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2021-01-21

"Art Basel postpones Basel show to September and announces three Online Viewing Rooms for 2021"

Released in January 2021, the press release from Art Basel announced another delay in their most prominent art fair after the cancellation of the in-person 2020 addition. The company worked to create Online Viewing Rooms (OVRs) as a makeshift solution for the inability to host these events in public. Thematic OVRs were also announced for the upcoming year.

2020-10-20

A Public Performance in the Middle of the Pandemic

For the last few years, I have coordinated an event called, Dancing for a Brand New Me. It is a fundraiser event that is designed to not only bring about awareness to domestic violence in Lassen County, but it is a fundraiser to help pay for the the mortgage of the shelter for victims. Last year was the 7th year that local "Susanville Stars" were partnered with local professional choreographers to dance three dances before judges similar to NBC's Dancing with the Stars. Our local stars are usually very active community members who spend about 5-6 months learning the dances, but they also fundraiser to get sponsors. It becomes a fun, healthy competition to see who can out dance and out raise funds with each other. Most of the choreographers have participated in the event for many years. It has become a community favorite, selling out tickets both nights the third weekend in October. In 2020, we had to come up with four different plans on how we would perform, because of the pandemic. Our plans included only performing a livestreamed show to relocating our event outdoors. Normally, the event is performed in the local Veterans Hall that is equipped with stage, lights, and sound. In September 2020, I wrote a proposal to public health outlining in detail how we would manage the event. It took weeks for public health to get back to us. But what they approved was that our event could be held at the local High School football stadium, we had to mark off 6-foot distance, require mask, and have screenings at the gate. We had hand sanitizer stations and we were instructed two things: limited seats (200 people) and whatever we did, when we live streamed to not show the audience. The article that I attached talks more about the event than the obstacle it took to put on the event. It is incredibly difficult to move sound equipment in and out of a football stadium every day for a week. It is hard to do a staged performance when you are surrounded by a dirt track. It is hard to have your dressing room be the football locker room. It was very difficult to make all of the modifications and changes that we did. But we did it. And it was an amazing event. Even though we weren't supposed to, we have about 400 people in the audience each night. Most did not wear mask and most were sitting very close to each other. Even one of the public health officials sat in the audience not following the "rules". The event raised over $25,000! Just two weeks after our event, many of the Halloweeen events led to a Covid-19 outbreak in our community and the cases rose rapidly. Prior to Dancing for a Brand New Me 2020, we had zero cases. After Halloween 2020 our cases skyrocketed for a small town. I saw that we happened to just squeeze in one performing arts event just in time before things got bad. I feel like we were lucky and it was probably why the event was so well attended. I have the newspaper article and my proposal attached.

2021-09-29

Vaccine Apartheid

A post from the RedFishStream Instagram page, which details the ways in which the West has dominated vaccine production and distribution, resulting in a disparity between available vaccinations for overexploited nations, particularly in Africa. Largely, this can be traced to patent restrictions either for medical equipment, or for the vaccines themselves; which make producing these vaccines almost, and if not impossible for these nations. As the description reads, "Less than 1% of the almost 6 billion COVID-19 vaccines administered worldwide have gone to low-income countries, while more than 80% were delivered to just 10 wealthy countries. Fewer than 4% of Africans have been fully immunized, with African leaders speaking out against Vaccine Apartheid at the UN General Assembly last week. According to the WHO, only 15% of the promised vaccine donations from rich countries have been delivered to low-income countries. An Amnesty International report published last week highlighted that when world leaders met at the G7 Summit to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out last June, the English county of Cornwall, where the G7 Summit took place, and which has a population of just over half a million, “had administered more vaccinations than 22 African countries combined.”

2021-07-12

SMhopes banners

These banners were made from submissions to the #SMhopes call on this site, and displayed around the City of Santa Monica in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Designed by Paula Goldman and supported by a grant from Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.

