Note: As with most of our content concerning the effects of COVID-19 on our communities, this post will be updated as we get more information.
Artists, like everyone else around the globe, are currently following recommendations to restrict gatherings that could spread COVID-19. Most are left in a limbo of cancelled events and receptions and performances, and are trying to figure out how to navigate the pandemic and still get their work in front of an audience.
•At Glasstire, we are working with Texas art galleries and non-profits to move some exhibitions online.
•Another such effort is The Social Distancing Festival, an online artist community celebrating and showing the work of artists from around the world affected by social distancing recommendations due to the spread of the virus.
•The Social Distance Gallery is another online platform created to host BFA & MFA thesis shows amid the pandemic. It is on Instagram.
“In the wake of the ongoing public health crisis, 12.26, the Dallas area gallery, presents wfh (work from home), an entirely online, continuous group exhibition. Starting today, we will be posting works on paper to both our website and social media. These works are all unique and created by artists during this critical time of social distancing and self-isolation.
As most galleries, including 12.26, have temporarily closed their doors, we want to offer a digital space in which artists’ work can be seen while also doing our part to help keep our community safe and healthy.”
•Ted Kincaid, a Dallas visual artist and educator, has launched the Pandemic Faire. It will, as he puts it, “bring work by contemporary visual artists directly to the viewing and collecting public, without that abject fear of contagion by some art consultant who became infected on a client’s private jet.”
• (not visual art but really cool) The Metropolitan Opera in NYC will stream free operas and will present encores of The Met’s acclaimed Live in HD series on its website. It’s a lot of fantastic operas! “We’d like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times,” says Met general manager Peter Gelb. “Every night, we’ll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years.” See the story and get the links, via NY Mag, here.
We have also published an updating news post on artist and arts professional resources during this time.
Do you know of any artists or arts org-related initiatives that aim to get art in front of audiences during the pandemic? Please share your news, info, and links with us. You can put them in the comments section here, or email us at [email protected] or [email protected].