Category: Westport In Focus

My husband David and I are both self-employed. I’m an artist; primarily a printmaker and painter. All of my art shows have been canceled – along with summer plans for a printmaking residency. The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, where I regularly worked using the printing presses and darkroom, has also closed. After working with the kids schooling during the day, I’m now trying to maintain a home-studio practice in the late afternoons and evenings. David is an economist and has been working the last several months on launching his own company – the future of which is now quite uncertain. So, we will both be looking at how to pivot our work and hopefully find a way forward.  As an artist, I am used to working alone and having stretches of quiet time to think and create. Having three kids at home 24/7 who are distance-learning through school, means very little time for my work. Even when I manage time in the studio, it is hard to quiet the mind and escape anxiety about what the future looks like in a post-pandemic world. I know that my artwork will change – but in what way remains unclear. I mean, all artwork is influenced by time, place, and events of the day. I will just keep showing up in the studio, doing the work, and trusting the process.   We are spending loads of time with the kids (Xavier, 14, 8th grade; Nathaniel, 12, 6th grade; Maeve, 8, 3rd grade). In addition to their schoolwork, we’ve worked on family art projects (right now we are painting rocks to hide around town), lots of games (favorites seem to be Apples to Apples, Kids Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, and my oldest has created a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign for us to do as a family …

Amy Kaplan is an artist, an event planner and an elected RTM member. She, her husband and two kids have lived in Westport for 20 years. My son was supposed to study abroad in Shanghai China, leaving February 8. So we became aware of Corona Virus early, as the virus began to sweep Wuhan and China enacted quarantines. Initially, he was offered a spot in Australia as an alternative, but he decided to take the semester off instead and get a job. After working on Amy Klobuchar’s campaign in Tennessee, he took a job as a campaign consultant for a candidate in North Carolina. That’s when the virus hit Westport. Under the threat of some kind of national shelter in place rule, his new boss sent everyone home to work remotely. He joins my husband working from home for now. My husband’s company manufactures in China, so again, we’ve been watching this unfold with dread since January. At first, he was on the phone with Chinese co-workers expressing our concern for them. Now the shoe is on the other foot.   At first, [my husband] was on the phone with Chinese co-workers expressing our concern for them. Now the shoe is on the other foot. My events are canceled or postponed, and my RTM work has been on hold as we try to adapt to a new process of holding public meetings. As an artist, it’s been a bit of a bright spot because with fewer “important” errands and meetings canceled, I have more guilt-free time in my studio. I’m finding I need that time more than ever, just to lose that ever-present anxiety for a time.  The biggest challenge for me is to keep my high school senior connected to these last few weeks of her Westport Public School career. After a …