2020-07-05

Painted rocks on Iron Horse Regional Trail

These are a series of photos I took on July 5, 2020, of a set of painted rocks I found on the Iron Horse Trail in Danville. The rocks say: "BE KIND" "STRONGER TOGETHER" "DANVILLE GOT HEART" "WHEN THERE'S NO PEACE ON EARTH THERE IS PEACE IN CHRIST" "SRV '20" (in reference to nearby San Ramon Valley High School) "SMILE! 🙂" "EMBRACE THE PAUSE!" "count your BLESSINGS" "Learn from Yesterday" "LOVE has many COLORS" (with a painted Pride flag in the background) "TOGETHER we will PERSEVERE" The rocks are all positive in tone, with a rock celebrating the recently-graduated seniors at the local high school, a rock advocating for queer people, a variety of rocks with generic inspirational messages, and a message urging others to find solace in religion. There is also one rock that references Danville's community explicitly.

2020

Magical Summer!

Because of all the restrictions in place last summer, it was hard to watch all the kids in the neighborhood try and find stuff to keep them occupied and happy. I live next door to three little girls. So one day, when they were not home, I built a small fairy house on the tree between our yards. The girls believed that a fairy had moved in and they couldn't be more excited. Every few days or so I would go and sprinkle glitter around the house so it looked like the fairy was walking around the house. It was so much fun to hear the girls yell in excitement when they saw new glitter or a new addition to the fairy house. It made them and happy and it made me happy. Of course, their parents knew it was me, but to their young imaginations, a real live fairy was living in their yard.

2021-05-17

EVERYTHING I'VE LEARNED ABOUT LOVE

“Everything I learned about love” is a journal of the year 2020 by graphic designer Juddelis Villar where she compiles photographs, journal entries, and poetry she made during the year of the pandemic. Through her little archive of the year, she tells us the story of how finding love in the middle of chaos helped her survive one of the most challenging years in history.

2021-05-21

Help for envisioning the future

This website represents the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It's a pretty remarkable approach to thinking about how we will live in the future. A quotation on the site, from Buckminster Fuller, is a perfect inspiration for the call #SMhopes: an Archive of Hopes and Dreams: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

2021-05-05

Broadway Looks to Reopen at 100% Capacity on September 14

This article discusses Governor Andrew Cuomo's announcement that Broadway can reopen at 100% capacity starting September 14. Broadway has been shut down since March 2020. It seems like the ability to go to see a Broadway show may be dependent on whether or not a person has had a vaccine.

2021-01-22

you good?

At the beginning of the shut down, I got an email from a friend who asked "you good?". I didn't know how to answer that; I wondered if anyone was "good". Over the next few months I worked on a photographic piece for a show at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster that opened in January. I had a neon sign made for the title. The museum then had glowin the dark pins made to sell in their store. It seemed to hit a nerve because it sold out in few weeks and they have to reorder. I have a fantasy of everyone walking around with these pins: you good?

2020-08-30

The Together While Apart Art Project

I want to share a beautiful story about hope, healing and creativity during the pandemic that originated here in Charleston, South Carolina. It is about how 20 artists from 8 different states got together from afar while physically separated to spread joy and happiness through a large art collaboration. There was no other goal than simply wanting to heal our world. The Together While Apart Art Project grew from a desire to combat the sadness and isolation that was prevalent during the pandemic. Twenty artists from over 8 states got together from afar to use their creative gifts to collaborate on one large work of art. What is significant about this group project is that each artist channeled the emotions they were experiencing during the height of the global pandemic in hopes of healing themselves as well as providing comfort to a broader audience. The 20 artists were from many diverse backgrounds and from 8 different states. I was able to locate them through an open call on social media, as well as using contacts generated by a wide range of friends and family. At the onset of this project, the only art supplies I had to send each participant were an abundant supply of recycled shipping boxes. Because much of my art is built from repurposed items, keeping this theme of repurposing for the Together While Apart Art Project was very fitting. I sent each artist several 6” x 6” square pieces of cut cardboard from these recycled boxes with one simple instruction: think outside of the box! My goal was that through the creative process, each artist would find an outlet for his or her feelings and eventually these emotions would transform into joy. Ultimately, our collective joys would be multiplied and shared with many others through our artwork. I knew the world needed this dynamic group’s creative gifts. I also knew these amazing participants needed to share their gifts in order to process the current situation the world was in. I can say with certainty, that I am amazed at the outcome. This collaborative piece tells an inspirational story of resiliency, connections and hope during a pandemic that none of us could have imagined a few years ago. And now, it is time to find this amazing piece a home. If you have a suggestion for an appropriate place that we might donate and/or exhibit this piece, please let me know. I would consider doing a rotation cycle so that several organizations may each enjoy this amazing artwork. Wherever this piece is displayed, I hope it inspires love, warmth, optimism, strength and happiness-the emotions we all felt while creating our individual squares. When people view this beautiful collaboration, they will be reassured that our collective strength grows when we come together by showing love and support for one another. When we connect with one another, we can use our strengths to work towards a greater good. Together, even while apart, we can do great things. And despite the utter chaos and sadness in the world, there are always kind hearted people working to find ways to bring hope and healing to others. Here is a very short video celebrating this project. https://youtu.be/9eGsOCIqESY Fondly, Deane Bowers Charleston, SC 804-874-2929

