The Hopewell Valley Arts Council is working to lift residents’ days with an online daily dose of art.
The initiative showcases art creations as artists and other residents cope with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in New Jersey.
Art creations have been displayed on the arts council’s Facebook page and website for members and non-members since March 14.
“I was thinking what do I do to get my mind off this. I said I need to make art and that is something I do in situations such as these. That is when the idea of a daily dose of art popped in my head,” said Carol Lipson, executive director of the arts council.
“What is interesting is that it played off the event we cancelled about the healing power of art. We have been using a quote in our posts that art is the only way to run away without leaving home,” Lipson said.
She said people have always used art to cope with emotions and mental challenges.
“This effort brings out the creativity of others. We are not making masterpieces, but just wonderful creations,” Lipson said. “People of all ages are taking these projects and making them either more complex or simple.”
Lipson described one man whose piece of art included empty liquor bottles. He made homemade sanitizer and gave out sanitizer liquor bottles to his community.
“We had one woman who is a local art teacher thank us for the projects. She said she is sending the ideas from the projects to her students on spring break. We want people to explore their own creativity whether there is a crisis or not,” Lipson said.
“There are a lot of sites online where you can look up project ideas, but we are trying to make it easy for people so they do not have to go searching. We are making the Facebook page and website the one-stop shop for ideas,” she said.
There is not a set theme each day for the daily dose of art posts. Arts council representatives are instead offering ideas for projects people can make with materials they have on hand.
“I’m trying to have people be able to use things such as markers, paper plates and other items most people would normally have at home,” Lipson said. “We find that our role is helping people find that creativity, not necessarily by calling themselves artists, but by creating different mediums of art.”
Individuals may participate by posting their creations on Facebook with #HVArtsDailyDose or through email at [email protected]
For more information, visit www.hvartscouncil.org