Creative Courant: Newsletter #7

 

While many parts of the U.S. and Europe are beginning to ease lockdown restrictions, most of us are still spending the bulk of our time sheltering in place.

Zoom fatigue, general malaise and the sameness of the last eleven weeks has begun to wear.  Today is my 78th day sheltering in place and it seems that the only thing that has punctuated our days is the weather. The uniform of bulky sweaters and jeans has given way to linen and shorts, yet it feels like not much else has changed.

As always, below are some pleasant distractions in the creative realm that will hopefully brighten your day and provide you with some pleasant distraction.

Have a great weekend!

Suzanne

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Borrow a BBQ?

Art For Everyone

  • A fifth grader from Connecticut recently founded “Chelsea’s Charity” to provide children in need with art supplies during quarantine. She creates art kits with a variety of supplies to provide to elementary schools and homeless shelters, and has distributed 1,500+ kits in the past three months. 

Not Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen



Can We Do it Again?

  • Click here for an interesting clip from the NPR podcast “All Things Considered” about the influence of the New Deal on American art. Writers, singers, and storytellers of all mediums, including Jackson Pollock and Ralph Ellison, benefitted from New Deal funded projects during the Great Depression.

Digitizing From Home

  • This article describes the methods that Kansas City’s National World War I Museum and Memorial used to protect their 42 employees during quarantine. One method, transitioning employees from in-person museum jobs to at-home transcription, allowed the employees to keep their jobs and digitize thousands of hand-written paper artifacts. Read the piece for input from the CEOs and employees of the museum on how this change will benefit the museum in the future.



A World of Creativity

Where There’s Rock There’s Roll

  • Check out these resources for online activities for all ages on the website for Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to the museum’s “Rock Hall EDU” program with educational resources and archives, the museum releases activities weekly about specific musicians throughout rock history.  

Strangers Unite

  • Red Bull has a new new digital series, Red Bull Check Your DMs. It recently launched on Red Bull TV and YouTube, and follows multiple musicians from different countries and different musical backgrounds who have never met, as they collaborate to create a hit song.

PS I love You

  • For a way to support the Post Office and break out your favorite stationary, check out More Love Letters. This organization, founded in 2011, has facilitated the mailing of over 250,000 letters to people who could use notes of encouragement. 

Women in History

  • Click here to access the National Women’s History Museum’s online exhibits, which span topics like women in fashion, women in sports, and highlights on specific female changemakers. Another interesting interactive component is its “Women Writing History” initiative, which asks for journal submissions for their archive.

Digital Passport

  • This article describes the experience of a journalist who staged her own “virtual vacation” to Paris, but all of her tips are easily applicable to any city in the world. Some highlights include virtual tours, trying recipes from that area of the world (or supporting a local restaurant), and even making your own custom boarding passes.

Inside the Mind of a Master

  • The Getty takes you through its Michelangelo exhibit and the master’s creative process.

Flower Power

A Tribute

  • Watch as Liza Lou reflects on her monumental installation 'Kitchen', a tribute to the unsung labor of women throughout time. Made over the course of five years, 'Kitchen' presents a full-scale, exactingly detailed room encrusted in a rainbow of glistening glass beads. 

 
Suzanne Miller Farrell