to have a chance of keeping up their income stream," she said.
Nikki Romain said the arts center that she and husband Jonathon opened last year at the site of the old Greeley School, 919 NE Jefferson Ave., is now closed. "The virus is really taking a toll on our nonprofit. Thanks to our partnership with Peoria Public Schools, the teaching artists we hired are still able to be paid but I'm unsure how long this will last," she said.
Romain suggested that members of the public consider a donation at the center's website, artincpeoriaorg. "This has been a very challenging time for us, just as it is for everyone else that depends on events, shows, productions and other types of public events for their livelihoods," she said.
Peoria artist Ken Tiessen has also had to cancel classes held at his studio at the Mill, a four-story building at the corner of Washington and Persimmon streets in Downtown Peoria where some 20 artists ply their craft.
Tiessen, who paints both portraits and landscapes, said he recognizes the need for artists to embrace the internet to showcase their work. "I've sold some things online but you really need to see a piece in person," he said.
But that becomes a challenge when the public--including artists--have to stay home.
Nevertheless, Tiessen isn't without hope. "I rely on what they teach us in judo: 'obstacles create opportunity,'" he said. "I would advise artists to work on their inventory during this period in order to have something to show when we come out of this," said Tiessen.
Doug and Eileen Leunig, the couple responsible for promoting murals across the area as well as organizing the Big Picture Festival held in Peoria's Warehouse District the past two years, reported working from home--on art as well as garden projects.
"As far as Big Picture Initiative is concerned, everything has been disrupted. The computer lab we set up for filmmaking is sitting idle. Our visiting artist classes at Ronald McDonald House are on hold. I don't know how discussions will go on festivals held in the future or even if they'll be held," said Doug Leunig, who also addressed the matter of artists turning to the internet at this time.
"The problem of selling art online for most artists that don't work digitally is that they don't have the skills or interest to do it. There need to be businesses to sell art online to take a portion of sales--gallery owners charge up to 50 percent--for both artists and business to benefit," he said.
"Artists just have to bite the bullet and understand the future will be nothing like it was before," said Leunig.
Despite the financial challenges facing nonprofits during the shutdown period, Cox, director of the Art Guild, remained optimistic. "If we stick together, we'll figure it out," she said.
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