While staying at home and practicing safe social distancing are the best courses of action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn’t mean we have to miss out on cultural landmarks around the world. Thanks to the Google Arts & Culture Project, from New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, to Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, here are 6 museums you can tour right now from home.

MoMA, New York

The first museum founded to showcase modern art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York has been doing just that for more than 90 years. From Picasso to Van Gogh, the MoMA is home to incredible pieces of history from the world of contemporary art.

Museo Frida Kahlo, Mexico City

Tour La Casa Azul, the former home of world-renowned artist Frida Kahlo – and current home to the museum honoring her life and legacy. Visible here are not only works from Kahlo, but also numerous personal belongings including her clothing and a body cast she famously painted while ill.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

On display at the Musée d’Orsay, you’ll discover famous works from French artists who lived and worked between 1848 and 1914. Paintings by Monet, Gauguin, and Cézanne – among others – are featured on this Parisienne art tour.

La Galleria Nazionale, Rome

With just about 500 of its approximately 20,000 artworks digitized for this virtual tour, La Galleria Nazionale in Rome features everything from antiquities to seminal pieces representing the Futurist and Surrealist art movements.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

Honoring one of America’s preeminent artists, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum settled in the same New Mexican desert she once called home. It is dedicated to enriching visitors in the incredible legacy left by the late artist with its collection of her paintings; of which 30 can be viewed online.

Rijks Museum, Amsterdam

One of the more thoroughly digitized experiences is Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. With over 145,000 works available to view virtually, enjoy incredible works from artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Verspronck, to name a few.

• AFT’s Farmer Relief Fund will award farmers with cash grants of up to $1,000 each to help them weather the current storm of market disruptions caused by the coronavirus crisis.
• Initially, eligible applicants include any small and mid-size direct-market producers. These are defined as producers with annual gross revenue of between $10,000 and $1 million from sales at farmers markets and/or direct sales to restaurants, caterers, schools, stores, or makers who use farm products as inputs.
• The application (linked to below in both English and Spanish) is simple and easy to complete but includes sufficient detail to ensure AFT is awarding producers that have the greatest needs. Applicants will be asked to estimate their financial loss.
• AFT envisions an initial application round extending until April 23, with grants beginning to be made by May 1.
• https://farmland.org/farmer-relief-fund/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=637ece80-2dc9-49d1-9afb-6b97c772e470&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Apply%20Here&utm_campaign=March%202020%20Newsletter

ASAP has launched the Appalachian Grown Farmer Relief Fund to
strategically address the emergency needs of farms during COVID-19 disruptions. Funds will be used for public health preparedness grants to farmers markets, to subsidize essential farm product packaging, and to purchase unsold food for donation to hunger programs. Donations to the Appalachian Grown Farmer Relief Fund can be made online at asapconnections.org or by mail or phone.

Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener Certificate of Merit

Ecological gardening is a way of thinking about gardens and landscapes in which gardens are no longer seen as a collection of plants, but a community with complex interdependencies between plants, animals, soils and the environment. This certificate program explores ecological principles for creating and managing a healthy, self-sustaining garden and landscape in a changing climate. Students enrolling in the Certificate of Merit program will work to complete 120 hours in core classes on topics including principles of ecological gardening, seasonal plants and tasks and sustainable landscape design along with electives on hardscape, edibles, seed saving and other subjects of interest to participants. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Eco-Gardener program here.

To begin your program, complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

Join over one hundred students on a quest to deepen understanding of the natural sciences through the Blue Ridge Naturalist Certificate of Merit. The program offers adult learners a comprehensive curriculum of study about the natural world of Western North Carolina. Classes meet year round and students work to complete 240 hours in core courses on ecology, botany, geology and plant identification as well as electives on animals, lichens, insects and more. View current class offerings for credit in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program here. All students must complete and present a final project prior to graduation.

To begin your program complete an application and return it to the Education Center along with a a one-time, non-refundable $55 application fee.

If you are reading this, you are most likely a landowner in western North Carolina who is concerned about the future of your land along the French Broad River or one of its tributaries. Perhaps you have a farm or cattle ranch that has been in your family for generations, or maybe you recently purchased your second home in an idyllic rural area. Whatever your situation, many North Carolina landowners face the same dilemma: how do you ensure that the land you love looks the way that it does forever?

Conserving Land

Protected Properties

Parks, Greenways & Blueways

As protocols, recommendations and closings continue to change and grow regarding the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, we’re taking steps to adapt in order to meet the needs of our clients and community-at-large. Please take time to read the following updates that Safe Harbor is implementing in order to follow health guidelines for prevention and social distancing, while also responding to the needs of survivors of domestic violence and our larger community.

1. Shelter Admissions – Our shelters are set up as community living environments and are not structured for current social distancing and quarantining recommendations. Therefore, we have temporarily moved our shelter residents into hotel stays. We plan to use hotel stays for shelter residents through the month of April 2020. This decision to move shelter residents to hotel stays was made after much deliberation and research. We are committed to taking all necessary measures for the health and safety of our clients and staff.

Starting on April 1, we will be able to admit additional clients who are fleeing domestic violence into our shelter hotel stay program on a limited basis. Anyone who may need our services should continue to call our 24/7 line at 1.800.291.2139 (and select option 1 to speak with someone) to ask questions or complete a phone intake. Our safety planning guide may also provide helpful information and resources for those who are experiencing domestic violence.

While our shelter residents are in hotel stays, we are continuing to provide 24/7 staff availability on-site of the hotel, mobile advocacy and case management, and access to all basic essential needs (food, toiletries, baby/children’s supplies, etc.).

2. Community-Based Services – We are providing our community-based services (counseling, child and family counseling, case management, assistance with Orders of Protection, and our Housing Assistance Program) via telephone and online platforms. Staff members are working with current clients and new clients to determine safe ways for individuals to connect with us remotely.

