The emergence of Covid-19 has provided the art world with sometime previously coveted – time. However, for those who have been offered prestigious residencies prior to the pandemic to ensure self-selected isolation, the current situation is more suffocating than inspiring.
Pat Phillips, who is currently occupying a painting residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, notes that: “If you’re not used to it, it can be a little crippling.”
He continues: “There’s nothing else to do here but get together, so the enforced extra isolation right now is tough.”
The organization’s executive director, Richard MacMillan has made the decision to continue to run this year’s residency programme, in spite of present circumstances. He does, however, note the emotional toll Covid-19 is having on his brood.
He states: “The group of residents this year was very social, but now they’re isolated.”
This forced isolation is quite different to the self-selected kind. Indeed, Elania Richardson, president of the storied artist retreat, busied herself with finding flights home for residents before the more formal lockdown. She said: “It just didn’t seem like it would be Yaddo without the meals together and the fellowship.
“I mean what were we supposed to do — leave a picnic basket outside everyone’s door?”
With the range of retreats postponed or cancelled, it is unclear how artists will be appropriately compensated in the coming months. In the words of Matisse, “Creativity takes courage”, yet amid the pandemic, it takes a little more than usual.
