SVSU, Saginaw Art Museum launch webpage collecting writing, artwork chronicling life during pandemic

Saginaw Valley State University has teamed with the Saginaw Art Museum to capture history as it’s happening, taken from the perspectives of those experiencing it: specifically, Great Lakes Bay Region residents. 

 

Launched this week, “The Quarantine Chronicles” webpage acts as an online repository for stories and artwork that reflect the experience of local life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Already, a small collection of content is available, but organizers hope the volume grows as community members submit more work. 

 

The project is a collaboration between SVSU’s Center For Community Writing and the Saginaw Art Museum, which hosts the webpage within its larger website. The URL is www.saginawartmuseum.org/quarantinechronicles. 

 

“We want to provide a place for people to connect to one another, to be able to share their experiences,” said Helen Raica-Klotz, co-director of SVSU’s Center For Community Writing. “We know that art and writing are powerful mediums for self-expression and personal connection.” 

 

Eventually, Raica-Klotz said, she hopes the webpage will feature a long list of creative fiction and poetry, photographs, sketches, musings, artwork-in-process, video clips, interviews and journal entries, to name a few. 

 

Thor Rasmussen, marketing and creativity director at the Saginaw Art Museum, said he was excited to partner with SVSU on the project. 

 

“We are optimistic that ‘The Quarantine Chronicles’ will be a place that connects people and our shared experience during this unusual time,” Rasmussen said. “Interestingly, even now – during this crisis – we see people use creative thinking to solve problems and art as a means of expressing themselves.” 

 

The museum hosts items spanning thousands of years, he said: 

 

“Each piece gives a glimpse into history. In some ways, our compilation of ‘The Quarantine Chronicles’ is a way for art to tell the story of our current time. As the museum continues its mission of providing art for all, we hope this project is a vehicle for members of our region to recognize art is a part of their daily lives.”