HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Live and in-person events have been canceled for over a year now and it's affected local artists financially.
That's why Arts Huntsville found a way to still put on their annual Panoply festival this weekend.
This festival gives local artists, entertainers, and businesses more exposure. In turn, this exposure comes with more clients and customers.
"This is the first show that I've had the chance to participate in almost a year and a half and this is really important to have opportunities like this because this is how I grow my business," said Symmetrical Universerve Artist, Steve Pitts.
"It's important during this time and it was so important to us to be able to put on Panoply this year cause these artists have been so heavily impacted by COVID and their kind of recouping that. A lot of them had to go to online selling and had to you know, try to get in with some of their local businesses to get some of their art out and they weren't able to actually create a profit from their business," said Arts Huntsville Social Media and Marketing Manager Ashley McCurley. "Well, our goal, with Panoply this year, is to give them that space to do that, and do it safely and to be able to actually get some more revenue in and be able to do what they love most and get back to that being their full-time jobs."
"Events like this provide an opportunity for local artists to cultivate their business and to attract customers and in many cases, such as myself, this is my sole source of income and this is my livelihood and the fact that I'm able to participate in Panoply, this is a business opportunity for me and also it's a great opportunity to attract new clients and get the word out about my artwork to the community in Huntsville," said Pitts.
This event benefits local artists and businesses but also provides hope to the community.
"If anything, this event over the last three days has given people in Huntsville hope that things are getting back to normal," said McCurley.