By Cindy Zomar, Contributing Writer
photo/submitted
Marlborough – It has often been said that art soothes the soul, but perhaps never more so than in this time of social distancing, closed schools and offices, and self-isolation.
“For lots of students and adults, art is an outlet through this, a way to process our thoughts and feelings,” offered Julie Baker, the K–12 Supervisor of Visual Arts for the Marlborough Public Schools. She recalled that in mid-May, during one of the weekly virtual meetings with the elementary art instructors, someone mentioned having seen a project that involved multiple online submissions. The group began to brainstorm how to incorporate something that would bring the community together into an art lesson for Marlborough and the idea for Hearts for Heroes was born.
“In honor of people helping their communities, and, in particular, those caregivers at UMass Memorial – Marlborough Hospital, keeping us safe, we decided to go with Hearts for Heroes,” she explained.
The art lesson for the week was just one assignment, to design a heart, photograph it, and submit it to an online website for the creation of a collaborative work of ‘heart’ to show support to front-line workers. Initially conceived for the elementary schools, the idea was quickly shared throughout K-12. The city’s Cultural Council, chaired by City Councilor Samantha Perlman, shared the invitation for submission to their members, Mayor Arthur Vigeant’s office, and Perlman’s social media as well.
“We had a little over 200 submissions. Since the project was all online, we wanted to find a way to share it with the community and hospital workers in a physical way so I designed a banner that will be on display at the hospital. Minuteman Press on Main Street printed it for us. I worked with Ellen Carlucci (Vice President of Development, Marketing and Communications at Marlborough Hospital) to coordinate our banner presentation to some of the caregivers at the hospital,” added Baker.
The banner will be hung near the front entrance to the hospital so hospital personnel can see it each day as they come to work.
“I found it really heartwarming that so many community members and students participated in the project. This is a challenging time for everyone and so important to express our gratitude to those who are on the front lines in our city. I am very proud of our school district for finding a way to connect community to our hometown heroes,” remarked Perlman.
To see all of the submissions, visit the website https://padlet.com/dmartinelli1/nzm4kpybuxrroxwu.
