HEartS Professional

The Health, Economic, and Social impact of COVID-19 on PROFESSIONALs in the ARTs

HEartS Professional is investigating the impact of the pandemic on professionals in the arts and culture sectors, providing knowledge, leadership, advocacy, and new ways forward when and where they are needed most.

The arts and culture sectors play a vital role in connecting and inspiring communities. In the COVID-19 crisis, these sectors are also among the most disrupted, with performances, exhibitions, and exchanges of all kinds all but halted. The arts and cultural economies, and those who work within them, face unprecedented challenges and uncertainty.

HEartS Professional addresses this through four strands of work. First, a large-scale, longitudinal survey of the arts and culture sectors to determine precisely where challenges lie and how they evolve as the crisis unfolds. Second, we address these challenges through responsive follow-up studies within individual arts and culture sectors. Third, we champion innovative responses to the crisis through a series of multimedia case studies, made available as examples of good practice. Finally, we examine the role of digital innovation and rapid design in sharing and driving forward good practice to ensure that workers in the arts and culture sectors have tools available to interact, sustain their work, and serve their communities.

By investigating the health, wellbeing, and financial impact of the crisis on professionals in the arts and culture sectors, HEartS Professional will provide knowledge, leadership, advocacy and new ways forward when and where they are needed most.

Project team

Aaron Williamon, RCM (PI)
Aifric Campbell, Imperial
Vali Lalioti, UAL
Marisa Miraldo, Imperial
Rosie Perkins, RCM
Sophia Ppali, UAL
Neta Spiro, RCM
George Waddell, RCM
Caitlin Shaughnessy, RCM

Supported by

Arts and Humanities Research Council
(2020-22)

Learn more

Read about the original HEartS project.

Shaughnessy C*, Perkins R*, Spiro N, Waddell G, Campbell A, & Williamon A (2022), The future of the cultural workforce: perspectives from early career arts professionals on the challenges and future of the cultural industries in the context of COVID-19, Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 6 (100296), 1-12 [DOI]. *Joint first authors

Shaughnessy C, Perkins R, Spiro N, Waddell G, & Williamon A (forthcoming), Cultivating progressive development in the cultural industries: challenges and support needs identified by the creative workforce in the United Kingdom, Cultural Trends [DOI]

Spiro N, Perkins R, Kaye S, Tymoszuk U, Mason-Bertrand A, Cossette I, Glasser S, & Williamon A (2021), The effects of COVID-19 Lockdown 1.0 on working patterns, income, and wellbeing among performing arts professionals in the United Kingdom (April-June 2020), Frontiers in Psychology, 11 (594086), 1-17 [DOI] [DATASET].

Williamon A, Spiro N, Kaye S, Tymoszuk U, Mason-Bertrand A, & Perkins R (2021), HEartS Professional Survey: charting the effects of COVID-19 Lockdown 1.0 on working patterns, income, and wellbeing among performing arts professionals in the United Kingdom (April-June 2020), Dryad, dataset [DOI].

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