Holly Carr had a lot of plans for 2020. But like many artists across the world, COVID-19 restrictions forced her to pivot and stretched the limits of her creativity.
Before the pandemic, an immersive art show Carr had been working on for two years was finally coming to life as a theater production. She had several shows scheduled to start in the spring of 2020.
The show is based on an art installation called light in the forest, where Carr used silk hand-painted in vibrant colours to represent a forest. Carr built the installation for her son 14 years ago to calm his anxiety around the dark.
“It was the idea that even in the dark, there’s a little bit of light to look for,” she said.
Years later, the message of hope still resonated with Carr, especially after tragic events that saw her community lose a number of young people due to mental health issues. A show with music, live painting, and performers seemed like the best way to get the message across to as many people as possible. Carr also called the production light in the forest. One of the shows was to be held for students at Acadia University, with the aim of guiding them to mental health resources on campus.
“That was the plan … Who would have ever imagined where we are now? I certainly couldn’t,” she said.
Carr showing one of the silk curtains she hand-painted for her project. – Nebal Snan
A virtual journey
When Nova Scotia went into lockdown to limit the spread of COVID-19, Carr didn’t know what that would mean for her project. But after hearing of the negative effect the pandemic is having on people’s mental health, Carr got an idea, or three.
Over the next few months, she would collaborate with numerous people to film the show and create an interactive 360-video version of it. She also decided to work with students to develop a mental wellness app with information about the resources available on campus.
The film, which will be available for people to watch in the third week of January, completed production in five days. At the end of the summer, Carr met with a small crew of six people to build the set and film the show, while maintaining social distancing. Her son was the videographer and editor.
“He was the initial inspiration for the whole thing when he was a little boy, which is kind of cool,” she said.
The second part of the project is the 360-video. It was used to create an interactive world that people can view online. Viewers can click on the objects on the screen and videos will pop up of the performers dancing or Carr live-painting. They can also read quotes that Carr picked to reflect the positive meaning behind the show: hope and resilience.
(Clock-wise from left-top) Aavha Gyawali, Jenna Floyd, Sarah Reid, and Jamie Symonds speaking about the mental wellness app they’re developing with Carr. – Nebal Snan
Working with and for youth
The third piece of the project is the mental wellness app, which uses elements from the film. Carr reached out to Jamie Symonds, who teaches a software engineering course at Acadia University to work together on creating the app.
There were 26 computer science students on board. Carr has been communicating with the students and Symonds through video chat since the course started in September.
“It was good for the students to participate in a real-world project,” said Symonds. “They got to experience the ups and downs of remote work during this pandemic.”
Aavha Gyawali was one of those students. She co-ordinated between Carr and the class and oversaw the initial development of the concept behind the app and was “amazed by all the interesting ideas.”
Working on the app not only helped develop their software engineering and project planning skills, but it was also an opportunity to support a cause the students held close to their hearts. The app, which is targeted at students, will provide users with easy access to mental wellness resources on campus while interacting with calming visuals and sounds.
“It might not help everyone, but I hope it helps at least someone,” said Jenna Floyd, another student.
Stress relief resources
Resources range from available helplines to the closest yoga class or a suggestion to walk in the woods.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘go see someone’ because a lot of people are afraid of it,” said Sarah Reid, one of the students working on the app.
Reid said she knew a lot of people who could benefit from the app, including herself.
“Sometimes with school you get overwhelmed. It could be a small thing during exams that gets you stressed out … Sometimes the stress comes in the way and it really stops you from doing your work.”
She’s previously looked into using mental wellness apps to help her relax, so it was a great experience to be involved in creating one.
“Working on this I was super excited, and I loved watching it grow,” said Reid.
Carr said the app is still in the early development stage but it may be ready next year.
The film, virtual world and video are three ways Carr hopes to reach people who may be struggling during these difficult times. She has also launched a children’s book, also called “light in the forest,” early this summer carrying the same message.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
