Ivy Vainio is one of the artists featured in the Tweed Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition, “Creating Apart: Local Artists Respond to a Global Pandemic.” She’s a digital photographer who works at the American Indian Community Housing Organization. In this video by documentary filmmaker Mike Scholtz, Ivy talks about her artistic struggles during the pandemic.

This is the first in a series of nine short videos that will debut on Perfect Duluth Day, each featuring a local artist who began creating apart. These shorts are just a small part of a larger project called “Stories of Wisdom from Bodies in Separation: Archiving the Coronavirus Pandemic Through the Lens of Humanities” which was organized by UMD professors David Beard and Devaleena Das. They received a Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund this project.

Ten local oral historians are conducting interviews for this project. Look for additional articles and artwork inspired by these interviews on Perfect Duluth Day throughout the fall and winter.