'Do Art, Feel Better': Mesa County Libraries encourage art as a way of healing
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Through the course of the last year and ongoing hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mesa County residents have shared concerns for their health, frustrations over regulations, and worry for their future — all of which have taken a toll on their mental well-being.
What's happening? How do we do this? These are some of the questions posed to people like Michelle Boisvenue-Fox, Director of Mesa County Libraries, who—with the help of her colleagues—has sought to bring a spark of light to the darkness of the pandemic.
Brainstorming ways that would help elicit community resilience and feelings that could combat those brought on by the pandemic, a communal art project that everyone could participate in came to fruition: Do Art, Feel Better.
"We started tying it into creativity, and outlets, and what makes us feel better,” explained Boisvenue-Fox. “Art is one of those things. Whether you're good at [art] or not or you're learning something new, art has this positive impact on you.”
In April, Mesa County libraries along with its partners—The Art Center of Western Colorado, the Grand Junction Downtown Creative District, the Western Colorado Writers Forum and Museums of Western Colorado—began providing take-and-make kits consisting of blank silk ribbons for people to take home and decorate. The idea was to relieve stress and foster resiliency by decorating the ribbons and sharing what has helped them cope with the pandemic. Once decorated, artists will drop off their ribbons to the nearest participating location, where they hang in nearby trees for everyone to see. In the fall, the ribbons will join together for a display as one singular piece.
The participating locations are:
- Central Library
- Colbran Library
- Fruita Library
- Palisade Library
- Cross Orchards Historical Site
- Downtown Grand junction
Open to all ages and all skill levels, the ribbon project began attracting people like Art Center Director Rachel Eagleston and her class from STRiVE. The local group from STRiVE, consisting of adults with mental and physical disabilities, had a chance to express and share what they held dear over the course of the pandemic. Students shared scenes of the outdoors, family, hobbies and more. Choosing what they wanted to draw, glue or color, every ribbon expressed a unique and individualized voice.
Another participant who shared their voice in the project was local textile artist Ruth Field. Nestled in her inspiringly decorated home art studio, she used wax paper to iron the soft ribbons so they wouldn’t slip when coloring. She decorated one ribbon with a scene from Mesa County Libraries Discovery Garden. She dedicated it to a friend she lost over the course of the pandemic. Marked with the initials “D.M.,” Field says she felt better after cementing her friend’s memory.
“Any opportunity to do art just feeds your soul,” Fields said. “It just helps release all of that creative energy and it makes you smile.”
Though the ribbons were unique and sometimes personal in the thoughts they shared, the ribbons also shared one collective focus: what helped people cope with the pandemic. As of May 10, 2021, the ribbons remain available at Mesa County Library locations. Ribbons are already on display, but the project is not over. Phase two of “Do Art, Feel Better” is currently underway.
Through June 1, submissions for a community anthology event called “In This Together” are being collected for an exhibit and public event. The exhibit is tentatively scheduled for December 2021/January 2022. This anthology welcomes writers, poets, photographers and artists to preserve the experience of the pandemic as they see fit.
Details and prompts for submissions, as well as the submission form, can be found on the Mesa County Libraries website here.
Matt Thornton is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. He is based in Grand Junction. You can contact him at matthewthornton@rmpbs.org.