Community Art during the Pandemic
Written by Harvey Cross
Coronavirus. A single word that invokes the terrible memories of rainy lockdown days, tactical skirmishes at the shops for those last scraps of toilet paper, and the ever-present stench of burnt banana bread. Not a good time, and especially not for the museums and galleries that might normally expect visiting flocks of people from far and wide, eager to peruse their exhibitions and marvel over their artworks. This was certainly not the case in 2020, the galleries were all tightly shut and their treasures locked away. Yet! Have faith! Art has certainly survived the pandemic, and perhaps, even thrived during it in somehow, as many of us have found the excess time to indulge our own artistic passions, and some communities have even banded together to create their own great artworks to cheer us up in these dark times.
An example of one amazing person who has used art to cheer us all up during the pandemic is Vicki Davidson, a matron at The James Cook University Hospital in the North East of England, who created a painting to celebrate the community spirit during the pandemic which is now being displayed in the main atrium of the hospital. The painting, titled ‘ Sending Hope’, depicts a young girl stood next to her masked teddy bear while painting a brightly coloured rainbow on a dull grey wall. Ms Davidson said that the inspiration behind the piece came from the rainbow pictures made by school children that have adorned the country’s windows during the pandemic in support of the NHS.
The project was supported by local businesses who donated the canvas and paint free of charge. Lead therapeutic nurse Debi McKeown who was among the staff watching the piece being unveiled said the “painting is a symbol of hope and a fantastic permanent reminder of how we’ve been supported by the local community”, while Vicki Davidson herself expressed her appreciation of the local children’s support and said that “this is our way of saying thank you for this generosity”.
As well as Ms Davidson, many other artists all over the UK have united in creating NHS-themed artwork during the pandemic as a way to say thank you, one of which is the famous street artist Banksy, who recently donated one of his own paintings to Southampton General Hospital. The painting, titled ‘Game Changer’, shows a young boy ditching his Spiderman and Batman toys in favour of playing with a caped super-nurse, praising the superhuman resilience of those working in the NHS to keep on saving lives and fighting the virus. The auction house Christie’s has announced that it will sell the piece on behalf of Banksy and it could raise more than three million pounds for the NHS. The artist left a note with the painting reading: “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white”, and once the original is sold at auction a reproduction will remain in the hospital to keep boosting morale.
It wasn’t only individuals creating artwork during the lockdowns, but whole communities of people came together to work on their own coronavirus art projects as well. In Pembrokeshire for example, Gemma Green-Hope, working with Wyndham Williams as part of the ‘Connect to Kindness’ campaign, created a visual representation of the acts of kindness and community action in Pembrokeshire during the first few months of the lockdowns by designing many bright and colourful images portraying various people, events, or places of importance all over the county of Pembrokeshire. It is nice to see a piece of artwork representing all the acts of kindness by those across Pembrokeshire and quite inspiring to know that we can all unite together against the common enemy of the coronavirus.
Voices of Youth by Laya age 14
Similarly, artistic communities online have also successfully worked together during the pandemic, such as ‘Voices Of Youth’, a website that invited talented young people from all over the world to create their own coronavirus inspired art that might describe their feelings at the moment or depict a society continuing to thrive whilst carefully adhering to lockdowns.
Voices of Youth by Rizka age 19
Some of the creations are incredible and are all showcased on the website, there were even submissions from those as young as ten years old, perhaps we’re seeing the early works of the world’s next generation of great artists!
It is remarkable to see all the ways in which our passion for art has survived regardless of the virus’ attempts to stall our lives, whether the community is as small as a single hospital, or as vast as the whole world, its uplifting to see the demonstration of mankind’s resilience to carry on and remain positive in all the artwork made during the pandemic despite how dark times might seem.