Current covid safety policy:

Visitors, artists, staff, and volunteers need to know what to expect when deciding to participate in RiverArts activities. To help us keep our spaces open and our programs operating as fully as possible while protecting our visitors, staff, and volunteers, we commit to the following (October 8, 2021):

• Everyone over the age of 2 must wear masks at all indoor RiverArts spaces, regardless of vaccination status. 
• Physical distancing of at least 6 feet is required, especially when gathered for a lengthy period of time, as in a class.
• All staff, contracted employees, and volunteers who interact with the public must be vaccinated against Covid.
• Those who enter RiverArts spaces must sign in with a name and contact information, in case contact tracing is needed. We will destroy sign in sheets after two weeks and will not use the information for any other purpose.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we continue to respond to changing conditions.

RiverArts will continue to monitor Covid 19 conditions and follow local, state, and federal mandates and guidance from public health experts. We reserve the right to adjust policies and make decisions based on the needs of our organization, staff, and volunteers.

Click here to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Background and principles:

The covid pandemic has been and remains an unprecedented and unpredictable situation with frequent new developments, some hopeful, some discouraging. Every person, household, and locality has a unique set of needs, resources, obligations, risk factors, and potential for exposure. As a result, organizational decisions about policies and procedures are complex. In the pandemic's ever-changing landscape, they are not a destination at which to arrive, but a process that must be navigated and re-navigated at each step on the route. Without a solid roadmap or a clear arrival point, these decisions are manageable if we have a framework of priorities and principles acting as beacons lighting the way.

Heeding the guidance of experts, staying abreast of developments, and following a consistent set of priorities has guided RiverArts throughout the pandemic: The first of these priorities is the people, meaning the health and safety of our staff and their families, our volunteers, members, participants, and the wider community. If the people aren't ok, we can't do anything. The second is our mission, "Growing community, creativity, and connection through the arts." Covid policies need to support carrying out that mission as much as they can. Finally, the third is the survival and stability of RiverArts. Stability isn't stasis; the passage of time always brings change. In a pandemic, change is rapid, drastic, and (again) unpredictable. Recognizing, embracing, and working with the unavoidable change increases the likelihood of survival and, paradoxically, the best hope for stability.

^{Posters courtesy of The Viral Art Project. Artist credits: left, Margaret To. Center, Pamela Joy Trow. Right, Cat Kirk + Scott Stowell}