The other day I ordered dinner from a local restaurant and, in our no-touch society, the young man who delivered it rang my door bell, put the bag on my top step and then stepped down to the sidewalk when I opened the door. I thanked him and he was on his way back to his car when he stopped and took out his phone. I watched as he took a picture of a tree in front of my house that was resplendent in pink. It is breathtaking—if you take the time to notice. That delivery man did notice and because he did, he helped me see the beauty that was right outside my door. That one mundane encounter completely changed my day and my mood, and I won’t be able to pass that tree without remembering the momentary joy it gave that man and he in turn gave me.
It is hard right now to look past the sickness and sorrow of this pandemic to notice that beauty still surrounds us. Not just in the spectacular show Mother Nature is putting on this spring, but also in the art that has found its way out of museums, galleries, studios and theaters and is now accessible on our personal devices. The opportunity to tune out of the pandemic for a while and re-balance and restore is abundant and all of us – especially the essential workers, the true warriors in the COVID-19 battle – need a reliable respite.
In this issue of BOPA’s newsletter we are sharing arts resources and upcoming virtual events—some produced by BOPA and others from partners and kindred arts organizations. This blog also lists opportunities to indulge and create.
I hope you will take advantage of what is right in front of us and, when and where you can, lose yourselves, at least for a little while, in something beautiful.
Donna Drew Sawyer
CEO, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts