City provides support, creative outlet for people in isolation and quarantine for COVID-19 | Department of Public Health

Bounce Back Philly Creative Corner is a monthly newsletter providing support to people during their safe separation period for COVID-19. Each issue includes inspiring personal stories as well as original artwork, creative writing, recipes, games, and other activities. The newsletter is for Philadelphians, by Philadelphians.

Perhaps there is no better time than now for us to make a special effort to communicate our caring for one another. COVID-19 has brought feelings of disconnection, increased anxiety, and loneliness. We know times have been tough. While we may feel limited in the face of COVID-19, we do have the power and opportunity to act on behalf of our well-being. The Creative Corner newsletter provides a space for Philadelphians to feel connected and engaged with others who are sharing similar experiences.

So let’s get started! Download the latest issue here, or see below for this month’s highlights and ways to submit your creative work for possible publication in a future issue.

October-November 2022
Vol. 4, No. 10

Pandemic Art Story

Written by Melissa Pang

In January 2020 I made a few New Year’s resolutions: do more creative things, buy a house, cook more, and… spend more time alone. The last few years have allowed me to slow down and rediscover my creative side, through small and larger projects, from participating in #onephillyart projects and posting them in the window of my one-bedroom basement apartment, to painting a mural in the backyard of my newly purchased pandemic home, along with two children’s books for family and friends, a lot of homemade birthday cards, a wreath, painted coasters and earrings, nail art, Christmas ornament crafts, and food art along the way.

One of my favorite projects was creating over 60 Gritty ornaments in December 2020 with the help of some of champagne corks, fake flowers, and googly eyes. The best part about making these was hand delivering them to friends all over the city. This was before vaccines and with freezing temperatures, it was hard to get motivated to leave the house, but these gave me an excuse to walk, a way to see friends even if it was just for a few minutes on their stoop and masked, and the joy of spreading Gritmas cheer!

I even managed to combine two of my resolutions into one by creating food art like this brunch bunny, charcuterie chalet, and skeleton cheese board. It made cooking for one just a bit more fun. When things started to open up and we were able to celebrate my niece’s birthday, we made her a hungry caterpillar cake.

Like many of you, a lot of my friends and family members had babies during the pandemic. Another creative project was illustrating children’s books as a special gift. We spent a few hours on Zoom coming up with the story of Baby J’s Quest for the World’s Best Shrimp, and then I spent hours drawing pictures. I dropped off the pages for others to color and then scanned them and created a book with a picture site. Last year, my sister and I created a French-English Alphabet book for our niece, who is being raised bilingual, with all words that start with the same letter in French and English.

Perhaps my most over the top ongoing project has been on the tiniest canvases: my nails. I’ve been doing nail art for fun since I was in high school, but my pandemic nails were some of my most artistic and detailed. I like to reflect what’s going on in the world with my nail art, so in the beginning of the pandemic, I did coronavirus nails, and then a year later it was vaccine nails. In between, there were Gritty nails, Wordle nails, and new house nails. Now I’m working on doing all different Philly neighborhoods and just did the Italian Market.

From a tiny canvas to a much larger one, my biggest project was painting a mural in my new home. I sketched it out first and bought outdoor paint and then spent a few days painting, with the help of my sister. Sometimes I was painting until late at night, in the zone listening to music. Now, it’s so nice to sit and eat lunch or hang out with friends out here.

Art has been a great way to manage my anxiety and process all the terrible things that have happened over the last few years. It forces you to stop and focus on something without distractions. It’s a great conversation starter and something you can do just for you and nobody else.

Drexel Urban Growers and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Written by Madi Rockett

Drexel Urban Growers (DUG) is a student and community organization growing and donating organic produce to the Mantua community, connecting people to gardening education and supplies, building community partnerships, and developing projects related to nutrition education, aquaponics (using fish to fertilize aquatic plants), and vermiculture (the keeping of worms to help grow plants).

