During lock-down I was looking for a way to stay connected to my neighbors. We had a great group that got together monthly for anything related to wine: book club, games, movies. We called our time together “Side Yard Sundays” since we often met at our neighbor’s yard. That all vanished during quarantine.

To start the project I gave everyone a board with a collage element on it. Instructions were loose: add something and pass it on to the next neighbor. So, from our respective homes, distracting ourselves from the fears and the unknowns of COVID-19, we cut, we pasted, we sewed, we drew, we colored, or otherwise added something to the boards and then passed them along. For seventeen months we added and passed, added and passed, moving the boards in a clockwise rotation. We worked until they seemed finished…and then added more blank boards into the rotation. In the end, we collectively produced over fifty mixed-media (sometimes multi-dimensional) “Quarantine Collages”.

This became a highlight during quarantine, it felt like getting a present every few days! It was fun to see the twists and turns each picture would take on its journey around the block and back again. Our “Side Yard Sunday Project” is David Bankes, Judi Murphy, Erin Murphy, Suzanne Hughes, Holly Logan, & Tricia Way and myself.

See the work!
The collages are on display through November 2021 at the KCFC Co-op, 2670 Coral Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125.

Suggested donation of $25 each. All proceeds will benefit Portside Arts Center https://www.portsideartscenter.org/, and the great work they do bringing the arts to our neighborhood!