The audience is no mere observer. How they react to what they see, hear and feel colors the performance and can heighten the experience. All that does not end with the last bow as audience members chat with each other on the way out, and, here in the North Country, often with the performers who come to greet them in the lobby.

The question is, how do you make all that work in a time of social distancing, which may be with us months to come, to some extent, years?

Museums, galleries and other venues are no less challenged. Adirondack Experience’s new name says it all; you come to their venues to experience an increasingly interactive exhibit. How do you make that work within the framework of social distancing? And what of the artists. Most work gig to gig, which for many last just one night before they are on to the next one. If they are lucky, two nights, perhaps a week, and if exceptionally lucky, they work a season like members of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta or actors at Pendragon Theatre.

COVID-19 changed all that. Back in 1918, during the influenza pandemic, the arts took an especially hard hit when health authorities required that all theaters close. They did come back, eventually with a roar as people needed that connection.

Indeed, they demanded it at a time when there was no online alternative. Today we are used to getting information and entertainment online – streamed on our computers, smartphones and tablets — and are being pushed to do even more as distance learning and working at home is becoming a mainstay. Thus, there are challenges for the arts.

For some local arts agencies, it’s a bit of a waiting game and adjusting. As an example, East Branch Friends of the Arts in Keene has no staff, no building that they own as they use venues such as the local library, church and Marcy Field. Their play readings are now online, and they are looking into other adjustments they can make until it’s safe to bring musicians and audiences together.

For the Upper Jay Arts Center, aka The Recovery Lounge, their very survival is in question as their raison d’etre is connecting people through the arts in a very intimate manner in a magical setting. Their theatrical performances tap into local talent, including many who never considered acting before. This approach takes a long time to rehearse and stage with many volunteers helping to make sets and running the front of the house. Seating is tight under the best of circumstances, and the joy is the dynamic between the audience and the actors, musicians or what have you, and them with each other.

“I’m wondering if we’re going to have a future,” said Scott Renderer, founder and director of the Upper Jay Arts Center. “Our spring fundraiser has been canceled. We don’t feel comfortable asking people for money right now because we aren’t doing anything. I’ve been furloughed and will go on unemployment. There’s going to be no summer play, no summer benefit, and no prospects for plays in the immediate future. I’ve got my hands tied in terms of public gatherings.”

The Lake Placid Center for the Arts is better positioned. They have been able to put a lot of educational programming and exhibits online. Even so, they serve as a home to a robust performing arts season that includes the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, concerts and dance performances, films in partnership with the Adirondack Film Society, and others. Cutting out their spring season has hurt; their ability to showcase events this summer and coming fall is questionable. Like them, the Sinfonietta hopes to perform, but at this time, they haven’t finalized their plans.

“We’re just trying to get through,” said LPCA Executive Director James Lemons. “We’ve canceled the summer benefit. We’re discussing what we can do instead that will at least make up a portion of that income. We’ve been very fortunate in some ways; the dance classes have transitioned online, and participation has remained fairly steady. We’ve seen an increase in our online art classes. We now have people from seven states plus Sweden and Canada participating in our Tuesday Paint & Sip.”

While Lemons is pleased to see the reach of their online classes grow, his passion is finding a way to get in-house performances going again. He said from an artistic and communal experience, in-person is very different than online, and to him sacred. Lemons said figuring how to go forward with a performing arts schedule is a difficult struggle. He pointed out that the LPCA being dark hurts many other businesses, especially the restaurants that pack in patrons when the arts center is in full swing.

“I think re-entry is going to be a bit longer and more complicated than we think,” said Lemons.

David Kahn, director of Adirondack Experience, which annually draws about 100,000 people to Blue Mountain Lake museum, is fearing and planning for two or more years before they get back to normal, whatever the new normal will be. Doing so, he’s challenged all their staff to think and plan differently, and to do so with gusto.

“We’ve made the decision not to open this year,” said Kahn. “We’re keeping the year-round staff on. One reason we made the decision as early as we did is so we can refocus the staff from what they were working on before, the exhibits, programs and so on. Everybody is now working on online activities of various kinds. There will be a new landing page. We’ll be doing several things, including collection for the Pandemic Project, asking people for stories, photographs, artifacts. We have our four K-12 staff shifting from going out to schools to developing activities that can be used online by teachers and others for parents. As soon as our videographers can move about, we’d like to do a series on boat makers that people can tune in to.”

Kahn listed a wide variety of other initiatives that delve into potential activities, calling it all a steep learning curve as they try to bring the museum into people’s homes. At the same time, they are thinking about how to reopen in a manner that works with new health parameters still unfolding, all the while modifying their business model so they can generate sufficient income to keep everything going.

The Adirondack Foundation is not sitting still. They’ve been bringing together leaders in the Adirondack Not-for-Profit Network on Fridays to learn from each other and gain wisdom from thought leaders. Kathleen Colson of the BOMA Project is one; she led a tough-love discussion on Survival Strategies for Nonprofits in the Age of COVID-19. Her message: Get cracking, get creative, engage your board and develop strategic partnerships. Also, be clear, be relevant and be visible. Tell your story again, again and again.