DUG was restarted in August of 2020, and we broke soil in our garden for the first time in March of 2021. It was challenging to grow our community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re grateful to have worked with so many dedicated people in the garden. Because of the COVID guidelines set by the CDC and Drexel University, we could only have 10 people in the garden at one time and, outside of the garden, we could only meet virtually for meetings and presentations. We hosted garden maintenance days every other Saturday from March to November, making sure volunteers wore masks and worked in separate raised beds when sharing the garden space. This was particularly difficult for us, as getting to know new people and connecting with neighbors is one of the biggest benefits of our work. We began using Discord to communicate with our members about upcoming events, garden updates, and eventually as a platform for our various committees to organize, and we continue to use it as our main platform for communication today. Despite our challenges, we grew 976 pounds of organic produce and donated nearly all of it directly to residents of Mantua and the Powelton Community Fridge.

Transitioning out of the pandemic was exciting for our team, and it’s been a lot of fun (and a lot of work) to make changes to how we approach the work and each other. We’ve been able to invite more people into the space, engage with people picking up produce, and put on more creative, large-scale events than ever before. We’re always evolving as an organization and can’t wait to find more ways to support communities, food justice, and community control of food.

Justice

Written by Nora Trejos
Illustrated by Ginny Robison

The tarot card for October is Justice. It is represented by lady justice with a balance scale, and it is correlated with the sign of Libra. This card is direct. The message is that you will get justice if you have been harmed or are seeking to hold someone accountable for their actions. If you have any kind of legal matters pending, this card could mean that you will have a fair outcome.

The Justice card also has a meaning of Karma, or “What goes around comes around.” You will be facing the consequences of your actions soon, whether those are good or bad depends on you. Karma is not necessarily a negative thing. If you have spread seeds of love and compassion, those same feelings will come back to you and grow. If you have harmed people (intentionally or not), life will make sure you pay for your mistakes.

In the search for Justice, you may be challenged with the truth. However, the truth is not always as black and white as we want it to be, and there may be many truths to every situation. Make sure you are open to hearing many sides of a story and being mindful of your own bias. Do not make a judgement until you have looked into all facts with a clear mind.

In terms of the future, the Justice card wants you to consider the consequences of the decisions you are making right now. Consider your options with an open mind and be honest with yourself about what each path will bring you. Be careful with romanticizing your desires to the point that you are not being realistic with what the outcome will actually be. Listen to your intuition but also look at your desires in the light of reality. Will that thing you want really make your life better?

Often, in our personal relationships, it’s hard to seek restoration when trust has been broken and someone has been hurt. The Justice card invites you to let go of resentment and leave it up to the universe to balance the scales. Finding your own revenge may seem like a satisfying option, but it can bring more negative karma towards yourself. Let the universe take care of those who hurt you and trust that they will be held responsible by life in due time.

We live in a society in which we see injustice every day. It’s hard to believe that justice can be possible in our country with so many systems of oppression in place. Injustice cannot be undone. However, the Justice card offers the strength to fight against the powers that be. If you are standing up for what’s right and challenging century old structures, this card is for you. Keep doing the work necessary to lift the truth and seek justice.

Keywords: cause and effect, karma, truth

Death

Written by Nora Trejos
Illustrated by Ginny Robison

For November, we will be working with the Death card, which is the assigned card for the sign of Scorpio. Although this card is feared due its graphic nature and creepy look, it is not necessarily a negative card. It rarely ever means a physical death. More often, it means the death of an old self to give space for a new you. The end of the year is coming near, and as we take a look into our successes and failures from this year, we can also consider what aspects we need to let go of and new goals to aim for.

The Death card is bringing a major transformation to your life. The first step is to let go of old patterns of thought and behavior to make room for the things you need to learn. It’s possible you encounter inner resistance since you have been doing things the same way for a long time, which does not mean that is the best way to do things right now. Allow yourself to mourn old relationships, friendships, habits, hobbies, jobs, etc. Take time to process the loss of releasing your old self. Only after you accept what is gone, will you experience the re-birth that the Death card promises.

