Creative Courant: Newsletter #10

 

Hello and happy Friday.

While my area is slowly opening up, the bulk of our family’s activities are still centered around our home.  Today marks my 99th day in shelter in place mode.  It seems like in these 99 days the world has completely changed.  Seeing how the peaceful protests have spread globally and to all corners of the rural US and how they seem to be resulting in a massive shift in favor of racial justice gives me hope. 

At the heart of human existence is creativity.  Using this super power that we all possess will surely help solve these complex issues with fresh thinking, new ways to collaborate and new paths forward.

Enjoy your weekend and enjoy this week’s collection of stories of creativity and activities you can do yourself or with your family.

Suzanne

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Art As Therapy

  • Several major art museums globally are incorporating art therapy in future programming. Museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Queens Museum are designing exhibitions post-pandemic with art therapy in mind. “There is a need to develop porous cultural institutions that are open, inclusive, and empathetic as we recover from living through a prolonged period of isolation and loss.”

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art is keeping a list of paintings that might offer some calm, like this one of domestic tranquility, Honoré Daumier’s “The Laundress”(1863).

Pop-Up “I Do”

  • Read about a new wedding trend that has resulted from the pandemic: “micro-weddings” or “pop-up weddings”. 

New Heights For Graduates

  • Read about the extraordinary and unique graduation ceremony, which took place at the top of a mountain in North Conway, New Hampshire.

Photo Diaries

  • #TheFrontStepsProject is a Boston photography initiative that began at the beginning of the quarantine was originally created to benefit a community organization in the area. Initially a 5-minute photo session on family’s porches and a digital file of the finished portrait after an exchange for a donation to an organization, the program has expanded globally since March, and photographers in communities around the world are hosting their own photoshoots to benefit local organizations. So far, the initiative has raised almost $2 million for organizations around the world.

Art Bus Fun

  • The “Art Bus LNK”, a former school bus turned mobile art studio, will provide free art supplies and instruction to young artists in the Lincoln, NE area. The bus’ supplies include opportunities for painting, drawing, jewelry, clay-making, and photography, and was created by local photographer Letura Idigima in order to provide supplies to students without access. Click here for the story, and here for more information about the organization itself.

Finding Fashion in the Face Mask

  • Read how curators at the Museum at FIT added face masks to their retrospective of fashion exhibit Head to Toe.

If You Can See it You can Buy It

  • Etsy’s app recently added an augmented reality feature, which allows users to see what a certain piece would look like in their home if the user purchased the item. With the app’s new AR feature, users can also change the location of the piece and change its size, which aims to make online shopping for the perfect wall art for your specific home significantly easier.

What The Future Holds

A World of Creativity

  • Global Pride 2020 will feature all-day live stream of performances, talks, films and messages of support will be hosted on YouTube by choreographer and viral star Todrick Hall

  • Virtual Juneteenth Celebrations: Here are some virtual celebrations across the country that can help you celebrate Juneteenth. 

  • The Morgan Library in New York also offers a family program on Tuesday, June 23: “What’s Your Sign?” Part 2. In this second session, continue to explore the incredible ceilings of the J. Pierpont Morgan's Library, where the gods of Greek mythology are paired with Zodiac signs. Discover the hidden horoscope of J.P. Morgan and learn where to find your own birth sign.

 
Suzanne Miller Farrell