2021

Reality

Posted in a Banksy fan page on Facebook. Not a Banksy but artist unknown at this point. The OP titled their post "Reality".

2021-04

Pandemic Street Art: Lauren YS/squidlicker and #stopaapihate

Los Angeles-based artist Lauren YS, aka squid.licker, is well known world-wide for their mural street art. During the pandemic, they put up a mural at 1700 Naud Street in Los Angeles that reads, "Stop Asian Hate Crimes" and "Protect Our Elders." Also shown are "Stop Asian Hate" posters, with proceeds going to @stopasianhate and @squidtropica.

2020-04-01

POTUS45 COVID19

As an Australian who has traveled extensively in the US and who has met many kind and generous people over the years, watching America being ravaged by the virus in those early months was horrifying. Especially my beloved NYC. This was compounded by the incompetence and wilful neglect of the Trump administration. And so, this project - the visual smashing together of two mediated narratives POTUS45 and COVID19 - began out of rage in April of 2020 when the death count had (only) reached 100,000. Pasting up these posters across the streets of Melbourne - in a time of helplessness, of lock-downs, of isolation and of global death counts - felt cathartic. It won't of course bring back the dead or heal the suffering of the long haulers, but it was a physical act of artistic expression and global solidarity. That was a year ago, POTUS45 is gone (for now), but the cost of his administration's negligence is represented in the statistics of April 2021 that were unfathomable a year ago.

2020-11-06

Día de los Muertos 2020 with SPARC Art

Traditional celebrations of Día de los Muertos include family and communities gathering to celebrate their loved ones that have passed on. To pivot with the pandemic experiences, SPARC Art hosted a livestream event and virtual ofrenda.

2021-01-16

Pandemic Street Art: The Black Lives Matter Movement and the Black Public Art Tradition (in three parts)

Author James Glenn writes, "From the New Negro Movement to the Black Power and Black Arts Movement to the Black Lives Matter Movement of today, public art created by black artists has served as communal visions of history, heritage, and hope. While it is important to highlight the work of contemporary black artists using their talents to push forward the antiracist demands of the Black Lives Matter Movement. it is imperative to understand that the current work of black artists is a continuation of the traditions black muralists initiated during the early to mid-twentieth century." This blog post explores the Black Public Art Tradition in three parts and includes an overview of Black Public Art during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020-06-25

Pandemic Street Art - When Windows Become Canvases: Street Art for Social Justice

This video by SPARC Art shows a variety of social justice-themed street art in the United States.

2021-04-11

Pandemic Street Art: teenage tagger made to apologize and cleanup

New York teen tags the streets in "response to multiple stressors. Quarantining boredom. Family problems. Feeling stuck since graduating high school and not yet finding a job or college that fit."

2021

Pandemic Street Art: "COVID-19 graffiti" by Stefano Bloch

Stefano Bloch is an Assistant Professor in the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

2021-04-07

First Responder Monument NYC

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the controversial governor of New York, announced earlier this month that they plan to build a monument to first responders in New York City. First responders were among the group of people that were on the front lines of the pandemic response. This monument will be designed to honor the efforts and sacrifices by New York's first responders. In the coming months and years, I think we will see many other states do a similar thing for their first responders and healthcare workers.

2020-03-16

Love in The Time of Corona: Pobel

Our headline comes from adapting the title of a novel by the Nobel prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, replacing the infectious Corona for the infectious Cholera. In his love-triangle story, he speaks of the lessons learned from a particular woman, but he may as well have been speaking about the now-global crisis we humans are facing: “(she) stood him on his head, tossed him up and threw him down, made him as good as new, shattered all his virtuous theories, and taught him the only thing he had to learn about love: that nobody teaches life anything.”

