SchlickArt Photography and Video, in partnership with the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, has unveiled a charity art installation at the Westfield Valencia Town Center, created to document experience during the early COVID-19 quarantine period.
The free exhibit was unveiled at the first floor Sears Court on May 3 and will run until May 30. SchlickArt worked with the community to document their first 12 weeks during the quarantine, now over a year ago, to capture how they spent their time during the initial quarantine.
“Our friends at SchlickArt had an idea and wanted to do a photo project that would uplift the community and add a little bit of fun at the same time, obviously, during that hard time,” Ivan Volschenk, managing partner at Evolve Business Strategies, which manages the chamber, said. “It was originally going to be called the 12 weeks of quarantine because we were all hoping it was not going to be that long and it has now turned into 12 months of quarantine. So kind of a year back we can now share all those photos and let everybody come and see it.”The gallery portrays individuals, couples, families and business owners in quarantine – including scenes depicting the transition to work from home, managing coronavirus-related anxiety or – what Volschenk called a common theme – drinking more than usual. Participants who wanted their photographs included in the gallery exhibit sponsored the creation of their image with donations to local nonprofits and will be able to keep their images once the exhibition ends.
Thirteen different local non-profits were selected to receive funds from the project, including Assistance League, Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley, Bridge to Home and Circle of Hope. “Our goal during quarantine was to find a way to support the local nonprofits that were suffering greatly during the shutdown,” Lindsay Schlick, co-owner of SchlickArt Photography, said in a statement. “We didn’t want to diminish the pain or seriousness of what was happening throughout the world, but we did want to use our creativity to find the silver linings – the moments of light and happiness that quarantine brought some of our local families.”
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