In this blog I have often discussed how the pandemic affected Michigan artists. The ability to adjust to an environment that disabled the ability to perform in front of a live audience, to be able to see instant gratification for their efforts.

Recently, I was contacted by a group within Michigan State University that is working on a a project on creativity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here is a brief video describing the project:

They are collecting creative work people have been making throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly creative pieces that encourage new conversations, activism, and creativity around the racial and social injustices revealed by the pandemic. Everyone who submits a creative piece and agrees to be included will:

• Have their creative work and connected stories documented and included in a major online collection, and have the option to share them with wider audiences
• Contribute to history by preserving crucial moments and memories from COVID-19 for themselves and future generations
• Help ensure that diverse peoples, experiences, and communities are represented in our collective stories about the pandemic

They welcome everyone, from first time creators to experienced professional artists, to share their artwork. They also welcome all forms of expression. Creativity can be defined in many ways, and we are interested in anything you have used to help understand, process, and communicate your individual experience of the pandemic, including but not limited to:

• Painting
• Pottery
• Sculpture
• Protest art
• Traditional Arts
• Basket making
• Fiber arts
• Poetry
• Wood working
• Comics
• Photography
• Cooking
• Building
• Gardening
• Making music Dancing

And, other everyday activities that have become meaningful during the pandemic.

Everything submitted will be showcased in an online archive and considered for inclusion in our physical exhibitions.

You can help by responding to the call for artists attached in the link below and by sharing this link throughout your networks. The following link will close: May 2022.

Link: https://tinyurl.com/CreativityInTheTimeOfCovid19

This project is funded by the Mellon Foundation “Just Futures” initiative. If you would like assistance distributing the call for artists, reach out to our Graduate Project Coordinators, Mitch Carr and Soohyun Cho, at creativityandcovid@gmail.com.

Visit the Digital Humanities and Literary Cognition Lab website for more information.