{"id":7357,"date":"2020-05-04T17:55:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T17:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=7357"},"modified":"2020-05-04T19:29:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T19:29:13","slug":"how-artists-are-bringing-us-together-while-staying-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=7357","title":{"rendered":"How Artists Are Bringing Us Together While Staying Apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Artists Are Bringing Us Together While Staying Apart<\/span><\/h3>\n
By Shantay Robinson\u00a0<\/span><\/pre>\n
When asked about what made Candace Hunter start offering art lessons online via Facebook, she stated, \u201cBecause the entire world seemed to be going stir crazy at the same time, I thought that I would offer all who cared, a respite from what was going on in their lives.\u201d Though the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in the scale that it is affecting the world, if it weren\u2019t for the technology so many of us have our disposal, the world would much less connected as we all shelter in place. Our governments have requested that we perform social distancing for several months by this point, so a large number of people are not able to work or socialize the way they normally would. Artists might be one of the groups hardest hit by the shelter in place mandate. Art exhibitions have been postponed as museums and gallery spaces are closed to the public. So many artists who had exhibitions scheduled for 2020, are uncertain about when those exhibitions are postponed until or if they will ever happen. The year 2020, that we thought would be filled with enacting perfect vision, has turned out to be the year when we all have to re-envision our perspectives.\u00a0 What does the artworld look like when practicing social distancing? Well, several artists, curators, and enthusiasts are viewing an alternative especially for these times.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Curator and scholar, Kelli Morgan, states, \u201cI\u2019ve been urged by much of my social media audience for years to provide online content of both my scholarly and curatorial work. However, it was only after I gave a recent lecture at the Flint Institute of Arts, where I received an overwhelming response to my work that I decided to share short videos about how I interpret the art in my galleries at [Indianapolis Museum of Art] and African American art history.\u201d Morgan realizes with the visibility of African American art in popular media like <\/span>Empire<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Insecure<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>The Photograph<\/span><\/i>, and with the presence of high profile African American art collectors like Alicia Keys, Swizz Beats, Tina Knowles, P. Diddy, Jay Z and Beyonce, younger audiences are becoming privier to visual art. While sheltering in place she notes that people are engaging more now although she\u2019s been active on Facebook for years. She had never shared live or recorded videos, but because we\u2019re all more attentive to our media and have time to engage, she\u2019s been publishing videos that can be viewed on the Black Art in America website and social media sites. She primarily wants to give her audience, \u201ca deeper interest in African American art and art history, particularly its connections to their lives and family histories, as well as how connected it is to Black music, Black literature, and Black struggle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n