Chico Art Center (CAC) wants to see what you are experiencing during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. Using your visual vocabulary as a creative outlet, give your “view” of the colors, textures, shadows, silhouettes, reflections, objects, scenes, etc. that convey your current physical and/or emotional state. Your image can be a literal view from your window, an interpretive response of your emotional life, or a view you would like to see.

Write a brief, 5-10 sentence reflection of what you are going through. How are you handling this isolation? If you are portraying an imagined scene, reflect on what it is you wish you were experiencing.

Some of the most inspiring artwork has come from the darkest of times. Pablo Picasso painted Guernica at his home in Paris in response to the bombing of Guernica, a Basque Country town in northern Spain, by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. A tour of the painting raised funds for Spanish war relief. Freda Kahlo transformed her body casts into mystical paintings during her many bed bound, post-op recovery periods. When Henri Matisse could no longer stand, he drew from his bed using an improvised staff. Ruth Asawa found her calling as an artist at age 16, in an internment camp. Early American Whalers passed their idle time by carving images into leftover whale teeth and bones. More recently, over the past two weeks, Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde of Kentucky, have been photographing community members on their porches as a community portrait project. How are you using your time? We want to see. Use your visual voice.

This is a free, non-juried, online exhibition of digital images. The original works can be made with any medium. Everyone is welcome to participate by submitting an image or video with writing. As CAC is currently closed, we are taking this opportunity to present art’s power to bring people together through collective cognitive empathy in the digital age, as we are all experiencing this world changing event together. This digital exhibition will be presented and archived on CAC’s website.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Submit your digital image or video by uploading to the online submission form. High resolution with a minimum size of 10×10 inches is preferred but not required. Enter your contact information and paste in your brief, 5-10 sentence reflective statement. For questions contact the Gallery Director at [email protected]

IMPORTANT DATES
Upload by April Sunday, April 26, 2020.
Submission form: https://chicoartcenter.com/windows-into-the-world/
Entry fee: FREE

View online exhibition as a slideshow on chicoartcenter.com beginning Saturday, May 9th, 2020.