Step into the immersive realm of our virtual gallery and web story, a captivating odyssey that transcends boundaries to delve into the intricate interplay between the arts, health, and community amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a mesmerizing fusion of photographs, evocative quotes, and graphic illustrations, embark on a transformative journey that unfolds against the backdrop of Pittsburgh, PA. This gallery features 27 visionary artists from the Pittsburgh region. Through their lens, we bear witness to the profound impact of artistic expression on community cohesion and individual well-being. In the intimate dialogues and reflective musings of these artists, we glean insights that resonate with the zeitgeist of our times, capturing fleeting moments of introspection and resilience. From the timeless strokes of painting to the intricate sculptural forms, from the rhythmic cadence of poetry to the pulsating beats of music, from the digital landscapes to the vibrant hues of graffiti, each creation unveils a narrative steeped in emotion and authenticity.
Art as a means to escape and cope for the artist: During an unprecedented time, artists were faced with immense personal and professional challenges that they had never encountered. Many artists escaped these troubles by creating artwork that allowed them to cope with hardship.
“My work helps me emotionally to keep kind of depression at bay… It's really important. I think with most creative people, it's always a bad sign if the person is not creating anymore. I think that’s kind of a warning and I've seen that in my family. And I just had to… it needed to be something meaningful enough to me personally and not something that “Oh I think I'll sell” because there was something with covid that I think made most people stop in their tracks and think how quickly life can just change and sort of what is important. And things that would bug us or we were anxious about you’d think “oh man this isn't a big deal when it's compared to really what's happening in the world right now”. And also, combined last year, it wasn’t just COVID, it was also the whole political climate in our country. It was just very difficult… just difficult time all around. And I think, as an artist, you… for me it's creating this haven, this sort of safe space. It's something that's in my head but I make it tangible in a way. And in my studio I’m kind of surrounding myself with it. I guess if I just lived by myself, I might just make this whole cocoon of this work and it would be something eccentric that might be found after I die. I kind of understand when you read about artists that that's what happened “oh they discovered all this work that they've been doing for years”.
“I think the biggest thing about this project was being able to look at someone as an individual and also as part of a group...how different and how similar people are at the same time.”
“It wasn’t just Covid, it was also the whole political climate in our country. It was just very difficult… just difficult time all around. And I think, as an artist, you… for me it's creating this haven, this sort of safe space. It's something that's in my head but I make it tangible in a way. And in my studio I’m kind of surrounding myself with it.”
“I think that [creating is] a relatively healthy way to express our feelings. Writing, playing music, writing music, playing even, children even. There has to be some way to let it out. And I think that this is a good, safe way for me to let it out.”
“And painting became a theater of one for myself. It became a place that during the day, I could go to get away from the sadness, to get away from what just felt like an onslaught of trauma both financial and health wise.”
“In terms of human endeavors, right, the one thing that kind of makes our existence justifiable or worthwhile in my opinion is art, right. I think it's probably the healthiest way for human beings to respond to a crisis or something dangerous is to sort of sublimate that negative energy into artwork.”
“And that's the great thing about art, rather if it's music, painting, poetry, wood carving, whatever type of artistic gift people have when they get to express [themselves]. It's a release of a negative energy, sometimes of a positive energy. But it's not caged in.”
Art as a medium for connection with others: The world underwent quarantine restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic that caused extreme isolation for many. Art was utilized as a medium to connect local community members and allowed for shared connection in a time of loneliness.
“I saw an article in the midst of everything going virtual, and you know, all of these things, and people are finally I think getting the hang of like, virtual meetings and virtual events. And, you know, we were settling into that for a little bit. And the article listed, you know, they had surveyed people and asked, like, which jobs they thought were essential. And on that list was artists. And we were considered like the least essential. And it struck a chord with me, because all I can think of, I mean, as an artist, and as someone who has like a marketing, background, and communications, and all I could think of was, Who do you think is putting together the visuals for all of your events? Who do you think is putting together these commercials? Or advertisements for what you're trying to do? Who do you think is creating the movie that you go home to watch to decompress with your family after a day of meetings? Like, who do you think created the music that you listen to, to cope with your situation, like, these are all artists, and so you know, that that was just one of the things that I continue to think about, you know, as we kind of maneuver, through the pandemic, and through the process, but that, to me is like part of my community too, right. So like, being able to show something like that, and our work was really important to show that we have values to show that this can be impactful and you know, just kind of stand up for ourselves.”