2021-01-14

Venezuela's Pandemic Street Art

A Caracas, Venezuela artist is using his graffiti skills to cheer people up during COVID-19. Wolfgang Salazar has gained popularity for his spray-painted murals of Venezuelan heroes and regular people.

2020-10-28

Indigenous sovereignty and shared solidarity at heart of national art campaign

Indigenous land stewardship is a relatively new term, forged to compel more people to live in closer relationship with the land. As our world passes through multiple crises of our making, racial justice is the ultimate issue, and goal. As such, across many of the pieces commissioned by Nia Tero is the relationship between Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty. A key message in these posters is the encouragement for people to get out and vote, use their voices to effect change on these critical issues and uplift diversity in leadership. The poster on the back of this newspaper page that you’re currently reading is part of a new series made in collaboration with Nia Tero, IllumiNative, and Amplifier Art, which debuted on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020 to elevate the work of Indigenous land stewardship, and to promote support of Indigenous peoples every day. The purpose of this collaboration is to demonstrate how coming together now, in this moment, is critically important for racial justice, climate action and collective liberation.

2020-09-18

Pilot Projects Artist Talk: "La Morena"

Pilot Projects Artist Talk: "La Morena" is a conversation with Arizona-based muralist and painter Lucinda Yrene Hinojos and director Pita Juarez about the short film “La Morena,” on view Sept. 15–19, 2020 as part of Pilot Projects: Art. Response. Now. Lucinda talks about the process behind her murals, art and activism, and what she is working on next. The short film “La Morena” features Arizona artist, Lucinda Yrene Hinojos, who is claiming her roots and activism through her art. She brings all her love, inspiration and pain into creating murals with the guidance of her ancestors who energize her art. The result is a mural that focuses on the power of community, family and healing. This film was produced in association with Mango Skies and Poder in Action. To learn more about La Morena, check out: https://lamorenaart.com/ ***They discuss art during the pandemic, police brutality, social justice, how Covid-19 has affected their art.

2020

Dragon76, George Floyd Mural

Dragon76, originally from Japan is a world renowned street artist who's art touches on coexistence and justice. This public mural of George Floyd asks those who view it to coexist.

2020-12-31

Pandemic Street Art: Art.net exploring street art around the world

This article captures images of several murals around the world that were tributes to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Ahmaud Arbery, Kobe Bryant, and Chadwick Boseman, to doctors and nurses, "as well as messages of hope, strength, and resilience in the face of the global health crisis and ensuing economic downturn."

2020-06-08

Pandemic Street Art: Interview with Ben Eine for GraffitiStreet.com

Interview with London street artist Ben Eine and his experiences during the pandemic.

2020-05-19

Pandemic Street Art: Anat Ronen creating hope through art

Houston-based artist Anat Ronen brings hope to her community through her public art during the pandemic.

2021-03-17

Pandemic Street Art: Dragon76 says, "Stop Asian Hate"

Japanese, New York-based street artist DRAGON76 has just completed a mural in East Village, Manhattan, supporting the “STOP ASIAN HATE” movement. The “STOP ASIAN HATE” mural can be found at East Village, 75 Chrystie St, Lower East Side, Manhattan.

2020-03-06

Pandemic Street Art: skubzmope says DON'T PANIC

Graffiti of a toilet paper roll and the text, "DON'T PANIC"... People were panic buying items like toilet paper when the pandemic really started to take off in infection and death rates and quarantine/lockdowns were initiated in the spring of 2020.

2020-04-27

Pandemic Street Art: Cross-country Corona Chalk Project

A group of chalk artists connected remotely to create a piece of chalk art to honor frontline workers. The artists were Naomi Haverland from Seattle, Washington, Jolene Russell from Sacramento, California, Anat Ronen from Houston, Texas, Jessi Queen from Atlanta, Georgia, Shelly and Dave Brenner from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dave photographed his wife Shelly, who is also a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, for a collaborative chalk art piece with each artist making their part in their hometown.

2021-04-04

LIVE LIFE

During this pandemic, being in quarantine in my house made me realize that life is really short and that you you cherish every moment you have, especially with your loved one. This showed that you should enjoy life and share it with the people around you.

2021-03-29

Justice for Sofia Ramirez

Photographer Malcolm Dole has been documenting street art during the pandemic.

