About “marking lives covid-19”
Conceived by Concord-based visual artist Elizabeth Awalt, “Marking Lives COVID-19” is born from a desire to acknowledge and commemorate lives lost in America to COVID-19. Elizabeth invited the community to join this collective art project. Artists were asked to make at least 1,000 marks of any kind in the artist’s medium on any surface. Artists posted images of their works to social channels under the hashtag #markinglivescovid19. Once “Marking Lives COVID-19 has “marked” the majority of lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S., it will serve as a memorial to this tragic era, similar to the powerful AIDS Memorial Quilt.
PROJECT NEWS
A video of the exhibition “Remembering Together: Marking Lives COVID-19” is now available to view on You Tube. You can click on the image above to view the show. The exhibition, "Remembering Together: Marking Lives COVID-19" is now closed. The exhibit was hosted at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard from Sept 27 - Nov 19, 2021. Thank you to co-curator Deborah Davidson, Shannon Humphreys and Nora Long of the Broad Institute and all of the artists, and supporters who helped make the exhibition a success!
Additional News can be seen on the News Page of this website; Catalyst Conversation talk, reviews of the show, and more!!
INSTALLATION VIEW
GALLERY WALL
GALLERY WALL
GALLERY WALL
Original work by Elizabeth Awalt
“As an artist, I searched for a visual way to express my emotions around the pandemic and found it meditative and healing. I am so grateful to the generous spirit of the participating artists who have created unique and poignant work for this project.”
As of August 9, 2021
614,291
Lives lost in the U.S. to COVID-19
Source: CDC website
193
Artists participating
309
“Marking Lives COVID-19” artworks submitted
403,460
Marks honoring lives lost
What participating artists are saying…
Wendy Lew Toda, CA
“Blue and watercolor, for sorrow and tears. Applied by fingertip because the touch of loved ones was missing for most when they said their last goodbyes. Also a single pearlescent fingerprint, because your loss is not just one in a sea of hundreds of thousands of others. It stands out. This was your unique person.”
Pam Williams, Cape Cod MA
“The 1,000 circles represent as many lives - mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers. People from every race, every background, and from all walks of life. Each mark is a meditation connecting 1,000 lights into the universe. Profoundly saddened by the extraordinary loss of life from the pandemic, creating this piece enabled me to quietly honor these people and their lives.”