“It was really nice seeing artists who I knew in the [Black] community who had different installation pieces all throughout like Pittsburgh. I think that that's really important to see that representation.”
“I know from certain people telling me that it was also like very beneficial to them to feel like they were connecting and being represented somewhere else. A lot of people were really interested in like following it on Instagram so it just became a way to connect and to sort of populate my studio with people when there couldn’t be anybody here.”
“It definitely provides a sense of collectivism when you are working with artists from the community, when you are working with artists who are expressing something that reflects the community's values or, literally, just reflects the people there. So, if you are putting if you're using a young black artist representing black communities, it creates a sense of identity, the sense of pride. If you are using LGBTQ artists to do a similar thing, to express that sentiment of their community, then it just lets the community know that they are welcome.”
“I think that art can make people feel less alone because they can see they can see themselves represented in the struggles that the artist is going through or might be going through, or the artist is depicting something else that they've seen that is impacting everybody. So it's like healing or kind of community building on one hand and then also just a really good way to information share on another.”
“You use art to speak to people that we can't see. The thing about art is really there's no boundaries with art. There may be a language barrier, but you can still feel the feeling. There are still things that, without words, can be conveyed, such as feelings. A smile has no language. A frown doesn't have no language. Excitement doesn't have a language. So the importance of art is that it's a language that everybody can understand.” — Lindsey Scherloum
“The inspiration for my [work], it's about community building and how individual actions can create more societal change.”
“But there is a community that I can just give the love to. And I feel like I did that with this project was just my way of giving sort of big hugs and love to everybody. And then the response and the response to this show has been similar after people have seen it. I just feel like I'm getting all the love back, which is just it's kind of overwhelming.”
“For instance, people, even though it was a very stressful time, they were getting to spend more time with their families, they were getting to know people more intimately, and they were taking more time for self-care. So I wanted to see if these were things that were also reflected in BIPOC community stories as well.”
Art as a means to focus on positivity: Art was utilized to remind both artists and community members of joyful moments during a time of great fear, stress, and uncertainty. .
“[Artwork] impacts me and can give me a sense of being positive... I would hope that I am able to impact the family and friends that I come in contact with that are struggling in different ways with a lot of the darkness that's out there.” “It’s important to look for things that bring you joy and happy memories and this is my response to it.” “I just really want people to feel kind of joy and curiosity” “We’ve all had things that are sort of touchstones of happiness that you can look back to you and say ‘this was really a happy time and what were the elements that can help me remember that and how that felt?"
“Art is also like a medicine. It's education, it’s medicine. It depends on people how they want to take it. I go to the art galleries, the national art museum – it has been almost 2 years – I feel like I need to get out, I need to go out of this city – I saw that artwork and I feel very empowered, delighted.”
“I think it was a larger theme would be trying to just bring a little bit of...pleasure or joy or silliness or levity to people. How could we transfer some of these social pleasures that we were kind of always fostering on a daily basis to the people that we knew in the neighborhood, people we didn't know in the neighborhood? So how could we continue our work?”
“I also strongly believe that we have to balance that with creating things that there's joy. And so I talk a lot about, as a theme in my work, creating from a place of joy and bringing joy to people through my work.”
“Let's have something positive to just experience even in passing. I think it changes the way that if you're waiting for a bus and the bus stop is cool, it's just your day is different. It's less of a defeated vibe and more of it just existing in the world.”
“One of the ways is to use art to spread messages of positivity and also to inform where to find resources.”
“Art speaks to a lot of different people in a lot of different ways. And art is not just limited to paint on a canvas. So I mean, it's a way to tell a story. It's a way to express yourself. So I think it's important at all stages. Even more so afterwards, because it helps to kind of shine a light on the positive things versus only the negative things.”
More time to create and shift focus during COVID:
The COVID-19 pandemic forced artists to evaluate their current artistic ventures and shift focus if necessary. Some artists chose to continue using familiar methods, while others chose to embrace new ways to create.
