Art In The Time of COVID-19

The past two years have been packed full of lovely and challenging events. I had a baby, Elsie Rose, and took some time off from my full-time art career to focus on family. During that time I pivoted my practice to working from home and developing the SeedWorks Lab with PushPush Arts, and subsequently opening the new PushPush Arts hub in College Park, GA where my current studio resides (well, technically I’m currently isolating in my basement, which is fun—if fun is sifting through piles of everything we didn’t want to look at in the main living areas while raising a newborn to now get a functional working space).  I also recently joined the board for PushPush Arts to assist in its mission of elevating the arts and providing paths to sustainability for Atlanta artists of all kinds.

PushPush Arts opened up only a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which nullified many of our in-person arts programs and pushed us, like everyone else, to move online. So here we are. Here I am. I’m working on developing pathways for online engagement for studio artists, which includes livestreaming and virtual creative spaces. 

I’ve been incubating a project for investment through SeedWorks called This Is Art. Show., which is a cross between a late-night talk show and a studio visit, where the show goes to the artist instead of the artist coming to the show. With social distancing, I’m updating the form of the show to pivot to a virtual space. This will be joined with other segments including 

• Study Hall - artists working together, virtually
• Art & Chill - livestreams of in-studio work
• Looking For Group - virtual boardgame nights

And let’s not forget the original segment proposals:

• Good Advice: Stuck on what to do with your art project? Write in and I’ll give artistic advice that just may could be genius. Or disastrous. (Humorous)
• Terrible Advice: Career advancement and professional practices. Gross. (Actually useful)
• Fix Your Statement: All artist statements are garbage. Mine included. Listeners can send in their artist statement and I’ll “fix” it. Results may vary.
• #checkin: What’s going on in my social media feed? Any cool Insta pics? (love that Google Streetview glitch she just posted) Crazy Facebook comments? (he said WHAT to WHOM about EH?) Kickass sponsored ads? (limited time only) Cool events coming up? (a popup gallery in a luxury hotel? You don’t say!) It’s all nonsense and also #VERYIMPORTANT.
• A Message From Our Sponsors: We all gotta eat. A mix of real and imagined sponsorship advertisements.
• Listener Mail: Questions? Comments? Corrections? Strike that last one. This is ART, remember? There are no wrong answers. Only dumb questions.
• This Is Art: An evolving and ongoing series of on-air meta-artworks made during and/or inside the show. Official Artwork By Nathan Sharratt.
• Interstitials: Commissioned mini-art by local artists and musicians for titles, cutaways, and musical interludes.
• Studio Hack: Professional tips and tricks. 
• My Kid Could Do That: Pop quiz hotshot: Professional artist or toddler? Man/woman/other on the street. Win prizes from sponsors.
• How To Art: Guest teaches me how to make one of their artworks. Mess ensues. Artwork could be sold to raise funds.
• Smash That Like: Guest recommendations for art, music, Internet, books, etc.

So far I’ve got two streams under my belt and am working on getting through the learning curve as quickly as I can.

Want to support me as I produce this artistic endeavor? 

Send me some cash for art supplies and upgraded equipment: paypal.me/nathansharratt1

Catch my streams on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nathansharratt

Here’s a stream I did for SeedWorks Artists doing a quick overview of our SeedWorks Lab Slack Team: