Yesterday, my husband stood under the open hatch of our car with nitrile gloves wiping down our groceries with disinfectant before they entered the house the way a Southerner would clean-hand-dirty-hand the breading of fried chicken. Surreal. Covid-19 has touched all of our lives by now.
My husband lost his job in recent days, so I am grateful to HAVE groceries. I am grateful to have the option to stay home and complete creative work and commissions to keep my mind occupied while so many are fighting to get well or stay well. Productive distraction has always been a mental health tool for me, and I hope it is working for you.
With so many of us unsure of what lies ahead, it is hard to plan for the future or even find the motivation to want to do any hopeful planning. But today, I did. Today I applied for an artist residency… in Italy. I did it for me, and I did it in honor of all the galleries and arts agencies that have to keep planning for a future that they can’t currently clearly see. I see you. I hear you. My heart is full for you.
As for AAAD, because my own practice has been growing, I have not tended this site and the weeds are knee-high. I had plans to transition this site over the next year and a half, but it seems like the time to say goodbye is now. In 2009, this site began as a convenient way to catalog “safe” calls from trusted people and places. Along the way, I met the best people, made wonderful friends, shared ridiculous food segues and made connections that will last a lifetime. I will miss talking to you regularly, or even irregularly.
Fine Print details:
- I have enabled comments on this post, which in this time of trolls and bots is uncommon for me to do, so feel free to leave a note.
- The site will remain in place for a while and will eventually auto-forward to my personal website.
- If you want to screenshot a feature of your work, your agency or anything else, the search bar is still in the sidebar even though the pages are not on the navigation menu. If you need help finding something, contact me, and I will help.
- If you feel you are owed something by this site, please feel free to contact me so that I can make it right.
- I added a contact page with all my personal contact info.
- Social media sites for this page will go dark by (May 1, 2020), but feel free to contact me personally.
- I will completely delete the mailing list (by May 1, 2020) for this website from the subscription feed to prevent any pirating of email addresses in my absence.
Thank you Rachel for your work on this site that I quite enjoyed reading and gleaning from. I am happy that you are so busy with work that you can’t do this blog anymore. Excellent! I hope you get to go to Italy (eventually), and I hope all goes well for you and your husband.
Best wishes,
Michelle Marcotte
Thank you so much Rachel. I always enjoyed your curated calls for art, and I’ll miss it going forward. I hope you’re doing well and I am glad your own practice is progressing. I’d love to stay in touch, can we be on each other’s mailing lists or something?
Best
Heather