The Creativity in the Time of COVID-19 project explores the ways that people have used various forms of creativity to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic through a survey. This Mellon Foundation grant initiative is titled, “Just Futures,” and has the intentions of shining light on the experiences of diverse and/or marginalized groups such as the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC, the disabled community, etc. The communications team on the grant focuses on the distribution and engagement with the survey. They emphasize submissions of creative artifacts from as many people around the world.
With survey-based research, there often comes the challenge of gathering an accurate representative sample. Because one of the primary goals of this project is to highlight experiences of underrepresented communities, acknowledging how the pandemic has affected various groups on a global scale is a difficult task. To encourage the worldwide distribution of the survey the team is not just involved with the Michigan State Community in East Lansing, MI.
To help our efforts of making this survey celebrate and recognize communities around the world as possible, the team partnered with many organizations that assist in distribution efforts. One of the partner organizations is CARE (Creatives for Artistic and Realistic Equity), a college coalition piloted at Millikin University. Marta Vaitkaitis spoke with Laura Ledford, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Millikin University, about how the partnership with the Creativity in the Time of COVID-19 project aligns with their mission.
The goal of CARE is “to foster and maintain a safe environment where our marginalized student artists can be heard, and to implement action in order to educate our community and ensure equitable opportunity for the marginalized groups at Millikin University and in the performing arts community as a whole.”
CARE and the Creativity in the Time of COVID-19 project share the alignment missions which is to support creatives who have been historically marginalized. Survey distribution also provides a great opportunity for Millikin’s College of Fine Arts alumni-base to submit creative artifacts to the digital and physical exhibitions.
Developing amidst the global pandemic, CARE navigates many hardships to become an organization fighting for change through virtual events. Their four branches, which focus on racial and ethnic diversity, mental health and wellness, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and disability and neurodivergence inclusion, provide opportunities for those who may identify with marginalized groups. These branches hold meetings as a space to discuss any concerns as well as problem-solve with their group members about current issues.
“Our branch and coalition meetings were a lifeline for many Millikin student artists during COVID-19 when so many other parts of their lives seemed out of control”, Beth Creighton, Faculty Advisor at CARE, said.
CARE is passionate about listening to the community and ensuring their needs are met. They strive to ensure justice inside the performing arts community, with hopes that CARE members can take their message and spread it to the rest of the performing arts world. The work of the branches allows members of marginalized communities to educate those around them. These spaces rely on the first-hand experiences of students that are directly affected by these issues and work to amplify their voices. “It is only by listening to others that we will learn,” says Creighton.
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We 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. Participants will:
- Have their creative work and connected stories documented and included in a major online collection
- Contribute to history by preserving crucial moments and memories from COVID-19 for themselves and future generations through the online collection
- Have their creative work considered for a physical exhibit that will show the range of creative work we have collected. If selected for the physical exhibit in 2023 shipping costs will be covered and you will receive a gift card for $100.00.
You can help by responding to the survey attached in the link below and passing the link along to anyone you know who may be interested.
Survey Link: https://tinyurl.com/CreativityInTheTimeOfCovid19
About the Author:
Marta Vaitkaitis is an Honors College student at Michigan State University and is the project liaison to CARE. You can connect with her on Linkedin.