ARTifacts: Created at Home

Dublin Arts Council’s community exhibition showcases creative pandemic responses

By Janet Cooper

Photos courtesy of Dublin Arts Council

The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our lives. The way we work, communicate and stay connected looks very different now than it did a year ago. As the Dublin community has remained resilient, creativity has flourished. A new exhibition at Dublin Arts Council, ARTifacts: Created at Home, celebrates the many ways the community has responded to COVID-19, with an emphasis on art and wellness. The exhibition will be on view March 9 through April 16, virtually at www.dublinarts.org/artifacts or by appointment at Dublin Arts Council, 7125 Riverside Dr.

“We had already begun an initiative dedicated to nurturing creativity, wellness and connection, and quickly developed additional grassroots programs to engage the community in safe and meaningful ways of expression,” says Dublin Arts Council Executive Director David S. Guion.

Community projects included neighborhood arts festival displays, curbside concerts and a Plant Kindness rock garden, among others. The ARTifacts exhibition provides a look at both community and individual creativity before and during the pandemic.

Inside the Dublin Arts Council gallery

Three connected interior spaces have been activated for the exhibition, including the North Gallery, where visitors will reflect on art and wellness activities that took place just prior to the pandemic. Highlights include photos of yoga classes with the public artwork Field of Corn with Osage Orange Trees during the artwork’s 25th anniversary

FACTS about ARTifacts artist Matthew Mohr

Born: Columbus Raised: Hudson Residence: Dublin

Noted public artwork: As We Are Greater Columbus Convention Center 400 N. High St., Columbus Interactive “universal human head” sculpture; launched 2017 14 feet tall; 850,000-plus LED lights and 29 cameras Inspired by the now-commonplace act of documenting our existence. Through the resulting portraits, individuals are acknowledged in a stature similar to traditional public monuments.

Roles: Associate Professor, Columbus College of Art & Design Public artist and creator Husband, parent, dog guardian Engaged community member Participants take a yoga class during a pre-pandemic Art & Wellness event.

Artwork by Pat Carbone in the 6 ft. gallery public art and public health initiative.

celebration in September 2019, and poems created from community member prompts by Typewriter Rodeo during Dublin Arts Council’s FLOW event in October. Videos show guests prior to maskwearing guidance sharing food, movement and artmaking activities, and feature interviews with artists and community collaborators about the importance of art as a component of well-being. Who could have predicted what would come next?

As visitors move through the Dublin Arts Council sunporch with stunning views of the riverfront grounds and Scioto River, they experience a space that has been transformed by Dublin artist Matthew Mohr. Inspired by the pandemic’s disruption, the installation introduces solar-powered lightning sprites, mythical creatures deposited in our midst by a natural phenomenon. A future community art quest will provide interaction with the artworks and nature, prompting discovery, challenge, connection and delight.

The Main Gallery features community artifacts created during the pandemic, including artwork submitted by individuals, and a series of COVID-19 “bad hair limericks” facilitated by Dublin resident Cindy Gibbons who, at one time, had shared limericks with her mother, helping strengthen their relationship.

“Why not take a moment to play with words around a common experience?” says Gibbons. “Some were funny, some were political and some were sad, but whatever was submitted, it was important to play and reflect the moment.”

In addition to the limericks project, Gibbons created a sing-along with uplifting and spirited musical selections. Residents of her 55-plus community gathered virtually each morning for a week to sing or play along with Gibbons’ YouTube playlist. As a follow-up, Gibbons learned to juggle, and in response to one of the limericks, was inspired to add purple highlights to her hair.

Other Main Gallery artifacts include six-foot gallery decals that were placed throughout downtown Dublin in a public art and public health project created in collaboration with Dublin Area Art League artists and Visit Dublin Ohio, as well as photos of Dublin student artist Cecilia Martyna’s celebrated We Can Do It!, a temporary chalk artwork inspired by World War II cultural icon Rosie the Riveter.

Outside the gallery

Being ever mindful of health and safety protocols, the exhibition includes ample outdoor engagement opportunities.

Bubble tents installed on the Dublin Arts Council grounds house a variety of artistic responses from the community. Installations include artistic interpretations from a variety of community collaborators such as first responders and service providers, as well as student artwork created in response to the pandemic.

One tent, activated by Erin Suman’s eighth grade art students from Davis Middle School, includes the tableau of a single desk, highlighting how adolescents are experiencing and exploring the world. The artwork is highlighted by suspended imagery of daily life during the pandemic. The tent is transformed into the image of a globe, representing individual connections to the world during the global health crisis.

Dublin Arts Council has also placed a wishing tree on the plaza near the building’s entrance. Visitors are encouraged to inscribe a biodegradable tag with their wishes for the coming months and either hang it on the tree or place private thoughts in a receptacle. The tree will later be planted on the Dublin Arts Council grounds with the wishes, to nurture, heal and grow, both literally and figuratively.

“The ARTifacts exhibition celebrates our remarkable community resiliency and the creativity that keeps us inspired, connected and moving forward toward a brighter future,” says Guion.

To learn more or schedule a gallery visit, please visit www.dublinarts.org/artifacts.

Janet Cooper is director of engagement, Dublin Arts Council.