Creative Courant: Newsletter #6

 

Hi all!  I’m celebrating because my family end our strict self quarantine today after FOUR WEEKS. For the most part it’s been interesting existing in our little bubble, but I’m ready for some long walks!

There are lots of celebrations going on virtually around the world.  It’s graduation season so we’ve included some creative ways people are marking theirs in a time that demands resiliency and innovative thinking.  It’s important to mark these times with some sort of ritual and you’ll love how people adapted around the country and made this time special.

Even though restrictions are easing, there is a long way to returning to life as we knew it.  This weekend is a holiday weekend in the U.S. It’s the type of weekend that marks the beginning of summer and is typified by BBQs, time on the beach and swimming.  If having absolutely no activities planned isn’t odd enough, the weather prediction where I am calls for rain and unseasonably cold temperatures. It will definitely feel strange - or really just like any other day in the past 10 weeks.

To counter this, we’ve beefed up our activity section with things to do from all around the world, whether it’s theater, film festivals, art tours or baking, we’ve got you covered!

Enjoy!

Suzanne

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The Next Brady Bunch During COVID?

Quarantined TV writer Jenny Jaffe will write the opening scene to a random episode of your sitcom idea if you tweet at her.

Having Your Say

Patick Shearn’s Poetic Kinetics group is designing an art installation called “Change in the Air”, made of phrases submitted in response to questions about experiences with COVID-19. Click here for more information on how to contribute your own message that answers the questions “When this is over…” or “What if we had…”.

So Long Boring Workshops

With Company off-sites and seminars not possible during these socially distant times, team building and training demands some creativity for engagement.  Read how the Second City improv troup is teaching corporate types to play.

Creating Together

The age-old trope that the creative process has to be isolating is challenged with this initiative. HITRECORD has launched Create Together #WithMe -a new series about making art and community out of uncertain times— and is inviting you to take part.

When There’s Purpose, There’s Resilience

This article describes the characteristics of the businesses succeeding during the pandemic, and highlights the merits of businesses promoting and incorporating positive values. Certified B-Corps have a leg-up because their missions and value are clear.

Maybe Billboards Aren’t Such a Bad Thing

A European based initiative is using billboards across the U.K. as a method of promoting the work of art and design students who could not present their final work using a traditional method. The Ocean Outdoor organization donated thousands of pounds to provide billboards for two weeks of exhibitions, starting May 25.

From Drag Shows to Town Halls

This article describes the ways that politicians and voting organizations are using virtual tools to promote civic engagement during the pandemic engage Gen Z and millennials in political involvement, even online. Online webinars to promote registering to vote online have already been shown to be a major success.

Tubing or Dining...or Both?

This seafood restaurant in Maryland is using specially designed tables made of inflated tubes and wheels for socially distant outdoor seating. The restaurant plans to have a total of 50 total bumper tables throughout their space due to their success, and the concept is spreading nationally.

A WORLD OF CREATIVITY: Some activities you can do at home from around the globe.

  • The New York International Children’s Film Festival has been moved online this year, a new concept for a 20-year-old festival. While the festival usually lasts four weekends, this years’ festival passes instead include 48 hours of access to films online. The two passes available are for ages 3-7 or 8+. Click here for more information. 

  • The London Symphony Orchestra streams live on Sunday, May 24.

  • Click here for information on how several major fashion designers are innovating and creating virtual content during quarantine. Between Dior’s ballet workshops, Alexander McQueen’s at-home design challenges, and Manolo Blahnik’s coloring pages, there’s resources for days of entertainment.

  • The National Theatre is streaming Tennessee Williams’ classic play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, for the next instalment of its NT at Home strand. Gillian Anderson plays Blanche DuBois in the critically acclaimed Young Vic production. Catch it on its YouTube channel. 

  • England’s Stoke Newington's non-denominational garden cemetery is celebrating its 180th birthday with a month-long virtual series of talks and tours. One of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ Victorian garden cemeteries in London, the virtual talks include a look into the park’s trees and ecology, a virtual dawn chorus and an audio walk exploring woodland magick.  

  • The Andy Warhol retrospective opened at Tate Modern on March 12, before swiftly closing on March 17. Now, you can take an online tour round the show via the gallery’s YouTube channel and website. 

  • Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum: The Gardner can also be toured through Google Arts & Culture, and if you've never watched the fascinating intro video on the museum's homepage, now's a great time.

  • A Day at the Uffizi. You can scroll through more than 300,000 works in the digital archives of the Uffizi, Florence’s treasure chest of Renaissance art. Botticelli, Titian and Canaletto – all the big boys are here. Click on the HyperVisions tab for thoughtfully curated tours around themes such as angels, epiphany and ‘intercultural vision’. 

  • Whitney Museum Of American Art is now offering a chance to pay artistic tribute to essential workers with its free webinar, “Artmaking From Home: Monuments to Essential Workers,” which is being live-streamed on Zoom this Saturday May 16 at 3pm.

  • The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood will stream free for a limited time.

  • In the mood for some baking? Here’s the recipe for the NYC iconic bakery Magnolia Bakery

  • Britbox lets you stream every Shakespeare play you’ll ever need.

 
Suzanne Miller Farrell