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Since stay-at-home orders took effect and schools closed, Casey Biuso of New London has noticed that her kids, who are 12, 10 and 7, are more interested in creating art.
“The act of making art has broken up the monotony of being at home and being together,” Biuso said. “It’s helped them express themselves, or just squirrel away for a little bit of alone time.”
For Biuso, creating has given her a welcome distraction from the news.
“In general for society, art is just a great way to escape for a little bit from the heavy questions,” she said.
That’s exactly what Biuso hopes to facilitate by organizing Art in Your Yard, on May 30 and 31. The event encourages families and individuals to make a piece of art, then display it outside for the world to see. Participants can put the location of their art display into a Google Map, creating a state-wide art exhibit that people can visit, while still social distancing.
“It would be fun to get out of the house a little too,” Biuso said.
Once she had the seed of an idea, Biuso reached out to her friend, Rosanna Long, an art appraiser who organizes an annual regional art show for kids through the New London Historical Society. This year, the show had to be done digitally, so the duo thought giving kids and families the change to create and display their works through Art in Your Yard was especially important.
“In my vision, the perfect scenario is lots of varying degrees of participation,” Biuso said. She would like to see professional artists, families and kids participate. People who aren’t artistically inclined can even display pieces of art by others they have in their homes.
“The more the merrier,” Long said. “Variety would make it even more fabulous.”
As they discussed the plans Long and Biuso realized that encouraging the community to come together around art was the perfect way to honor beloved children’s author Tomie dePaola, who died in March. dePaola lived in New London and was active in the local art community, so both Long and Biuso had spent time with him.
“One of the things I found most magical about Tomie was that he seemed to gain a lot of joy in being around other artists and encouraging creativity in other artists, or anybody,” Long said. “He really wanted to share the joy of art with anyone and everyone.”
dePaola’s death was not related to coronavirus — he died of complications from surgery following a fall — but because he died during the pandemic, the community has not been able to mourn and honor him, Long said.
“It came at a time when it wasn’t easy for the community to celebrate his life,” she said. “This seemed like a colorful, community-minded way to give everyone a chance to remember him in an artistic way.”
Long and Biuso reached out to dePaola’s assistant, who gave his blessing, although Art In Your Yard is not an official Tomie dePaola event.
“We would have organized it without a nod to Tomie if his assistant hadn’t been comfortable and supportive of the idea,” Long said. “But since he was, we thought it was a fitting tribute to allow our local community a public moment to celebrate his love of art and support of our area.”
In honor of dePaola, Long and Biuso hope that people will have fun, getting creative and enjoying the fruits of other people’s creativity. Creating art is the perfect activity for families stuck at home, and driving to the other displays is a good break from time at home, they said.
“I have found for myself and my children, art [is] this wonderful combo of soothing and energizing and invigorating,” Long said. “It’s soothing to create something, to be in your own artistic, creative world. Then there’s a sense of accomplishment. It seems to be an almost universal comfort right.”
Art in Your Yard will take place on May 30 and 31, with a rain date of June 6 and 7. Get more information and add your location to the map or by emailing Biuso at csbiuso@yahoo.com or Long at rosanna@rosannaeubank.com. Post photos of your art using #artinyouryard.
Editor’s Note: The headline was corrected to reflect the correct date for Art In Your Yard. We apologize for human errors and do our best to get things right the first time!
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