So anything new going on? What you been doing? Concerts, playoff games. How’s your bracket doing in the tourney? Oh right. That pesky COVID-19 and the whole quarantine thing. What did people do before social media as far as staying connected? Probably met at the fence and talked face-to-face. Well we can’t do that so easily right now. Being an artist who currently works from my basement studio, the whole locked-in, social distancing thing is really no different than what I call, say, Thursday. But as soon as you’re ordered to stay inside, of course the urge to go outside is a siren song that’s hard to resist. My good buddy Matt Dimmer has always been an outlier in terms of creative thinking. In some 35 years of being around designers, art directors, writers and artists, he’s among a handful of folks I consider to be next level. He’s married to a beautiful woman and together they produced two beautiful twin boys, aged 5. The twins have a ton of energy. I’m no math whiz but this equation:
Twins x Energy x Isolation=Parental Head Explosion
In an effort to quell some of that energy, and seeing that his boys love to make art, Matt came up with the idea of a way to share art with neighbors who are out on walks. He came up with the Neighborhood Front Window Art Gallery or #NHFWAG. He started to get some wonderful feedback and an idea blossomed to invite artist friends to do the same, and for folks with kids to also show their work. As a result, I was invited and have a few pieces in my window. Read Matt’s own words from his LinkedIn post:
“Working from home this past week found me juggling all kinds of stuff, just as a lot of my friends & colleagues were. And in the midst of that insanity, I did my best to parent my twin 5 year old boys, as my wife's work office hasn't yet closed.
During that time we did a lot drawing and talking about the current state things, which has been an interesting ongoing conversation to say the least. When they told me that they've felt sad at times and that they miss their friends, we decided to do our part in making something to lift spirits in our neighborhood. We created an art gallery in the front window of our house for people to see when they get out of their homes and go for a walk. And after getting some traction on IG, I figured why not make a public forum for people to share what they'd been inspired to create. Kids and adults alike are reaching out, and we're hoping to continue to spread the cheer in a time when that sentiment is truly needed. We're calling it, appropriately, the Neighborhood Front Window Art Gallery, and I invite you to share your creativity with your neighbors and then with us. Thanks to my friend & studio manager Karla at Orange Theory Fitness Logan Square for talking about it with me this morning as well! hashtag#NHFWAG “
There’s a video as well: