Art Hounds: Amid coronavirus shutdown, Meg Corcoran's 'happy paintings' spread joy

These days artist Deborah Foutch likes to spend her mornings checking on her favorite local artists on Instagram. In particular, she finds Meg Corcoran’s “happy paintings” to be quite magical. Corcoran started painting little pictures of birds and coffee cups as a way to cheer herself up in isolation. It turns out the paintings are having a similar effect on others; she’s now selling the paintings on a first-come, first-served basis. Foutch loves how Corcoran and her appreciative audience are helping each other through this difficult time.

Z Puppets Rosenschnoz’ Shari Aronson has been going on walks through her Powderhorn neighborhood, being careful to observe social distancing. It was on one of these walks that, while shouting hellos to a neighbor, she found out about The Nightingale Trio’s latest digital album, “Love Songs.” The all-female trio sings folk songs of eastern Europe and the Balkans. Aronson says the music makes her think of all those who came before us and the hardships they suffered. She says the music offers a beam of light to guide us on the path forward.

Art aficionado Curt Gruhl is looking forward to Easter Sunday in Red Wing. While people wont be able to gather together to celebrate the holy day, the community has come up with a way to celebrate as one, regardless of their faith tradition. It’s called “Red Wing Rings.” At 10 a.m. seven churches will ring their bells for 10 minutes. Afterward, residents of Red Wing are invited to make their own joyful noise, whether it’s cheering, banging a drum or honking a car horn.

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