Spark

May 26, 2020

A Call to Artists: How Has the Pandemic Influenced Your Art?

Artists and visitors attend the opening reception for The Close Observation of Inanimate Objects in 2019 at the Center Space. Photo: Scottsdale Arts

Last year, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation transitioned the Young @ Art Gallery inside Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to become the Center Space. This transition was more than a name change; it also represented a new direction for our gallery space.

The Center Space is a newly imagined community space for visitors to learn about the arts by doing. Many of the exhibitions feature hands-on activities or interactive displays to help visitors find the artists within themselves.

The 2020 exhibition i hear what you’re seeing featured a component where visitors were invited to write poetry or prose in response to the visual and aural artworks on display. Photo: Scottsdale Arts.

When Center Space closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, it was exhibiting a show called i hear what you’re seeing. Featuring seven visual artworks by professional Arizona artists, the exhibition also includes sound pieces to accompany each visual work.

Headphones allowed visitors to listen to sound pieces designed to accompany the visual artworks on display during the i hear what you’re seeing exhibition. Photo: Scottsdale Arts.

All of the sound designs were created by students at Arizona State University, and visitors to the gallery could listen to the works on headphones located near each visual piece. With the gallery still closed, you can experience i hear what you’re seeing virtually on our website.

Someday, Center Space will open again. With that in mind we’re still planning future exhibitions, including The New Normal: Artists’ Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This show will include artworks in a variety of mediums that reflect visual artists’ creative responses to the “new normal” established during the COVID-19 health crisis. It will be exhibited at Center Space from March 5 through April 25, 2021.

Kayla Newnam, Sky Hoard, 2020

This week we are launching a call for artists to submit works for The New Normal. We’re asking them to consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their art. Have the changes to everyday life inspired new creations? Have they turned to art as an outlet for their own experiences during a time of isolation?

The deadline to submit two- and three-dimensional works for this exhibition is January 31, 2021. Existing artwork that fits the theme may be submitted for this call. The artwork must be socially acceptable for all ages.

Visit our website for details about submitting work for this exhibition. Learn more.

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