Martha Willette Lewis Fall Art News:

Some viewer response to QuarantineCineGram on social media:
 
“I love your message window. It's like a political Jack-o-lantern....”-Comment on Instagram
 
 “a big thank you for keeping spirits up in these dark days. While many struggle to maintain self-care, you remain vigilant, steadfast and mindful of others. Your sensitivity to fellow creatives and daily nurturing have kept us upright and buoyant, and for these reasons you are our LIGHTHOUSE.”- Comment on FB
 
“The QuarantineCineGram is absolutely spot on and amazing every time.”- Comment on FB
 

Quarantine Cine Gram, my COVID Calendar Art Project is now past it's 150th consecutive Nightly Message!

To celebrate, I am creating an updated video of the  Posts and doing a Live Reading (TBD) at the exhibition  NOW, organized by Margaret Roleke. at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art In New Haven The exhibit runs September 13 - November 1, 2020. I am honored to be participating in this exciting group show. Visit the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, 51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, CT 06510 
More information is here: www.elycenter.org

What Is QuarantineCineGram?

QuarantineCineGram is a living calendar, a visual arts project, a protest, and a support of science and the arts during COVID 19.  It offers an urge to follow safe practice, a work of daily poetry and a way of connecting with people locally and virtually. I project a new message each night from my kitchen window, and live post it online. At a time when we are all being forced to be increasingly online, it invokes the handmade and the analog lit screens of past shadow plays, by using simple mechanical means to produce each message and transforms my domestic living quarters into a nightly cinema.
 
This project structures my day as it goes up at dusk each evening to go live on social media at 9 pm. with a short video reveal of the day’s message. I use a vintage overhead projector and have stretched a “screen” made from a yellow silk sari across my kitchen window. The projector blocks my fridge and the Kitchen must be kept dark, and then the machine cooled down and shut off at closing time. For Phase II and to give myself some flexibility I have developed a remote travelling version for phase II involving nightly message videos coming from wherever I happen to be. This adds nice texture and surprise to the mix.
 
Most of my content is original, with some messages suggested by viewers and friends. I try to find content that sums up the day in some fashion, and try to emphasize the importance of the arts and creativity in making this pandemic mentally survivable. This is the first time I have used projections, video, my own words, and performance all together in one work, and is certainly the longest continuous project I have ever produced. It also Is the first time I have constructed a work specifically to engage Social Media and is by far the most impactful artwork I have ever made. My messages get reposted and shared and responded to in a way that lets me know the value of this project extends well beyond myself in my kitchen. Art is often treated as a luxury or boutique item, when in fact it is what we turn to most often in a crisis.
Art Saves My Life Every Day.
QuarantineCineGram is a proud recipient of the Connecticut State Council on the Arts Artists Respond Award, for which I am profoundly grateful. 
Three Nice Articles on QCG in the press about the project Here and Here and Here
@quarantinecinegram 
QCG can be found on the Web, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
 

I am pleased to be organizing another exhibit at the Institute Library. Declaration of Sentiments will be online as well as actual in the Gallery and is in celebration of the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. 

Exhibition Dates: September 25, 2020 to December 15, 2020.

"In Honor of the Centenary of the 19^th amendment, the gallery is proud to present “Declaration of Sentiments” an exhibit celebrating suffrage* - and the women’s right to vote! As we head towards the elections in November it becomes more important than ever to motivate, activate and reflect upon our right to participate and to have representation in our government. The show will combine contemporary art, historic documents, and books from the library’s collection. This exhibit addresses suffrage and voting in the United States, offering a mixture of photography, drawing, prints, textiles, sculpture, painting and more, to offer a visually rich exploration of voting and the importance of women’s voices in the democratic conversation. In the interests of highlighting Democracy in action, the exhibit included a free-of-charge open-call to participate. This exhibit is particularly pertinent to our institution, as several of the historic speakers in our halls were activists for women’s suffrage: Frederick Douglass, Anna E Dickenson and Grace Greenwood aka Sara Jane Lippincott. The exhibit will feature their contributions to the movement, from our collection and beyond. “Declaration of Sentiments” was organized by Gallery Curator Martha Willette Lewis who is being helped with organization and research for the exhibit by Ava Hathaway Hacker, who is acting as our Gallery Intern this Fall! Ava is a student currently majoring in History and Art History and brings her finesse to the exhibition research and  texts for this show. We are delighted to have her participation!"

The Gallery Upstairs at the Institute Library is located at 847 Chapel Street · New Haven, Connecticut 06510 
visit https://institutelibrary.org/gallery/ for more information.