Self-styled "graphiquè artistè" Brian Barber says: "A couple months ago I thought about doing a very short, very silly draw-a-long type series of videos, and this seems like a heckuva good time to give it a shot. Kids are stuck at home, we need something other than Netflix to get through."
Tara Austin – Boreal Ornament III
The Joseph Nease Gallery is closed until further notice, but they want local art lovers to know they're taking full advantage of the many ways to stay connected.
You can read the exhibition program here to find out more about Austin’s work.
You can watch Kathy McTavish’s recent artist talk, as well as many other gallery videos and artist talks on the Nease Gallery YouTube channel.
Americans for the Arts says : "This survey is designed to collect information about the financial and human impacts that the spread of the coronavirus have had on arts and cultural organizations since that date. The survey also collects basic information about the participating organizations so that the data can be parsed by specific geographic regions, artistic disciplines, and budget categories. Thank you in advance for spending five minutes to fill it out!"
5-Minute Survey: The Economic Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Arts and Cultural Sector
And finally, if that sewing machine has been gathering dust in a closet somewhere, it might be time to dust it off and try this project Dr. Andie Boehland, an emergency physician at Essentia, shared to social media:
NORTHLANDERS PLEASE SHARE THIS POST: I'm a local ED doctor. We healthcare providers need your help. My mom made a face mask pattern which is pretty darn nice (see below). We healthcare workers need Northlanders to make a bunch of these cloth masks. Here's what I need you to know about this idea:
1. This mask WILL NOT PROTECT THE WEARER FROM CORONAVIRUS. However, it will prevent the wearer from spreading spittle when they cough or sneeze. This will hopefully prevent coronavirus from becoming aerosolized as much or from landing on surfaces so much. So, this mask PROTECTS THE PEOPLE AROUND THE WEARER from coronavirus. Somewhat.
2. Nation-wide personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages are an urgent, very real, and to me very surreal, problem. Here in Duluth we have enough medical-grade PPE that we are still using the real stuff for staff and for coughing patients at both hospitals. However instead of changing our medical-grade masks for each patient as we have always done before, the nationwide shortages have forced us at both hospitals to now wear just one mask per healthcare worker all day long (with a few exceptions for messy procedures). What these cloth masks will allow us to do is to augment our hospital safety by giving every patient who arrives to the ED a mask, even if the patient comes in for a broken ankle or some other unrelated problem. Especially since people can transmit coronavirus before they are actually sick, we think this will help patient & staff safety. If we get enough of these masks, we will share with other local hospitals, nursing homes, and group homes as well. We may use them to cover up our re-used N-95 masks. We hope to not have to use them, God forbid, as a medical-grade equivalent, but in some other places it has come to that.
3. We in the healthcare industry need support right now. We are working so incredibly hard to raise that dotted black line on the "flatten the curve" graph. However the nation-wide shortages of PPE and test kits are so difficult to fathom that we start to become angry, confused, or sad. We sometimes feel like nobody is supporting us. These masks, honestly, might be a way for the community to show us support and love. We need that right now.
4. Back to flattening the curve: it's really important. If everyone in the northland were to get sick at the same time, we could not manage the ~20% that would need hospitalization all at once. The choices that doctors are making right now in Italy about who gets their limited resources sound beyond heart-wrenching. Please stay home. Please maintain social distance. Please cover your coughs. Please wash your hands.
With many thanks to my mom and my friends, and all of their friends, and especially to Hannah Johnson fabrics, here's the pattern with instructions about washing, sewing, packaging safely, and dropping off safely (foot pedal on outside receptacle at Hannah Johnson, nothing to touch with hands as you drop them off):
Thanks Mom.
Love,
Dr. Andie Boehland
