01 Jan Dear Loneliness Project
In 2020, Jessica Lao, Sarah Lao, and Carissa Chen created “Dear Loneliness”. A large-scale collaborative art project that sought to write the longest letter in the world as a memorial to the COVID-19 era and the racial injustices that had dominated the year.
Artists for Trauma was a proud supporter during the initial phase of the project, lending its voice to their movement and encouraging others to express themselves through the written word and different art mediums.
When visiting Artists for Trauma’s website, our viewers were greeted with the following message:
“In light of the developments regarding COVID-19, our thoughts are with those affected by the virus in the U.S. and around the globe. At Artists for Trauma, the well-being and safety of our teams, partners and communities are our top priority. As we closely monitor the evolving impact, we are implementing ongoing measures to ensure the health and safety of our staff, while also maintaining the highest level of service to our community.
To that end, and as more jurisdictions across the country are closing schools, limiting large gatherings and taking other measures to create social distance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, we have asked our staff to work remotely in the near term. We will continue to tailor our approach to meet your specific needs, and we will adjust and communicate with you as circumstances change.
We recognize that social distancing mandates can cause feelings of isolation and loneliness and so we are adapting to virtual interactions and encourage you to please visit our collaborative project at www.dearloneliness.com.”
As Jessica Lao summed it up, “we hope that the solemn yet understated nature of this exhibit will highlight the thousands of individuals that make it up, in addition to the weight of loneliness itself. Further, as much as we support policy solutions to loneliness (perhaps something like the U.K.’s Minister of Loneliness), we believe that the power of “Dear Loneliness” lies in the cultural shift that an art movement can harness to complement the terrific work of nonprofit groups in this time.”
