The Quarantine Residency
On March 9, 2020, before the San Francisco Bay Area was even under any Covid-related restrictions, my friend, Ŀady Jade Beacham, had the foresight to create a Facebook support group. But not just any kind of support group. This particular virtual group was meant to foster one another’s progress on creative projects while in “lockdown.”
Oh yeah, count me in! My mind immediately went to a global scale, and i asked if it was okay to invite others. Next thing we knew…
our intimate group grew to more than 1,200 people
on six continents.
My offer to admin the monster i had created was accepted wholeheartedly. Almost daily, i categorized the posts (e.g., Creations, Collaborations, Process, Advice-seeking, Invitations…) and replied to them. The ritual became my own anchor on many turbulent days.
WHAT IS THE QUARANTINE RESIDENCY?
An artistic residency for whatever you want to make — from highly-skilled metalworkings to crappy crafts ‘n’ cocktails, from online variety shows to kids’ sock puppet theater, from napkin poetry to embroidery.
A way to use this time of confined isolation to EXPAND and CREATE, TOGETHER.
BUT I’M NOT AN ARTIST said many… YES, YOU ARE said we.
So we added a definition. ART: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
[Let’s add to that: "…or appreciated simply for the JOY of the creative process without concern for results."]
At 479 new Creations, The Quarantine Residency continues to grow, seeding conversations and collaborations across town and across oceans. Please join us!
Credit: Kris Kessey
Being quarantined reveals some refreshing and light-hearted twists to the mundane… lady bug car, welcoming toilet, coffee as watercolor paint!
Photo Credit: Chuktroplolis
Credit: Hersley Casero
Credit: Unknown
Using technology to glue our dance and music back together… aiming to recreate the same but different.
Credit: Erin Malley
Credit: Kim Huynh
Going way beyond upcycling… to transform a pizza box into a necklace and earrings, or cough drop wrappers into tiny shirts!
Credit: Laura Echegaray
Credit: Kimberly Alexander
Soooo many hand-knit, hand-sewn, hand-woven creations! Bedspreads, baskets, berries…
Credit: Cee Steele
Credit: Lorena Rodriguez
Handmade stamps and wood reliefs around the world, from The Philippines to Colombia…
Credit: Marz
Credit: Christine Martin
Credit: Alvaro Botero
Credit: Marz
This artist recorded a song EVERY day, for months. Except for the day after we learned of George Floyd’s murder, on which he remained silent for the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that the officer’s knee was suffocating George Floyd. (he also bedazzled his daily to-do lists!)
Credit: Michael Colombo
Credit: Michael Colombo
Speaking of music… oh how your music can heal…
Credit: Montague DelPrader
Credit: Sheila and Jesse
Credit: Sarah Shaw
Photo Credit: Doc Pop
Experiential design took on new spatially-distanced flavors, including a US bipartisan phone hotline and a collaborative neighborhood “scavenger hunt” of scarecrow art.
Photo Credit: Danielle Baskin
Credit: Renée Green
Finding myself wanting to post all 476 Creations (and counting). Instead, i’ll close this post with a beautifully handmade Ouija board, as a symbol of our collective desire to know what lies ahead in this prevailing uncertainty we find ourselves in. Take excellent care of yourself - and maybe invite your inner Artist to come out and play! Our individual and collective creative agency is a panacea for these trying times.
Credit: Rebecca Power