“I wanted to give a lot of graffiti writers opportunities to paint on walls in a legal manner. So that they can one just create something a lot better, where they're not having to look over their shoulder do it 2am In the morning? Yeah. So at the time, I was living in Wilkinsburg, I was living in Wilkinsburg… And I lived next to tons of vacant lots. And prior to that, I'd even gone to one of the lots next to me with an abandoned garage, and I just cleaned up the whole thing like throwing all the trash like brought up the weed whackers… [and I] did a graffiti piece on this abandoned garage. And all the locals like they loved it and all my neighbors they're like, “Wow, this is so cool”… So I wanted to replicate that. And being that there were tons of vacant lots throughout Wilkinsburg… I just sent out a group DM to a bunch of graffiti friends I had and I was like, “Hey, do you guys want to paint some walls?” And graffiti writers are always pretty eager to be able to paint the walls, since they usually get arrested for doing that. So I'm outsourcing labor, from graffiti writers was not a difficult thing. And the way that they were all so eager to do it, and I was just like, the one stipulation is, if we're going to paint these walls, we got to spend like, at least like four to five hours beforehand, or even like a whole day beforehand, cleaning up the lot. And like, just with the intent of like, leaving the space nicer than you first came to it. And also, because sometimes people will say graffiti is ugly based on the context that exists.”
“Whenever COVID hit in March...I had a ton of time on my hands. And a friend suggested that I start making masks, find a pattern and just start making [them] to help with the efforts to donate the masks to help with efforts to mask healthcare workers and things like that. So I started making them.”
“And I think humans are amazing in that they face an adverse effect, especially like musical artists or people who literally need a live venue, and then they use that to develop or change. It's not always super positive. But in a good way, I think it's been cool to see that as well.”
“I had time for the first time in a long time. It kind of just took it took a pandemic to get me to slow down and do something that was actually meaningful. Not that teaching wasn't meaningful, but this is different. I think it pushed me to a level that I might not have gone to on my own.”
“Everyone was grieving the loss of their normal lives, and my work sort of slowly started to transition. I started using different materials.”
Art as a means to escape and cope for everyone: While artists used the process of creating art as an escape from the outside world, community members also engaged with art to cope with their struggles.
“I saw an article in the midst of everything going virtual, and you know, all of these things, and people are finally I think getting the hang of like, virtual meetings and virtual events. And, you know, we were settling into that for a little bit. And the article listed, you know, they had surveyed people and asked, like, which jobs they thought were essential. And on that list was artists. And we were considered like the least essential. And it struck a chord with me, because all I can think of, I mean, as an artist, and as someone who has like a marketing, background, and communications, and all I could think of was, Who do you think is putting together the visuals for all of your events? Who do you think is putting together these commercials? Or advertisements for what you're trying to do? Who do you think is creating the movie that you go home to watch to decompress with your family after a day of meetings? Like, who do you think created the music that you listen to, to cope with your situation, like, these are all artists, and so you know, that that was just one of the things that I continue to think about, you know, as we kind of maneuver, through the pandemic, and through the process, but that, to me is like part of my community too, right. So like, being able to show something like that, and our work was really important to show that we have values to show that this can be impactful and you know, just kind of stand up for ourselves.”
“Sometimes people need that…escapism, more than anything with COVID-19. There's only so much doom and gloom you can deal with, and then you just need a break and you need to go live somewhere else for a little bit, even if it's imaginary.”
“So I feel like that [getting a tattoo] can be really therapeutic for people. I think it can also be therapeutic for people to take that grief and turn it into something beautiful that they can appreciate, that can live and grow and age with them. I think that's really nice too. For some people, feeling pain is therapeutic.”
“[Art] brings people back to Earth I think, lets them feel some isolated emotions about something. And it also provides the escape for sure.”
“And in other cases, if you're like someone who's consuming art, and you encounter something that tells a story that resonates with you, it affirms feelings you might have, emotions you might have, that are quite difficult to grapple with, like the feelings that come with being a caregiver, which is both something that's done out of love, but also something that's been out of obligation.”
“But I think seeing [the world] through the eyes of different artists allows you to kind of walk in other people's shoes and experiences and maybe see your own experiences differently or understand things differently, which I think is really important.”