Ohio's Arts Industry Has Lost $3.1 Billion Due to the Pandemic

Since the pandemic began, the arts industry in Ohio has lost $3.1 billion dollars, NBC4i reports.

"We're a 41-billion-dollar industry in Ohio and arts and culture employs nearly 300,000. We are currently the highest unemployed industry in Ohio," said Angela Meleca, Executive Director of Ohio Citizens for the Arts. "As you can imagine, having a business shut down to the public for nearly 6 months, has a dramatic effect on earned revenue and their bottom line."

Meleca says that it will not be easy to get the industry back up and running again, even when it is safe to do so.

Performing arts venues in the state are only allowed hold 15% or 300 people, due to current state guidelines. This is cause for concern as many venues can not operate in a financially viable manner with these guidelines in place.

Meleca said that they have done a survey among potential patrons and a third is fine coming back now, a third would be hesitant and there's a third would rather wait until a vaccine

"So even if we were able to reopen fully, the attendance factor and who would come out is a concern as well," she said.

Read more on NBC4i .