CreativeCon puts Sacramento’s artists front and center as they adapt to coronavirus

For the last year, creativity has had to take on a whole new meaning. Art galleries, music venues, comedy clubs and any other place or space that you could think of effectively shut down for the last twelve months. The closures forced creatives to quickly adapt, adjust to reach an inside-the-house crowd. All of this while trying to survive this new way of life.

As both an illustration and celebration of the creativity of Sacramento, local non profit Artists of Sacramento created a two-day virtual festival called CreativeCon with all of the programming available at https://artistsofsacramento.squarespace.com/. The live stream is Saturday but events will continue through Sunday.

CreativeCon aims to show that not only are creatives surviving, they are thriving. CreativeCon includes a mixture of live performances, panel discussions, interactive conversations, a socially distanced drive-in screening of locally made film “Wonderland,” and local restaurants offering takeout food specifically curated for the event.

CreativeCon aims to bring together artists, fans, and a sense of connection and camaraderie to a community that has been suffering from 13 months of separation anxiety.

“The last twelve months have been so much more than any of us could have prepared for,” said Artists of Sacramento co-founder Laura Marie, “and I think no matter what kind of medium you worked in you were forced to come to terms with the idea of your art never being seen, heard, or experienced the same way again.”

When so much of your communal and cultural experiences take place inside the four walls of a venue space, the city collectively shuttering its doors ground life to a crashing halt in those first weeks of lockdown. Coday Anthony spoke to the near-instant depression that set in as many people were cut off from family, friends and the creative community that for so many artists pushes them to keep going.

“We were supposed to do CreativeCon last year as an in-person event before the pandemic hit,” Anthony said, “and it hit so fast that there wasn’t really a way for us to rebound and shift the program into a different format. The world was closing it’s doors, so we closed the event.”

First doors were closed, and then they were boarded and barricaded, as a global pandemic shifted into a global uprising after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd. The combination of those two cataclysmic events created a nearly immediate reaction. Artists across the city, in all mediums and fashions, jumped back in to do what they do best: attempt to give hope.

Through some of our darkest moments in history, we have seen artists come through to remind us we are not alone; that our collective experiences are being seen, heard and felt. Only now, they were forced to do it in a different way. From a multitude of collectives creating take home art experiences for kids who were now stuck at home, to the interactive virtual performances thrown by a multitude of different artists, to the wealth of new online shows, vlogs, panels and podcasts that were birthed from being forced to sit with our thoughts for 365 days, creatives began creating again.

As the artists themselves began to slowly get back into the swing of things, they were forced to watch as the local venues that hosted and supported them for so many years began to face the idea of permanent closure. That further helped Artists of Sacramento keep pushing. Testing the waters with their online show ShelterFest, named as a nod to the shelter in place order issued in 2020, the team put together a virtual concert whose proceeds were split evenly to local venues The Press Club, Old Ironsides, Torch Club, Cafe Colonial and Luna’s Cafe. Of those venues, some have permanently closed, while others remain temporarily closed until further notice.

“Honestly, we’re still not sure how we even feel about performing, or even attending events that are indoors,” Marie said, “it’s still so soon, and even though vaccinations are beginning, it still feels too early to tell.”

As Sacramento slowly opens, and people slowly feel out how they choose to experience events in the future, it seems more likely than not that we will continue to see an evolution of how art, music and culture is experienced by the masses. CreativeCon and other events like it may become more and more common place as we continue to watch the way the COVID-19 plays out in the coming months. Whether things stay open, or close down again, events like this will continue to make art available for any comfort level.

“That was more important to us than anything. Giving people the access. People need art, and music, and community now more than ever,” Marie said.