COVID Art Movement — A Defining Moment

Could this be a time for a new art movement? A COVID art movement that YOU could be a part of?

For the first time in history, probably since before the industrial revolution, we are seeing school-age children at home with their parents — all across the globe. What an amazing opportunity to explore art with your kids. Your kids are certainly feeling this disruption and art will give them the power to create change, if for nothing else but themselves.

Defining an Art Movement

One of my favorite parts of writing Drawing on History was discovering how art movements came about. Most art movements come about because of unsettled people wanting change. You can look at almost any art movement throughout history and see that its defining impetus is people wanting to break the norms of something that was in force at the time. It could be politically-driven because of wars, poverty, slavery, or a horrific ruling party. Or it could be simply bucking the establishment like we saw with the impressionists or even in the psychedelic art of the 60s. It could also be from people isolated or confined due to disease or normative social constraints. We can see this in the art movement of Romanticism. People such as J. M. W. Turner were creating art that portrayed the smallness of man in comparison to the grandiose view of nature and they broke the “rules” of how art was to be created and went outside and painted man versus nature in nature.

History in Real-Time

All of that to say, we are currently in an unprecedented time in history that is demanding a COVID art movement. Interestingly enough, most art movements aren’t named or defined until after they have passed. However, this time in history may be an exception to that rule since we are living in an event that is affecting every person around the world, relatively at the same time. No one has to look back and see what happened. We all see it in real-time.

Art Now – Math Later

Art is therapeutic for young and old. It gives us an avenue to express what we can’t put into words (just like so many art movements in the past). The Arts (art, music, drama, etc.) also inspire and make way for all other academic studies. So even if you put away the math books, essay writing, grammar lessons, and history assignments and only create art for the next three months your kid’s brains will be stimulated and ready to study when the time is right. Read that again. So even if you put away the math books, essay writing, grammar lessons, and history assignments and only create art for the next three months your kid’s brains will be stimulated and ready to study when the time is right. Art will increase their capacity to learn core academic subjects when the time is right.

What if the art that you or your kids create right now could inspire your neighbor, this nation, or even our world to see who God is? What if their art could inspire the economy to get rolling again, or even manifest the literal healing of our nation?

You don’t need much to do this. Pens, paper, pencils, markers, wood, twigs, glue, anything really. Just put some stuff out for your kids — and yourself. Ask them to draw pictures or put things together that show how they feel about this time. Let them be expressive without any expectations on your part. You can create art too!

Most Importantly:

Now, take a picture of your art and the art your kids have created. Email it to me (please include the name of the artist, age, and title – if there is one). I will open a special gallery on the knoodleu.com website just for this COVID art movement. Let’s just see how we can inspire change and create a COVID art movement. All are welcome to join!

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