It's seems our impulse is to say "Once COVID's over I'm gonna see a play or musical or the ballet or go to a museum, etc" and not even think about how the people undergirding these places are suffering terribly during the pandemic with little to no government support for the arts

Most everyone I know working in these areas, particularly of my hue and economic status, were rendered jobless months ago or now work outside those fields to survive and don't forsee returning anytime soon even post-pandemic, especially for the same or worse pay

Most every place is struggling to provide some semblance of programming virtually with overworked skeleton crews who don't receive extra pay to support their new home offices being "led" by bosses that took miniscule pay cuts for show

I'm fearful the desire for arts workers to return to doing what they love exposes them to even further exploitation than existed pre-COVID. Orgs are already posting volunteer positions to replace paid staff, make FT jobs PT, and hiring at reduced salaries and benefits

If there's no swift and concentrated effort by governments at all levels to bolster arts workers financially, and not solely the orgs that employ and contract them, there won't be any shows or exhibitions to see, at least not of the quality you remember.