A letter from the Collector I hope this website finds you healthy and well. I created this gallery during the Pandemic of 2020. After speaking with many, I found a resounding need for something different. If you are like me my days have all begun to look the same. They blur together with no particular highs or lows, only moments that make me giggle or seconds that sometimes make me sad. We have all faced a loss in this situation. Loss of our seeing our friends, loss of our daily routines, loss of graduations, loss of normalcy, and some of us (myself included at times) have lost hope for things to ever be okay again. Each day we struggle with this new normal while never really knowing when it will truly end. I want each of you to know I am here with you and for you. I've been on social media for more than I ever imagined I would be and one thing that keeps striking me is the use of art to cope with these times. Art means different things to every person. If you have Instagram I highly recommend following morkskywalker. He is a dog that was rescued from the meat trade in China. Tunameltsmyheart is another favorite too. Both of these amazing pet owners invite people to make art of their dogs to auction off to others to bring smiles to people. I myself am the proud recipient of a "Mork Hug." The rainbows of hope movement asked people to draw rainbows on sidewalks and post online to spread joy. This all got me thinking..... For some, art is capturing the now and even the mundane. It is a snapshot in time. Check out this article on the BBC showing a man capturing every daylife in early photography: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-52373308 For some, it is chasing the impossible and trying to bring to life the whimsy that resides in our minds as we try to escape this endless time at home. This video does a fun job of explaining why we make art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlQOytFCRI So my challenge to my students, my friends, my coworkers, and maybe even you is this: I would love for you to make a work of art. Make anything you want. Take a picture of anything you want. Draw anything you want. Paint anything you want. Keep it appropriate though. And send it to me. My goal is to create a digital gallery of what you all are finding hopeful, sad, normal, or idealized in this time of the pandemic. I want to see what living in this pandemic looks like through your eyes. I am also going to include some questions for you to answer with this art: Why did you choose this as art to represent yourself during a pandemic? What did making this allow you to express? I would love to have these as soon as possible but I also want you to take your time. If you are my student, this will be your final assignment for this class and will be due on June 1st 2020. But I did want to give it to all of you now to start thinking about how the pandemic will be reflected in your eyes. Maybe its a picture of the chickens you've now gotten to raise since you weren't at school (Fletcher.) Maybe it is a cool new character design of the coronavirus personified (Caitlyn.) Maybe it is a simple snapshot of the things you have come to love like sitting with your family in the evenings on a weeknight around a fire that you never got to do before (Michelle.) Show me through art what this pandemic is to you. And to my seniors.....obviously, grades don't matter but I would really love to see your work anyway. What a beautiful final tribute to your highschool experience! I am including many of my artists friends to join in with this. Many of these people are professional artists, some are former students, some are current art majors, and some are just my art buddies. I cannot wait to put this all in an online gallery to share with our school. "Art Through the Eyes of a Pandemic" Feel free to send me more than one image. Carly I would love to show your embroidered mask. I know Alex has been burning up the iPad with cool new designs. Casey is always taking cool pictures of makeup. Send me any and everything you want. The more my students can see the merrier, and the more inspirational. Don't forget to tell me what this art means and shows about you and this experience. The story can be just as powerful as the art itself. Oh and don't forget to let me know how you want to be credited as well! I look forward to uniting us all together through art and can't wait to see what you make! With love and art, Catherine Deaton Visual Art Teacher OGHS |