During the recent pandemic, when our government gave a “Shelter in Place” order, many of us have faced a new struggle of being alone behind closed doors. For the first time, I heard some of my friends say, “I’m lonely.” To counteract this situation of prolonged isolation, I have been looking for new ways to still be creative and engage others safely through my social art practice.
For our Lunch Bag Art project, I invited Facebook followers to hand-paint lunch bags for Kids Food Basket, a local nonprofit that supports at-risk children. To my surprise, over thirty-five people volunteered to join our art team, including residents from a local nursing home. So, while people were stocking up on toilet paper (true confession, I bought an extra pack, too), I also purchased hundreds of paper lunch bags, along with one hundred and fifty mini crayon packets to go with some of our specially designed “coloring-page” lunch sacks. So, some of the children will receive a DIY project with a crayon pack tucked inside the lunch bags.
Then I assembled each volunteer’s art kit, containing one hundred lunch bags, instructions, and supplies—sponges, paintbrushes, foam plate palettes, mini bottles of paint, and even an empty yogurt container to wash the brushes. The kits were labeled with the volunteers’ names and placed on my front porch for pickup, maintaining social distancing rules. Then the completed lunch bags were returned to my front porch a few days later.
Volunteers included kids, teens, young professionals, moms, grandmoms, and friends of friends. One friend from out of town and another Instagram friend even mailed their decorated lunch bags to my house. Everyone was so excited to be part of this project, because it was a welcomed relief from a prolonged period of social distancing. The project gave everyone something to do. Plus, this creative opportunity provided a chance to pass on hope and healing to children in need.
This pandemic has reminded me to appreciate the simple gifts in life, like an evening walk with my husband, eggs on the grocery shelf, and seeing new opportunities to encourage others through art. As an artist who creates hands-on experiences, I’m learning how to adapt my art practices to help keep others safe but in ways that are still impactful for our rapidly changing culture. Thanks to a wonderful bunch of Healing in Art’s team members. Because of their hard work, the message of hope and healing has been passed on to over 2,000 children struggling with hunger through the beautiful, hand-painted lunch bags.
