Collaging COVID-19

Dear Twin Cities Collage Community,

We’ve been keeping an eye on the recent developments with the spread of COVID-19 and have decided as a collective that, in the interest of keeping our community safer, we will be canceling the March collage meetup, as well as the events we were planning with Ramsey County Library in April. Unfortunately, these kinds of gatherings have the potential to put vulnerable members of our community in danger, and with the virus spreading quickly throughout Hennepin County, we want to do what we can to mitigate transmission. The decision was made a few days ago, and we apologize that this update is coming out a little later than hoped.

Member allison anne shared this pertinent Star Tribune op-ed with the group, which has contributed to our rationale to cancel this month. With all the anxieties currently swirling about this virus, we believe awareness is the best way to move forward. In the future, we will look into the logistics and reality of how to run this event safely, and (if feasible) we will adjust our methods to continue the event going forward.

This being said, one of our objectives as a collective is community engagement, and just because we can’t meet in person this month doesn’t mean we can’t still connect through collage. Art has always been a mode of processing emotions and reflecting upon the world around us. There’s a lot of concern regarding the state of the world and our future right now, and we want to provide support to our community as much as possible.

Why not set aside some personal time to sit down with these emotions, this information, the strands of thought caught in our brain’s drain and do something with it? It might not be pretty to look at, but it might do us some good to see what we can detangle from this mess. This month, the Twin Cities Collage Collective is inviting you to put together a collage about COVID-19, the Coronavirus.

This can take any number of shapes. Media has been rife with graphics of deserted city centers, masked populace and click-grabbing titles. If the news isn’t your speed, consider a more personal approach. How can you visually represent the changes occurring in your life? Those in your immediate social circle? Maybe your thoughts are on the future, and you want to visualize where we’re headed, or your stuck in your head, and need to extricate yourself from a thought swamp.

We want to hear from you. Post your work and tag us so we can see your thoughts. Send in work by April 30th to twincitiescollagecollective@gmail.com for inclusion in a gallery on the TCCC website. Including a brief blurb of explanation, introspection, or meditation about your piece is encouraged but not required! This call is open worldwide, and we’ll be updating the online gallery as frequently as possible as submissions are received. Tag your work with #collagingcovid19 and #twincitiescollagecollective!

Stay safe, stay informed, and stay creating.
Twin Cities Collage Collective

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