Items

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  2021-03-26

  Mask trash #26

  Black and white checker fabric face mask near Tempe Beach park.
• 2021-01

  An Old Gray Piece of Cloth

  Gabriel Rheaume’s Sensory history contribution to COVID-19 Archive I would like to submit my gray, cotton face mask to the COVID-19 Archive. It is perhaps not as the most important item, but certainly it is the most present item for me throughout this pandemic. At almost a full year into this adventure, everyone has a keen familiarity with and opinion of face masks. I got this one as a gift. It feels about the same as getting socks on Christmas, except more useful. I have used this thing every single day unless I forget it—which sends me into a chaotic panic. I am a teacher in a suburb of Nashville, TN. Our school district insists on teaching in person, despite having alarmingly high infection rates in our community. This mask is now part of my daily uniform, a non-negotiable. It serves as a role model for students. A sign that their health is of paramount concern to us. It is part of everything I do. I have dozens of paper replacements in my desk. Those aren’t as good. They straps hurt your ears. The cloth ones are better, more comfortable. I thought about getting one with my favorite band’s logo, but I am going to stick with this old reliable gray, cotton mask. The smell of this mask will haunt me the rest of my life. I wash it multiple times per week. It often smells like laundry detergent. That is a good thing. However, by the end of the day it often smells like whatever I had for lunch. The masks gets hot. It is blasted with my carbon dioxide for eight hours straight. It gets really bad when I have to lecture during the day. When you inhale sharply to talk, it sucks in the material. I’ve learned how to breathe differently when I have the mask on. Sometimes I just pinch the end and hold it with my fingers while I talk. I can rarely take it off. I panic if I forget to put it on when I leave my classroom to go anywhere. Who would have ever thought this little cloth mask would be so important? I often doubt that it is effective at preventing the spread or contraction of infection. I am certainly NOT an anti-masker. But it’s a piece of cloth. I guess that it’s better than nothing. This gray cotton face mask, sometimes imbued with the glorious smell of fresh linen in the breeze or Last night’s roast and mashed potatoes has become a source of loathing and resentment, but simultaneously an anti-viral security blanket (if only in my imagination). Yet, I can’t wait to get rid of this vile thing.
• 
  2020-10-01

  Interview by Dr. Juilee Decker and Alicia Evans, educator and Fiber Artist

  Alicia Evans describes her busy life before COVID. She was a professor at City University New York as well as a fiber artist and medical actor. She describes how her work changed due to COVID, and how virtual learning has changed the way things are taught. She shares her art and stories about how she is impacting lives through her work and art.
• 
  2020-03-30

  Sewing Masks for Friends and Family

  There was a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the start of the pandemic. I was anxious for my family and friends, especially for the nurses in my life who didn’t have any face masks. Once my mom and I saw on the news that cloth masks were an acceptable form of PPE, we knew exactly what to do. We busted out our library of fabric that we had collected over the years and dusted off our sewing machines. My grandma taught my mom to sew, and my mom passed the skill down to me. We started off making free masks for my friend’s sister and her fellow nurses. None of our other friends or relatives knew how to sew and when word got out that we were making masks, the orders started pouring in. My mom, brother, and I relied heavily on our crafting skills in order to fill custom orders. During the first month of the mask making craze, it was difficult to buy fabric that our friends were requesting. Solid black, Spurs, Cowboys, and dark colored fabrics as well as elastic were hard to find. Furthermore, Joann’s had limited hours and their best fabrics were sold out online and in-stores. My brother printed custom images on heat transfer vinyl that I would then press onto the fabric, and I bought bedsheets and dyed fabric to create colors that we didn’t have in stock. My mom and I already had a bad habit of buying fabric for no reason, and now that we have an actual purpose our collection has grown even more. I look for fabric that suits the personality of my friends and try to find prints that are cute and festive for each season. My friends and family will own wear masks that my mom and I have made. I think they take comfort in knowing each mask was made especially for them. As for my mom and I, we are relieved in knowing that our loved ones are protected with masks that fit their personalities.
• 
  05/13/2020

