Montana Historical Society publishes survey, art challenge for COVID-19
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
MONTANA – The current coronavirus pandemic is an undoubtedly historic event, and the Montana Historical Society wants to engage Montanans in both recording our present moment and engaging with the state’s history.
“We’re living through history as we speak, so as a historical society, we find it’s really important to gather that history and share it with the public,” said MHS public information officer Eve Byron.
MHS has created a survey to compile the experiences of Montanans from all walks of life during the pandemic. MHS envisions that information will inform future historians doing research on the pandemic. Byron said similar records from the 1918 pandemic have helped scholars form an accurate picture of what that time looked like.
The survey gathers information about how the pandemic has impacted individual residents of the state — from the precautions they take when grocery shopping, to impacts on employment, to the general atmosphere of society and people’s reactions to the government’s response.
Because MHS hopes to gather information from every corner of Montana, the experiences of Mission Valley residents will be valuable, Byron said.
MHS is also challenging residents to re-create pieces of art in the MHS collection using household items and family members as a “Coronavirus Quarantine Challenge.” The activity was inspired by the Getty Museum, which created a similar challenge. MHS has posted 24 works of art from its collection to its Facebook page. Participants recreate the artwork then take a photo and upload it to the MHS Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest sites, or email them to eve.byron@mt.gov. MHS may put the re-creations together as an exhibit of their own once the pandemic slows.
Byron said the challenge is intended to give families and individuals stuck at home something fun to do. It also provides an opportunity for Montana residents to engage with the historical society’s collection while it’s closed due to the coronavirus.
“This is a way to introduce people to that art and an opportunity for parents to have fun with their children or individuals to have fun on their own while social distancing,” Byron said.
Byron said that someone had recreated the famous Grant Wood painting called American Gothic as part of the Getty Museum challenge. The painting shows a serious-looking man and woman in front of a barn, the man holding a pitchfork. Someone recreated that photo using a salad fork instead of a pitchfork. Byron hopes similarly clever recreations will come of the MHS exhibit.
She suggests people find a piece of art they like and jump right into re-creating it. She said the challenge is all about fun and creativity. Despite the seriousness of the moment, MHS is trying to help Montana residents feel hope and perspective about the pandemic.
“While we know our lives have been changed there’s still this indomitable spirit and we’re saying, ‘We’re not going to let this coronavirus kick us in the corner.’”
To learn more about the survey and the challenge, contact Eve Byron, MHS public information officer, at eve.byron@mt.gov or at 406-444-6843.
