ART in the TIME of COVID

 My husband and I have been hunkering down since March. We stopped our social and vacation adventures in February. Our excursions now involve  either a quick trip to the grocery store one every couple of weeks and a daily trek to the dog park.

As you can see from his picture, he loves the park and is thoroughly exhausted until it's time to play again!

So back to making art in the time of Covid. In March, April, May and much of June I did very little glass. I made tallit clip gifts, I shopped in June for glass at Bullseye...yes I shopped in person. They allowed customers to make an appointment to come in and purchase sale glass! But still I did not glass.

COVID loomed on my mind. My mother-in-law, at age 93 was recently widowed and two weeks later she developed an eye in her remaining "good" eye, and went blind. Suddenly her world shifted, since she could no longer remain in her independent living apartment. She moved to convalescent care in the same complex. Oh, did I mention...she lives in Florida! We don't!    Once Covid struck, her isolation grew. No visitors, including a stellar care giver who faithfully came multiple times a week to provide her with companionship as well as helping her with routine chores she couldn't manage on her own.

The questions without answers kept bouncing around my head. How "at risk" am I?  How at-risk in my husband? When we we be able to see Mom in Florida again? When can we see our son and daughter in-law again? 

And then George Floyd was murdered. 

I had already grown numb to the antics of #45. But now....now it appeared that America was waking up to the realization that racism is no longer living under a rock somewhere. It has been right there...in our faces....taunting us, daring us to do something. 

His murder caused those of us who were paying attention (I'm talking about white folks) to understand our complacency and our lack of awareness. Complacency is a luxury no person of color can afford. 

Lenny Sternberg who is the director of cultural arts programming at the MJCC invited ORA artists to submit a piece of art for an upcoming show called Art in the Time of Covid. I signed up. I had no art and no ideas...but I signed up.

Lenny asked us to document our progress on a piece and then submit it all to a virtual show that the MJCC would host. At the time, he thought there was a possibility that we could entertain an opening night...live...in person! Indeed, the "J" is open to members now...but only a few at a time may enter with an appointment to work out. Our show will be hung September 13th...and we celebrate our opening virtually over ZOOM.

So, how did I move from no art making, no ideas, and no motivation to actually submitting a piece? There were several factors that all seemed to collide at once. Nightly protests in downtown Portland...and I couldn't attend! Rayshard Brooks is murdered by police in Atlanta just weeks later. Then Breona Taylor murdered by police in Louisville. Interspersed with the nightly news about police violence directed at people of color were the updates on the Corona Virus. How many people tested positive? How many people died? How many people are predicted to die....and the reminder that more people of color will die. 

I have a studio in the basement of my house, but I try to work outside on my lower deck whenever I can. We are neatly tucked into a patch of forest. It is a soulful place for reflection. I sat there pondering what I could do. I drew a blank. No ideas! I tried redirecting my thioughts and I landed on one of my most favorite poems written by the Hebrew poet Zelda. I only know the translation provided by Marcia Falk. It's called: Each of us has a Name. My source for this poem is The Book of Blessings by Marcia Falk. I read this poem often and for a variety of reasons. It begins...

Each of us has a name                                                                                                                                           given by God                                                                                                                                                                        and given by our parents.

Just past the midpoint of the poem Zelda wrote:                                                                                                            Each of us has a name                                                                                                                                                                         given by our enemies                                                                                                                                                                    and given by our love.

Zelda concludes this piece:                                                                                                                                      Each if us has a name                                                                                                                                                given by the sea                                                                                                                                                            and given by our death.

 "Great...." I thought to myself... It's a great poem. What do I do with it?

TO BE CONTINUED..........