  Face Masks as Fashion: Cloth Masks to Shop Now

  A list of 100 "of the most stylish masks" available for purchase, such as a $100 satin mask from Proenza Schouler. Vogue notes that "given the prevalence of mask selfies, it's likely that masks will start to become fashion items, rather than merely functional." Reilly Dunne, Fordham University, SOCI2800
• 2020-05-03

  small Masks businesses

  With the lack of masks being sold in and through stores, people have now been making small businesses of their own by sewing and making them. People have gotten really creative with their masks lately. I've seen bandanas, scarves, and oddly enough plastic shields over their faces. Currently, our local Walmart is being cleaned out of all its fabric. Last time I checked it was pretty much empty. People are taking orders for others and selling homemade masks. I have 3 co-workers who sell them, one even sells ones with sports team patterns. I just bought a patriots one for my grandma. I just never thought about people making a living off of masks, its a good time for people to learn how to sew if anything.
• 2020-05-03

  small Masks businesses

  It has now been a month or two into the pandemic surrounding my local area. Many local businesses are never going to open again because they have been out of business for too long. Walmart is also out of fabric because people have been making a living off of masks now. 3 of my co-workers are even selling and sewing masks. How interesting is it too that now people are selling them with specific designs like sports teams. I just bought my grandma a patriots mask the other week for $7. People come in all the time for masks since I work at a grocery store, to begin with, we never sold that many. Now we have people ordering them through my previously mentioned co-workers and picked up later. I didn't even think that these would be a business.
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  2020-05-01

  Masks for Donations- Hospice of the Valley

  When the suggestions came out for being safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, I made a couple of masks for myself and they turned out to be really nice. Having a lot of leftover quilting fabrics, I decided I could make masks for my friends and co-workers. I noticed online that people were making masks and charging for them, with some costing up to $20 each. I didn't want to profit from the pandemic but I did want to 'make a difference', so I decided to suggest that each mask recipient make a voluntary donation to Hospice of the Valley. (Hospice has been caring for my 100 year old cousin and I thought this would be a nice way to give back and show my appreciation for all they have done through the years for my family.) Happily, everyone who ordered masks gave me a donation check with some being more than generous! Yesterday, I took the first batch of checks to Hospice and presented them to Lin Sue Cooney, Director of Community Engagement. They were so appreciative and I am so thankful for all those who contributed. Amidst all of the bad news about COVID-19, I feel like I created some good news for a change. I am getting pleasure out of creating some fun masks for people to wear to stay healthy, the donors will receive a Hospice receipt for a tax deduction, and Hospice will benefit from their donations. It's a win,win, win!!! Pictures from left to right: Me in 1 of my masks 2. another mask, 3. my work station, a.k.a. kitchen table, 4. me and my sewing machine, 5. Hospice of the Valley, 6. Arriving at reception area of Hospice, 7. Me with Lin Sue Cooney, Director of Community Engagement Hospice of the Valley 1510 E. Flower St., Bldg. 2 Phoenix, AZ 85014 602 287-7000 hov.org
• 
  2020-04-16

  My Instagram Feed April 4-16 2020

  My little hand-production company (custom hand painted fabrics for interiors)?agut down operations Match 18. Everyone was load off and I suddenly found myself working from home for the first time in 42 years. To keep us together spiritually I posted shots of our home activities, and it came to pass that masks took over., 3 of my work team of young people decided on their own individually to make masks at the very beginning of this. I thought quietly to myself, ho hum whatever. They taught me a lesson without meaning to. I sure as heck never thought I’d be caught dead in a mask - I had read the science back then, 4 weeks ago. It turns out, intuitively, they were on to something. Finally on April 16 so I put one on just to say - right on, next gen- you got this one! Just a tiny example of how the sweeping pandemic is blowing out all our preconceptions.