Wishing the anxiety would go away.

Uffizi Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 2.24.22 PM

Hard time sleeping. Hard time eating. Glued to the computer. Internalized anxiety. The image I chose is from the Uffizi Gallery, in the Baroque collection; Medusa, created by Caravaggio Merisi, fits today.

But art – whether visual art, music, theater, or dance – has always been good for our souls. Now, we have a few galleries or alternative spaces that are open or making an appointment. But, for the most part, the metro area is zipped up when it comes to the arts.

One saving grace is the virtual tours that museums around the world have given us a peek inside. I just finished a tour of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s jewelry holdings, then hopped over to the Guggenheim Museum, looking at Josef Albers’ works in glass. I know, it’s not the same, but….

First, though, a story today in Hyperallergic focuses on the problems museums are having. No attendance, no money.

The two paragraphs below pretty much sums it up:

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the cultural sector battles unprecedented financial blows, with major museums across the world indefinitely shutting their doors indefinitely to visitors in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus. In a letter dated yesterday, March 18, museum leaders across the United States wrote to US Congress and Senate leaders requesting Congress allocate at least $4 billion to nonprofit museums in the United States.

“Addressing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leaders Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and Charles Schumer, the administrators explain the ‘existential threat from the closures required to address the COVID-19 pandemic.’ The letter notes that museums annually contribute $50 billion to the US economy, generate $12 billion in local, state, and federal tax, along with supporting 726,000 jobs, expressing worry that great losses in the cultural sector will displace thousands of workers and act as a blow to the greater economy. Yesterday, a New York Times article revealed anxieties at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is estimating a $100 million loss as it scrambles to navigate an indefinite closure, which may leave the museum doors locked until July. The worries at the institution forecast an even worse fate for many museums across the nation.”

Of course, they are concerned. I am concerned, about galleries and other art spaces.

The links below lead to numerous museums with virtual tours. Our nearby museums – Denver Art Museum, MCA Denver, Clyfford Still Museum, and the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art – also post images, and the Kirkland has a tour through the galleries.