BALLARAT'S artists are coming together, bringing light to the increasingly dark times we are living in.
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Since the Ballarat Arts Foundation launched its Creative Corona Ballarat initiative just two weeks ago, almost 50 people have already submitted their art to the Instagram account.
And every day more and more artists, both professional and first timers are showing that isolation does not mean an end to creativity.
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Among those to have already submitted work to the initiative is Katie Chancellor.
The Bridge Mall-based Ms Chancellor has been working on a series of colourful bird designs during the lockdown period.
"The whole online thing is really great," Ms Chancellor said.
"There's been a lot of great support, everyone is bouncing off each other, the whole community comes together to keep you motivated.
"It's so great to be able to get involved in the community. It's a really cool idea to be able to create something memorable out of this.
"I'm really focusing on creating my birds, they've evolved since I started in the studio, it's bright colourful, acrylic in the wood panels. I'm doing different sizes as well, from 40-50cm up to as big as two metres."
Ms Chancellor said she had been blown away by the creativity in the city.
"It would be amazing to have an exhibition to come out of what artists are creating," she said.
"It'll show the community,. highs and lows, different perspectives as to how people coped. What a good opportunity this will be for many people to show their art for the first time.".
Golden Point artist Garry Anderson said there was no doubt we were living in an historically significant time.
"I think it's a great idea to get people involved in activities in isolation and that we create some sort of celebration," he said.
"The main thing is to try and lesson the psychological impact of isolation.
"Every artist goes through that period, a lot of creatives need that to create, it's not easy and once you've gone through it, but it gets easier.
Ballarat's Arts Foundation Chair Paul Nicholson said the initiative was designed to give all artists a chance to express their creative side, and encouraged people to think outside the box, suggesting a painting was just one of the many varied options people could create.
"We encourage you to create something! Anything!" she said.
"Knit a scarf, plant a garden, paint a picture, make a short video, cook a delectable treat, tell a story of your daily life illustrated by your children and take photos of it all," she said.
"It is obvious that creativity is such a lifeline at this time and the arts community in Ballarat have steadily been adding to what could be an amazing body of work representing this period of social isolation through the Creative Corona project."
It is hoped that when the pandemic restrictions are over, an exhibition will be able to be curated.
To participate on Instagram, tag your photos #creativecoronaballarat or #ccballarat or submit to @ballaratartsfoundation. You can email your photo to creativecorona@ballaratartsfoundation.org.au along with a brief description of no more than 50 words.
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