Pictured above: Actress Andrea Smith

Since the pandemic started it has troubled many working people. People that are often forgotten about are small local artists.

The performing arts is usually a hobby or a hobby one may want to turn into a career, which is almost impossible for local artists to pursue at this time.

“I’m interested in pursuing the art in music,” said CJ Argo, a local High Desert artist. “It’s very hard for me to go out and perform for people because of the risk of the virus, but before the virus it was going good. But now I can only do it from my phone.”

“I’m still working on putting out as much material as I can,” continued Argo. “Even though the virus stops me from performing for people, but it does give me time to master my art and sound I want for my music to hopefully get signed onto a label one day.” Argo is hopeful.

Andrea Smith, a local actress in the high desert, had similar concerns. “I’m pursuing a career in acting,” said Smith. “Covid has made it really hard to find active auditions for productions, and makes it difficult to find classes to attend to keep up your skills or even just smaller opportunities to act. Before Covid, I had auditions lined up for big opportunities but that ended up getting cancelled. I just keep an eye out for auditions to know to get my overall goal, to have a career in TV and film.”

All artists are struggling during Covid-19. Hopefully the virus will decrease soon so artists like CJ Argo and Andrea Smith can resume their creativity.