YOUR AD HERE »

3 ways to practice art and ooze creativity during the coronavirus pandemic

By Andrew Pranger
Special to the Daily

If you’re one of the thousands of people socially isolating or self quarantining, chances are you will find yourself not only fighting to remain healthy but also falling victim to something almost as bad: boredom.

Depending on the situation, we all could be looking at weeks, if not more, stuck at home. With the length of our time in isolation unknown and many of our favorite businesses and seasonal diversions closed, it is no surprise that some of us are starting to feel that boredom starting to creep in.

Earlier this week, members of the Vail Valley Art Guild got together (virtually) to discuss how best our community can fight this boredom by engaging with arts and culture. The Vail Valley Art Guild is dedicated to enriching lives through visual arts and education.



Beyond the obvious of simply drawing or painting on your own, there are plenty of arts-related family projects, virtual art museum tours and arts-based resources out there that will not only help you conquer your mental lethargy but inflame your own creativity as well.

Beth Levine’s posters are also available for sale, but you could print off a copy as a coloring page.
Special to the Daily

World Famous Art Museum Virtual Tours

Many museums are now offering virtual tours of gallery spaces, including the Guggenheim, the Louvre and more. Check out all 2,5000 art museums offering virtual options via Google’s Arts & Culture App. A forefront art news organization, Hyperallergic, has compiled its 12 favorites here. Also, check out the Smithsonian’s Open Access, where you can look at art as well as other offerings in the Smithsonian collection, like history, natural science and space.

Support Local Journalism




Exquisite Corpse Drawing Game

Chances are, your kids have played this at summer camp and in art class, and most likely, they love it. You get to express totally weird creativity that even adults can enjoy. Here’s how to play.

  1. Start with a blank piece of paper, something to write with, and at least two friends. Break into teams of two for larger groups.
  2. Fold your paper in three sections along the longest edge, or hamburger-style.
  3. Making sure to only draw on the top-most section, create the head for your corpse. Keep this drawing a secret from your partners.
  4. Make sure you extend your necklines a little onto the middle section so the next person knows where to continue from. Fold over the top section so the second person can’t see it and pass it to them.
  5. The second person draws the torso, again extending the bottom edge onto the bottom section so the last person knows where to continue from. When they are done drawing the torso, fold over the middle section so just the bottom section is visible and pass it along. The third person draws the legs and makes sure they connect to the torso lines.
  6. Unfold and relish in your collaborative artwork.

“Coloring Poster” Minturn and Eagle building posters

Color your town, for real. Beth Levine, a local architect, has created two posters of downtown Eagle and downtown Minturn. Print them out here, and have your kids color them in – or do it yourself.

Andrew Pranger is the president of the Vail Valley Art Guild. Contact him at fenderstrat37@aol.com.

More Like This, Tap A Topic
coronavirus

Support Local Journalism