When it comes to love, the Death card does not need to mean the end of a relationship. It can be the end of a stage and a transition to a better version of the bond. It will take time and effort to make an old relationship work with new boundaries and expectations, but if both parties are willing to change, then they will be able to grow together. You have a choice to accept the challenge and transform your relationship, or simply let it go. If your friend or partner does not want to commit to change, you may also have to let it go.

When it comes to finances, Death may bring a big loss of resources. This will trigger a period of re-learning how to manage your time and money to maximize profits and avoid burn out. Do not spend your time crying over spilled milk. Money goes and money comes. You will recover from this loss and learn how to avoid them in the future.

Overall, Death brings good news to every aspect of your life, with the caveat that something has to go for something else to come in. A door will open after one has been closed. The secret is in your openness to transformation and new energy.

Keywords: transition, transformation, loss, new beginning

Activities, Games, and More

Each issue of the Creative Corner newsletter includes stress-free activities to engage readers during their period of safe separation. This month’s issue includes a profile of the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, fun with origami, tips on mindful sleeping, two new “Taste of Home” recipes, and a variety of new poetry techniques, word games, and other puzzles.

Download all this and more in the latest issue.

Be a part of the newsletter!

We will publish selected submissions of creative work in future editions of the Creative Corner newsletter. Not comfortable giving your name? You can use an alias or make up a name.

Share your story with us

Do you have a story or poem you’d like to tell about your COVID-19 experience? We want to hear it!

Complete and submit our story submission form.

Share your artwork with us

Would you like to express your visual side? Here’s your chance to showcase your artwork and promote creative ways to inspire others. You can draw, paint, sculpt, create a collage, or take pictures – the method of expression is unlimited and up to you.

Complete and submit our artwork submission form.

ARCHIVED ISSUES

September 2022
Vol. 3, No. 9

Two Years In: A COVID-19 Story

Written and Illustrated by Paul Aulridge

It was February of 2020 when I realized we were in for a shock. I am by no means a scientist, but I have a healthy respect for science, and the idea of a zoonotic virus spreading across continents filled me with fear I’d never felt before. I remember doing my panic shopping well before the rest of my neighborhood did; loading up a shopping cart with canned food, dried goods, anything and everything that could be shelf-stable in case nobody could go anywhere for a month or more.

I tried to warn others that it would get bad. I was called an idiot, a racist, and a scaremonger.

And then the world shut down.

Some of the same people who had laughed and made fun of me were suddenly a little quieter. The reality of hospital wards filling to capacity, of refrigerated trucks storing corpses for not having room in the morgues, of so many thousands of people saying their final farewells through a rectangle of glass and light, alone, all alone as their organs shut down–all these tragedies, and yet there were still people who met up with others and did not follow the recommended guidelines. A few of them gave in, but most of them did not.

I stood in line for thirteen hours at the Liacouras Center, waiting for a vaccination, the first dose, a half milliliter of the most precious fluid ever created in the history of humankind. As I stood there freezing in the rain, in the snow, I could think only of all the people whose last moments were spent choking under the weight of their own lungs. I wouldn’t be one of them, couldn’t be one of them–I refused, I wouldn’t accept it. I’d stand all day if I had to, and I did. And for a while, I felt safe.

In May 2022, I finally got COVID-19. Despite all the safety precautions, despite all the prevention methods, despite being double-dosed and twice-boosted, I caught it. My roommate got it first and gave it to me. I tested and was hopeful that I was fine because I felt fine.

There is nothing more dreadful and anxious than the silent minutes that tick down waiting for the result to appear.

Swab. Swirl. Dip. Four little droplets onto a little hole in a tiny slab of plastic, and then–wait. “Read after fifteen minutes. Do not read after twenty.”

And after fifteen minutes, I looked. The control line was a band of pink, and below it, the test line–was there. Faint, almost invisible, but there. I felt like I was on a boat in turbulent waters. I took a long breath in, gave a low breath out, and cursed at the top of my lungs.

