Arts
A New Age for the
How creativity and community have flourished in spite of—perhaps because of—the pandemic by Julie Fanselow No one who was alive in 2020 will forget how creativity flowered during the pandemic’s early weeks, even as we dwelled in some of the deepest uncertainty any of us will ever face. Families gathered rocks to paint with messages of hope. Opera singers began serenading their neighbors. With so much newly found free time, many of us thought we might learn to draw or write or play an instrument, perhaps via tutorials on YouTube. Music and poetry became sources of solace and solidarity, even when streamed on Zoom. More than two years later, with COVID-19’s path still unfolding, the
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3rd Act magazine | summer 2022
arts continue to be a powerful way for us to connect with others, pass the time, and process all that we’ve been through. Here are several stories of how the arts have helped us navigate the unexpected challenges and opportunities of this historic era. A world of possibility Jennifer Kulik is the founder of SilverKite Community Arts, a Seattle-based organization with a big portfolio of projects that bring active arts experiences to older adults. In March 2020, SilverKite was in the middle of delivering 29 different intergenerational programs and
between 50 and 70 arts workshops per month with senior living communities, community centers, and libraries. “It felt like the bottom completely dropped out,” Kulik recalls. The pandemic’s arrival came less than a year after Kulik was diagnosed with breast cancer, so she was already primed for a fight. SilverKite was quickly able to begin online programs with libraries, and did more than 400 of those during the first two years of the pandemic. With its partners including local libraries and Sound Generations (previously known as Senior Services), SilverKite has resumed in-person programming at some venues, including the Lake City Community Center in Seattle, where watercolor classes and folk dances have drawn eager participants, even if masks were still required this spring. One of SilverKite’s most interesting COVID collaborations came to fruition more than a year into the pandemic. Kulik had been a Fulbright Scholar in Singapore a decade ago and in 2020,
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