LIFE IN THE TIME OF COVID | Leslie Ferrin, director
We are thinking of you, our artists, colleagues and friends.
Wherever you are, and hopefully safe, we are all experiencing the new reality of living in a profoundly changed world. We’ve been hearing of so many challenges in day to day life, fear of exposure, loss of employment, constant worrying for loved ones and managing varying degrees of long term isolation.
Last week, our third in quarantine, our particular struggle was complicated by a surge in internet demand within our small, rural community that is still without broadband service and suffers from chronic, spotty cell service. Due to social isolation, we must now use the internet for everything we do, to work, to make purchases, to stay connected with distant family, and to provide access to online school for our youngest resident, Roosi Isupov. We live in rural America where we can take daily walks and never see another soul. We feel fortunate to be where we are and continue what we do given the limitations of remote work. Our inconveniences pale when we connect with those in urban hot spots who are living densely, surrounded by incessant 24/7 wailing sirens and alone. Together we will get through this with you and our artists who are resilient, determined, creative. We will remain connected to one another through our shared support of art, culture and empathy for one another.
Now that we are past the initial shock of closures, exhibition postponements and cancellations, we are doing what we can to keep our team and artists working. With any luck, SBA payroll relief will ease the way and allow us to maintain and expand communications with regular news and stories about contemporary ceramic art. Using all the available online skills and tools in our toolbox, we are committed to staying connected with you and sharing stories about our artists, their exhibitions, our museum colleagues, our gallery partners and our community in the Berkshires. Through our mutual interest in ceramics, we find ourselves interconnected, in the studio, in our homes, and in making and seeing beauty in little things; and empathy abounds.
Artists by nature, work in isolation and have the skills to meet the challenges of social distancing. We are hearing amazing stories from our artists who are using their skills to sew, fix, repair, plant and shape the world around them. Through Instagram, we see their works in progress as they prepare for future shows.
Collectors are using this time to take on long term, large scale organizing, digital documentation, considering gifts to museums, reading and learning about the artists whose works they own and finding room for a future purchase of long admired work of art. Our team of specialists are experts in working remotely and happy to help navigate the digital challenges.
Curators are finding new ways to share their knowledge digitally, through guided tours of closed exhibitions, inclusive online live classes like the ones Garth Johnson from the Everson Museum of Art and is doing where you get to go behind the scenes with colleagues and snoop around the shelves with Jeffrey Spahn as he explained Asian influence on the work of American Studio Potters and a focus on Karen Karnes.
The slow down at Ferrin Contemporary and ProjectArt gives us time to pace the work we do. We are in the middle of the long procrastinated project of organizing the library and archives gathered over our 40 years of exhibitions. Starting with bookshelves, we ended up renovating the studio for future workshops and resident artists. We are planting a huge garden and finding ways to maintain friendships with those who live both near and far. All of us are cherishing what we have and what we can give to those in need.
This week’s news and stories continue our focus on the twelve women artists in NATURE/NURTURE with Crystal Morey. We congratulate her and Shane for their first baby girl, Isla born in January and know that it has given her a new perspective on the role of nurturing and a welcome distraction from the outside world.
The NATURE/NURTURE series
NATURE/NURTURE | Group Show of 12 Women Artists
LESLIE FERRIN | Director Notes | Nature of Nurturing
CRISTINA CORDOVA | Nature/Nurture | PBS Craft in America – Identity
LAUREN MABRY | Nature/Nurture | Cylinders & Flow Blocks
ANINA MAJOR | Nature/Nurture | No Vacancy in Paradise
CRYSTAL MOREY | Nature/Nurture | Museum Acquisitions
ANINA MAJOR | Nature/Nurture | No Vacancy In Paradise
MARA SUPERIOR | Nature/Nurture | Museum Acquisitions
Be Safe – Be Well – Stay in Touch
Leslie Ferrin, director Ferrin Contemporary
Leslie Ferrin photo John Polak
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