The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably impacted the lives of people around the world and, in many cases, negatively affected the mental health of individuals. Recovering from the stress imposed by the pandemic is an essential process that can be conducted in different forms, including with the help of art. Project Art Heals Utah seeks to enable people to cope with their pandemic anxiety by participating in an art project.
Project Art Heals Utah encourages people from Utah and other parts of the United States to share their stories and mementos related to COVID-19 and its effect on them. The eventual piece will be created by artist Heidi Calega, will have a size of five feet by five feet, and will be displayed on the campus of the University of Utah (Hagn, 2022). The organizers of the project eventually wanted to create a mosaic art consisting of vaccine vials, clean healthcare waste, and various items contributed by participants. The mission of the project is to create a piece of art that can enable people to collectively acknowledge and mourn the losses they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic (“Project art,” n.d.). The mementos that people can donate to the project can be physical and virtual but should represent the struggles and losses imposed on them by COVID-19 (Eccles Health Sciences, 2022). The organizers believe that no hierarchy of grief should exist, and therefore they encourage everyone to take part in the project, no matter how big or small their loss is.
Project Art Heals Utah is a unique project that enables people to address their struggles related to the COVID-19 pandemic through art. The project organizers want to build a mosaic consisting of different medical items, such as vials and mementos, shared by numerous participants. Project Art Heals Utah encourages people to participate by telling them that all experiences matter and there is no hierarchy of grief.
References
Eccles Health Sciences Library Digital Publishing. (2022). Emily Hagn introduces the project art heals Utah [YouTube].
Hagn, E. (2022).Using collaborative artwork to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health University of Utah.
Project art geals Utah. (n.d.).