PHOTO | MCCOLL CENTER FOR ARTS+INNOVATION

CT Anderson, from left, Andrew Wilson and Jonell Logan are holding a conversation as part of the McColl Center for Arts + Innovation's Creative Shifts: Finding Collaborative Hustles in the Time of COVID-19 May 19 from 7-8 p.m. via Facebook Live.

Artists have to find a way to hustle during COVID-19.

Figuring out how can be tricky. The McColl Center for Arts + Innovation presents Creative Shifts: Finding Collaborative Hustles in the Time of COVID-19 on May 19 from 7-8 p.m. via Facebook Live. The conversation will be moderated by curator Jonell Logan, featuring McColl Center artist-in-residence Andrew Wilson and Charlotte creative CT Anderson. They will discuss finding ways to sustain themselves and their work during a pandemic. A talk featuring these two artists has been rescheduled twice, the first time due to a tornado earlier this year, and the second due to a pandemic.

Anderson and Logan met as classmates in Leadership Charlotte and they immediately connected. Logan sits on the board of Anderson’s nonprofit, Spring Clean, which reimagines unwanted materials as wearable and decorative art. Logan connected Anderson and Wilson based on their use of textiles as an artistic medium and they have been collaborating ever since.

“Jonell said, ‘I have a textile artist who is an artist-in-residence at the McColl Center who you would get along great with,’” Anderson said. 

Said Wilson: “There’s so much waste that happens in the fashion industry. What are ways to take those discarded items and turn them into new things. We developed a set of joggers and a duffle bag of our of recycled materials to give them new life. We had that finished in time for the initial program, and then the tornado hit, but CT and I have been working very closely ever since. She’s become a really good friend of mine.”

Things have drastically changed since Wilson began his residency in January, but the conversation will happen.

“At first we were kind of shelving the conversations, but what was really great was CT and Andrew were really thinking about, ‘how can I be creative and still support my business through this time?’” Logan said. “I’ve been talking with a lot of artists, and a lot of us are really kind of thinking about how to continue to generate income during this, especially when people are being conservative during this with their spending, but also this moment can affect how creative you are.”

Anderson and Wilson have stayed true to their practice while creating new work together. The goal is to showcase what people are doing creatively to manage the given climate and its aftermath. They are collaborating on making protective masks, as the pair have the skills and materials necessary to create personal protective equipment. Wilson wants people of color to feel empowered to create other sources of economic income during the pandemic. At first, he resisted the idea of making masks, seeing what was being produced as a placebo rather than truly protective. When his Florida-based father, Shaune, made a stop in Charlotte on his truck delivery route, he asked Wilson to make masks. The younger Wilson spent weeks researching, making sure what he produced would truly protect people: A mask that covers the chin, includes a wire bridge to cover the nose, and a pocket for a filter.

“Even in the darkest hour, you cannot forget the hustle,” Wilson said. “People of color have been doing this forever.”

Said Logan: “I really wanted to have a conversation with them to share what they’re doing, and if it can provide ideas for other people, if it can connect them with other like-minded folks who are doing similar works, or retooling their process, I think it’s great. It provides a different perspective in this moment about who artists are, and how creative collaboration can happen, and what can it look like when you stay true to your craft and your vision but still be flexible.”

No one knows what awaits on the other side of COVID-19, but artists will just as necessary then as they are now.

 “Artists and creatives, whether that be locally or abroad, are very important to the fabric of our society, now more than ever,” Anderson said. “I told a colleague the other day, ‘poco a poco,’ which is Spanish for ‘little by little.’ That’s the best advice I can give. Even if little by little means hour by hour. There have been times in my life where things have been topsy-turvy. Luckily and gratefully, this is not one of them. I found myself saying, ‘I’m just going to make it through this next hour,’ and then the next thing I know is I’ve made it through a whole day.”

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/269048917601337/

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