Do Art: Feel Better

A Clever Way of Relieving Stress Throughout a Pandemic

AJA MONIQUE SALINAS-The Spotlight Editor

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 and has continued to affect the world today, is a moment in history that will never be forgotten. Lives have been affected in ways that no one could imagine, and the damage that has been done will be felt generations from now. Despite the bad that has come from the pandemic, there are ways that people can show those future generations how they, as a community, pulled through such a tribulating time.

The Mesa County Library has encouraged members of the community to contribute their stories and experiences faced during the coronavirus pandemic through works of art, photography, poems, and anything expressed in written form. In the library’s anthology that is currently in the works,  themed: “Better Together,” it will represent the community’s endurance. 

“The Do Art: Feel Better anthology project is about pandemic related art and the library is asking for submissions,” Said Logan Dickerson, a library assistant at Mesa County Central Library. 

This June, submissions will be reviewed for publication which will take place later this summer. An exhibit of pieces within the anthology will take place in December of this year and will last through January 2022. 

Experiences describing how the pandemic has changed peoples lives, feelings and thoughts that they had during the pandemic, and anything they want to express regarding the trying time, would be greatly appreciated. There is no age limit for this project, all are welcome to participate so long as the participant enters one submission of either a piece of art, poetry, photograph, or anything written, in the expectations that it follows the rules provided at mesacountylibraries.org/inthistogether.   

Many sponsors have partnered up with Mesa County Libraries to make “Better Together” happen, with the goal of getting rid of the stresses that have come from the pandemic, in a healthy way. The Do Art: Feel Better initiative will also be beneficial for remembering this moment in history, and this moment of history in the Grand Valley.