Burlington Discover Jazz Festival managing director Chelsea Lafayette posted March 4 on Facebook that she was leaving the job she has held for five years. She drew her post to a close with a devastating reflection on what the past year in the arts world has been like.
“To performing artists, my colleagues here in Burlington, festival staffers, production teams, and creators of the shared experiences that bring our communities together all over the world: give yourselves permission to feel your own personal trauma as well as the trauma of witnessing the decimation of our industry,” Lafayette wrote. “It broke a lot of us. It broke me.”