2021-03-29

Street art during the pandemic

Malcolm Dole is a Seattle photographer who is capturing photographs of street art during the pandemic.

2021-04-02

Malcolm Dole captures street art in Seattle, Washington

Malcolm Dole captures street art in Seattle, Washington. This piece shows a masked face perhaps layered over other art or perhaps an intentional effect.

2021-04-03

"Covid Life"

Photographer Michel Nuel posted this street art of the Corona virus smoking.

2021-02-02

With museums shuttered, Paris churches are 'well worth a mass'

As France has continued to deal with lockdowns, one bright spot for the French people is that most of the churches remain open. These churches are serving, for many, as a source of art and culture as museums and theaters have remained closed. Despite the fact that many of the Catholic churches in France are missing some of their most historic items, the interest in the art and architecture of the cathedrals has been renewed during the pandemic.

2020

Pandemic Street Art: TVBoy and pop street art during the pandemic

TVBoy is the artist name of Salvatore Benintende, Italian graffiti artist from based in Barcelona, Spain. Through the months of the pandemic, TVBoy has put up several wheat paste murals incorporating imagery of the pandemic, social justice issues, Catholic imagery, and political topics: a school of fish wearing masks; former President Trump in a Superman costume; the Sacred Heart Jesus figure wearing a mask; imagery of Antonio Canova’s statue The Three Graces (the mythological three charities, daughters of Zeus — Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia — said to represent youth/beauty, mirth, and elegance) wearing form-fitting scrubs, clogs, masks, and representing three well known vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca); imagery of Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper but with Jesus wearing a mask and separating two sides of the table; and others.

2021-03-31

Chris M. Monaghan Oral History, 2021/03/31

This is an oral history of Chris M. Monaghan, an artist based in Dexter Michigan, conducted by Monica Ruth, a graduate student intern with the COVID-19 archive, A Journal of the Plague Year. Chris talks about his street art/chalk artwork, participating in chalk art festivals, how the pandemic has influenced the festival and artist scenes, the sense of community in chalk art, and how chalk art is a source of entertainment, hope, and outlet for mental and physical health.

2021-03-31

Indigenous Art

This is a mural painted by Indigenous artist, Ivan Lee.

2020-05-11

The Masked (Alphenhorn) Man

The Alpenhorn Man statue, affectionately known as "Alpine Al", has welcomed visitors to Smithers, British Columbia since 1979. The statue sits at the intersection of Highway 16 and Main Street, the entry point to the heart of downtown Smithers. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the statue has been "masked" several times by anonymous local residents, in the hope of generating a smile or two - a rare case of Covid humour?

2020-03-22

Pandemic Street Art: Welinoo in Copenhagen - takes no responsibility

Andreas Wellin is a street artist from Denmark, residing in Copenhagen. Some of his recent mural work includes images and themes from the pandemic, including a sneezing woman, and a surreal image of Donald Trump as a COVID-19 virus/Shrek figure. The Shrek-COVID-Trump image includes a caption on the corresponding Instagram post: "I take no responsibility for painting this piece," which is a direct reference to Trump's statement in March 2020 regarding the pandemic, "I don't take responsibility at all.”

2021

We Stand In Solidarity With Our Asian Family

#streetart #seattlestreetart #pandemicstreetart #streetartsculpture #graffiti #gorillaart #seattlepandemicstyle #pandemicstreetartofseattle #graffiti #graffitiporn

2021-03-24

Woman in Mask Street Art

#streetart #streetarteverywhere # streetartaddicted #sticking #streetphotography #artcomposition #sprayart #urbanstreetart #urbanart #urbanwalls #wall #stencilart #art #graffiti #instagraffiti #instagood #instacool #artwork #mural #photooftheday #stencil #streetartistry #stickerart #pasteup #instagraff #instagrafite #picoftheday #swag #smile #contemporaryart #streetartaddict 1d

2021-03-25

Painting of a Nurse

#streetart #streetarteverywhere # streetartaddicted #sticking #streetphotography #artcomposition #sprayart #urbanstreetart #urbanart #urbanwalls #wall #stencilart #art #graffiti #instagraffiti #instagood #instacool #artwork #mural #photooftheday #stencil #streetartistry #stickerart #pasteup #instagraff #instagrafite #picoftheday #swag #smile #contemporaryart #streetartaddict

2021-03-24

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