Academically, I knew I would be safe. I knew the numbers were on my side. But there, right in front of me, on a little slab of plastic two inches long, one inch wide, was a confirmation of what I had dreaded for the better part of two years. Two years on the run from the most contagious sickness we’re ever going to see in our lifetimes. Two years of dodging, protection, defense–and it had still got me.

The next few days were some of the sickest I’ve been in years. The chills, the fever, the ache in my bone like splinters in every joint; it was awful. By the fourth day, I felt less like garbage. By the sixth, I was human again. I was still testing positive (this time the bands were both bright purple); so, I worked from home, writing a few emails and then going back to sleep. I was grateful to have that option because I cannot imagine working as a line cook, or in retail, and not being able to financially recover from an entire week of no work.

Something strange happened, though. The first few days were bad, but once it was clear my symptoms would eventually go away, I felt something else–a lightness, an easiness, as though I’d been dragging weights and suddenly released them. The thing I’d feared for two years had happened, and it did not kill me. It made me sick, yes, but it did not kill me. The dread, the fear, and the anxiety that had worried me for so long–it had turned to nothing, evaporated, blown away with two horizontal lines on a chunk of plastic.

I do not think I realized, until that moment, how deeply, and how negatively, the pandemic was weighing on me. But now I’d gotten sick, and I didn’t die, and I didn’t even lose my sense of taste; all those things that had crushed my spirit were not going to happen.

Coming out the other side of COVID unharmed has made me feel a little bit more like normal. I still wear a mask in public, I still keep distance where possible–but for the next 180 days, at least, I am not likely to get reinfected. This is a joy greater than I’ve known in a long time.

Two years. Two years of anxiety blown away by two weeks of sickness, and on the other side of that–joy.

That’s my pandemic.

Creating Art with the Sun

Written by Jordan Holycross

Taking the sun for granted during the heat of the summer isn’t difficult. But as cold months are coming, it’s easier to be grateful for the daylight. Here are some ways to practice this appreciation and mindfulness by using the sun to make art.

Sun Bleaching

This simple craft creates unique prints. All you need is a clear day, creativity, and a little patience. Start by collecting some supplies:

Construction paper (the darker the better)
Small objects or plants
Clear tape

Choose objects or plants with defined shapes. Pressed plants and heavier objects work best. Bring your supplies to an area that will be sunny for the next few hours, such as by a large window. Once you’ve found a good spot, lay down your construction paper and arrange the objects on top. Tape the corners or use heavier objects to weigh down any items that may blow away, such as plants, pieces of paper or lighter items.

Get creative! Experiment with objects of different shapes and sizes or put your objects together to create new shapes.

Let your paper sit in the sunlight for three to five hours. After removing your items from the paper, you’ll see that the sun has bleached the uncovered areas, revealing the outline of your shapes. You can continue the project by adding drawings, paintings, or collaging your prints.

Cyanotype Prints

Cyanotype printing is one of the oldest forms of photography and has been practiced since the mid-19th century. Two chemicals, potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate, are mixed to make a light-sensitive solution that can be painted onto paper or fabric. This creates a photographic surface. The amount of light on a photographic surface is known as “exposure.” When the paper or fabric is left in the sun, it is “exposed,” and it becomes a bright cyan-blue color. Placing objects on the paper or fabric blocks the light, and their shapes become visible as the exposed area changes color. There are many ways to experiment with this method, but here are a few examples to get started.

Sun-printing paper

Many craft stores have cyanotype or “sun-printing” paper, which comes pre-coated with the chemical mixture. This is the most beginner-friendly way to practice cyanotype printing. Simply put your objects on a sheet of cyanotype paper and pick a sunny area to expose the paper to the sun or letting the sun shine onto the paper. Let your sheet expose for 2-3 minutes until the paper turns into a pale blue. Bring your paper inside and put it flat in water for one minute. After allowing the paper to dry, you’ll have a beautiful cyanotype print. If the paper gets wrinkled, put it between two heavy books to flatten it.

