COVID-Era Journal: One
“We must be headlights and not taillights.” — John Lewis
Overwhelming. So, take one step at a time. Life is a journey. Find solutions, excellence. Remember teamwork.
Artist Brian Colbath on Main Street, Middletown, CT. Commissioned by the City of Middletown to paint a vibrant Pride Flag emblem on a pedestrian crosswalk mural between Perk on Main and the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce office.
“Art is not the only thing important in my life but it has always been there and would not be who I am without it.” A quote from artist Brian Colbath, commissioned by the City of Middletown, seen painting a colorful crosswalk on Main Street in Middletown, Connecticut, creating a Pride Flag emblem in anticipation and to build awareness for the City of Middletown second Annual Middletown Pride event set for June 5, 2021 (the first-ever event in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
The finished design, morning light enhances the colorful crosswalk by artist Brian Colbath, as seen Nov. 7, 2020.
The City of Middletown, the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, and Wesleyan University in collaboration with the Triangle Community Center are partnering to “raise awareness, celebrate, benefit and empower our diverse community and particularly the lives and contributions of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual residents.” The festival will include a parade, live performances, a drag show at South Green. “We are inviting participation from local community groups, businesses, and individuals.” Visit Middletown Pride’s website at www.middletownpride.org; e-mail info@middletownpride.org. Or call the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce at (860) 347-6924. Middletown Pride is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
A century before the Famous Artists School was established in Westport, artist Benjamin Hutchins Coe (1799–1883), a prosperous #Middlefield farmer’s son, was publishing manuals to teach Americans how to draw landscapes. https://t.co/tkz3nfm9f4@CTHumanities #landscapepainting pic.twitter.com/vNxAGsfsob
— Connecticut History (@CT_History) November 5, 2020
“For our own sake and for the sake of those
Who will come after us. There is a better future,
And we can secure it. Let us take up the task, and
Let us be worthy of our best destiny.”
— N. Scott Momaday, Santa Fe, N.M.; 5/22/2020 via New York Times
Notable: Author and poet N. Scott Momaday's newest book Earth Keeper is reviewed by Linda LeGarde Grover in the Minnesota Star Tribune linked here. (Note: Updated 11/12/2020.)
E pluribus unum, “out of many, one.”
Here is a moment from a rodeo in VT in 2017. Who knew VT had a rodeo scene? Not me, until I went a few times! pic.twitter.com/aAjOEpIPWw
— Caroline Losneck (@CarolineLosneck) November 5, 2020
“So please, keep creating. We are counting on you.”
— Jesse O’Shea is an infectious disease fellow (excerpt from his essay, found because of a C. Michael Gibson MD mention via tweet, below).
A thank you to all artists on behalf of the health care community https://t.co/oneJIoSppM via @kevinmd
— C. Michael Gibson MD (@CMichaelGibson) November 5, 2020
Story updated to include image of finished mural design Nov. 7, 2020. One item was moved to the Resources page linked here. A portion of this has been archived, 2021.