Yesterday, National Gallery of Art director Kaywin Feldman send a letter to the public entitled “What is Essential?” and this line stuck with us “For me, art is essential, as it is the expression of what it means to be human. In experiencing art and creativity, we feel the power of our shared humanity, and empathize with one another as well as those who came before us“. And now, more than ever, would could use some beauty and creativity in our daily lives.
Below, a list of ways to BE with art right now, and we will be updating this list weekly:
- our handy Go To A Museum Without going to a Museum list.
- Magnum has been doing amazing work in sharing stories within their photography community: from launching Diary of a Pandemic, a curation of images made by Magnum photographers around the world, working and living under varying degrees of social restriction. Alongside this, Quarantine Conversations sees pairings of photographers – drawn at random – sharing frank, unedited video dialogues about work, current affairs, and everything in-between.
- PLUS: check out a free trial of our latest online course, Alec Soth: Photographic Storytelling, today
- While March is behind us, celebrating female artists is still something that should be on our daily agenda: Aperture has this amazing list of 14 essential articles about women who changed photography, including stories about the women behind the first photo gallery AND the first photo book, Graciela Iturbide’s visions, pioneers of war photography and more.
Graciela Iturbide image via aperture.org
- Speaking of Graciela Iturbide – while the in-person experience of her spectacular retrospective show at National Museum of Women in the Arts has been cut short – make time to check out the digital exhibition now.
Graciela Iturbide, Mujer Ángel (Angel Woman), Sonoran Desert, 1979; Gelatin silver print, 13 x 18 ⅜ in.; Collection of Elizabeth and Michael Marcus; © Graciela Iturbide; Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- In more of a DIY, but still female centric mood? There is a Women’s History Month (it is still March!) coloring book project by Cat Willet you can download for free and spend your day coloring Dolly Parton or Toni Morrison. Yes please.
- ARTECHOUSE has been running amazing behind-the-scenes video essays of their past exhibitions on their instagram account (@artechouse). Make sure to check it out and also #SupportARTECHOUSE by purchasing a ticket to use at a non-COVID quarantined time.
- virtually explore Transformer’s Which Yesterday is Tomorrow? and also make sure to check out their Phone Call series “which brings together poets and artists in immediate response to the shutdowns surrounding COVID-19 in an effort to connect people during a time of isolation.”
- get familiar with some art podcasts – we enjoy Dialogues by David Zwirner – the latest episode is dedicated to the underground museum founder Noah Davis, with the likes of Khalil Joseph and Karon Davis
- Immerse yourself in the iconic, game-changing world of Jacob Lawrence via this multi-media tour of The Migration Series from the Phillips collection
Jacob Lawrence Migration Series via Phillips Collection
- PLUS, for those home educating: 10 Digital education resources from National Gallery of Art
HAVE ART PROJECTS TO SUBMIT?
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