Cyanotype mixture

Craft stores may also carry the two chemicals needed to create cyanotype prints, which can then be transferred to your own paper or even onto t-shirts. Instructions will vary depending on whether you buy a pre-mixed solution or the two chemicals separately. When used carefully, cyanotype chemicals are among the safest of chemical photographic processes. However, these chemicals can still irritate the skin or eyes. Wear disposable gloves and practice care when creating cyanotype prints. Using the liquid mixture can also be messy, so make sure you are taking the proper precautions to protect your clothes and surfaces!

Once you have your cyanotype mixture, choose what you’d like to expose your print onto. If you’re choosing to print on paper, a thicker watercolor paper works best. You can also print onto white fabric such as a t-shirt. Whatever you choose to print onto, remember that this process will likely take some trial and error. Printing onto test strips of paper or scrap fabric first may create a better result.

The next step should take place in a dark room, away from direct sunlight. Use a brush to evenly coat your chosen printing surface with the chemicals. Leave them to dry in darkness.

Set up your outdoor space where you will expose your prints. Make sure the area receives direct sunlight (or as close to direct as possible), that there is a flat surface, and that you have something to weigh down your surface. Figure out how you want to place your objects onto your surface. Try objects with different textures such as feathers or put objects together to create new shapes.

When bringing out your surface, keep in mind that the exposure will begin as soon as the surface receives sunlight. Quickly place your objects and secure your surface. Use clear tape, heavier objects, or a pane of glass to keep the objects flat and steady.

Different exposure times will make different results. In the summer months, exposure can take as little as five to ten minutes, while colder months may need a longer exposure time of 15 to 20 minutes. The yellow-green of the cyanotype chemicals will begin to change into a cyan-blue. Once you’re happy with the exposure time, remove your objects and weights and bring the surface inside. Run it under cold water until it runs clear. To create more contrast in the print, you can also place your print in a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide.

Let your print air dry for 24 hours. The contrast and colors may become more vibrant as it dries. The print is now permanent and can be exposed to sunlight.

Find out more:

Cyanotype by Dusan C. Stulik and Art Kaplan (The Getty Conservation Institute)

Tarot Card of the Month: The Hermit

Written by Nora Trejos
Illustrated by Ginny Robison

For the month of September, in the constellation of Virgo, we have the Hermit. The Hermit is a highly wise person who is connected to nature and lives away from civilization, like on a mountain or in the woods. The main invitation of this card is to disconnect from the loudness of society and reconnect with the silence of mother nature.

The Hermit card is asking you self-isolate with a purpose. This month may be a time to do some soul searching. Allow yourself to seek the answers inside of you. Choose a place in nature where you feel at peace and go there without any electronics. Listen to the water running, the birds chirping and your heart beating. Maybe in this space you can also hear what your soul is telling you. This practice is also known as noble silence.

To practice noble silence, you need to remove all distractions; this includes social media, computers, music, TV, (any screens really), and even conversations with others. This practice helps cleanse your mind of clutter and brings clarity to your heart. You can go on a walk, read a book, write in a journal, do some crafting, complete some chores, or play a game, in silence. Do this for at least two hours and you will see the benefits of being The Hermit without needing to move to the mountains.

The Hermit can also represent a time of change and turmoil in which you need to take time to meditate and think deeply about your path in life. Are you where you want to be right now? Are there changes you need to make to improve your life? Where exactly are you going? If these and other questions are roaming your mind, you need to give yourself space to find the answers and stop procrastinating self-growth.
If you have been recently hurt, The Hermit brings a time of healing. Even though isolating can be lonely, you need to step away from others to tend to your heartbreak. Remember that isolation is not the same as loneliness.

Lastly, the Hermit can be raising a flag that you are too focused on outwardly and material things. You are neglecting your inner world and probably disconnected from nature. The Hermit calls you to reexamine your priorities. You may be so caught up in the demands of capitalism (work, money, possessions) that you are missing the reality that is your own soul and its place in nature.
The Hermit wants you to find the divine that live inside of you through connecting with everything that is alive around you.

Keywords: solitude, soul searching, wisdom, connection