Xchanges Members in the Community – October News
Shannon Holms is an artist in Victoria, BC who is painting portraits of healthcare workers in British Columbia as a tribute to frontline workers who are making great sacrifices to help patients with Covid-19 or impacted by Covid-19. Her project “B.C. Healthcare Heroes” documents the faces, the names, and the voices of the pandemic. Through interviews, Shannon has spoken to healthcare workers who are working with children that may have been abused or neglected, mental health professionals and Doctors leading response teams to Covid-19.
During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, there was a media ban worldwide, except for in Spain, so there are not many stories or photos from that time of the people that were working during the pandemic. This project will not only celebrate the efforts of the healthcare workers but also provide historical information during this pandemic.
Currently, eight of these portraits are part of a show at the Ministry of Health in Victoria in the hallway that leads to Dr. Bonnie Henry’s office. One of the portraits, known as Nurse Darla, was shown at the Gage Gallery as part of “Creativity during Covid.” There were more than 300 submissions, 120 artists, and only 50 were hung in the small gallery on Oak Bay Avenue. The ones that could not be hung were put on a slide show and shown in the back portion of the gallery.
These paintings are acrylic and gold leaf and are 16 X 20 in size. For more information about Shannon Holms and this project please visit her website.
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