Our support groups and educational classes (domestic violence education classes and parenting classes) will also meet through online platforms during this time.

Anyone who may need our services should continue to call our 24/7 line at 1.800.291.2139 (and select option 1 to speak with someone) to complete a phone intake. Our safety planning guide may also provide helpful information and resources for those who are experiencing domestic violence.

3. Prevention – Our Prevention Team is developing REP lessons and worksheets through online platforms that can be used by our schools during this time of virtual classrooms/e-learning. If you and your teen (7th grade and up) are interested in accessing our online healthy relationship lessons, please reach out to [email protected], or click here to learn more about our prevention work.

Diverse, intact forests are literally the greenest infrastructure on Earth, vital to our health and survival. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, protecting forests is truly the greenest investment we can make for our future. Yet environmental policy solutions put forward in America today largely fail to recognize protecting existing, natural forests as a “green infrastructure” priority.

Read the full piece on why we need to prioritize protecting and restoring forests as part of the upcoming Green Stimulus and Infrastructure bailout.

The US is the world’s largest consumer and producer of wood products. Every year, millions of acres of forests are logged, damaging the greenest life-supporting infrastructure on Earth, releasing vast amounts of unreported carbon into the atmosphere, and limiting forests’ ability to remove carbon and provide natural protections against intensifying flooding and droughts.

The degradation of forests along with the pollution of our air and water has left communities in a degraded economic condition, with disproportionately high poverty and unemployment rates. These same communities are bearing the brunt of the economic impacts of extreme weather events linked to climate change. And now, they are at greater risk of dying prematurely if they get the Coronavirus due to high levels of industrial pollution which have been linked to higher mortality rates.

Forests should be prioritized in a way that reduces poverty and increases well-being. The world’s leading scientists recently revealed that restoring degraded land between now and 2030 could generate $9 trillion in environmental benefits, such as clean water, clean air, and increased wildlife.

It’s not too late for “green” policy initiatives to embrace letting existing natural forests grow to reach their full biological potential. No batteries, no mining, no transportation, no chemicals, and no factories are required. Protecting forests is truly the greenest investment we can make for our future.

Invest in our green future today. Make a special Earth Day gift to protect the forests and people of the South.

For our forests,

Over 100 organizations across the country have teamed up to create three days of live stream content on April 22-24 in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Each day will have a different focus… Day One is focused around environmental action regarding climate change. Day Two is Stop the Money Pipeline which is centralized around getting big fossil fuel investors like Blackrock, Chase JP Morgan, and Liberty Mutual to stop funding the climate crisis. And Day Three will be focused on voter registration and political action.

I will be personally hosting a local webinar on April 24 from my home here in Asheville that the national live stream will be directing people to at 8 pm. In this webinar I will be discussing the importance of voter turn-out in 2020 and encouraging people to register to vote with me live on the call. I will also discuss the importance of being active in your local politics, the importance of the census, and the hot topic of the ‘vote by mail’ policies that are springing up around the nation.

We will reopen with Million Dollar Quartet in mid-July. The remainder of the season will proceed as planned beginning with Jumping Jack Flash – The Music of the Rolling Stones on August 20th.  Steel Magnolias and our summer musicals, A Chorus Line, and West Side Story, will be moved to the 2021 season.

In response to Government guidelines, and for the safety of our staff and customers, the box office will close Friday, April 3rd and plans to re-open Monday, April 27th. Patrons with questions can refer to the Playhouse website www.FlatRockPlayhouse.org for answers to frequently asked questions and/or to find ways to help support FRP at this critical time.  Folks can also email us at [email protected].

We plan to stay in touch with you over these coming weeks. And don’t miss videos from some of
your favorite Playhouse stars on our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and
Youtube. Also watch for them in Playhouse emails.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts is closed, but as it notes on its homepage, it’s “digitally open.”

That includes livestreaming performances and an expanded lineup of digital learning activities and workshops, which are all available for free online.

https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/center-for-puppetry-arts-livestream-performances-for-free/KuBGQBiqLKxYs2l0WORhWO/?fbclid=IwAR17Ds6ftqLlyHEMda-rNXz3a9PHlERNkHuILTYJON58mQ005dZtC-DkUSc

Find your zen during this stressful time. Miranda Peterson of Asheville yoga hike company Namaste in Nature has developed a series of free, online videos to help you relax. From a 10-minute sensory meditation to a gentle, immune boosting yoga asana practice, these videos are designed to “calm and support your immune system.”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-xlv6hOjSADsdrMgIDWVRQ

FREE Video Course by Wild Abundance

Discover delicacies growing right outside your door.

Your guide through this course is seasoned Wild Abundance instructor Luke Cannon, who has practiced wild food foraging for over two decades. More than a botanist, Luke is a long-time pursuer and teacher of the magic and medicine of plants. An avid naturalist, Luke draws from a diverse pool of knowledge, combining his natural history studies with his life experience in organic farming, natural building, permaculture, nature-based mentoring, and rural homesteading.

Getting started gardening can be exciting, and it can feel daunting.

Your teachers, Natalie Bogwalker and Chloe Lieberman share experience-based, practical instruction for growing their top ten vegetables to really fill your plate, belly, and larder. We put together this class so that you can begin with the crops that are most likely to be successful and rewarding. Or, if you’ve got some experience gardening but want to expand your repertoire, this course will help you do so in a way that makes sense and yields abundantly.

Ready, set, snap! Connect with fellow nature lovers from around the world in the 2020 City Nature Challenge, a worldwide bioblitz held April 24 – 27 that encourages participants to get outside and celebrate their region’s biodiversity by taking photos of plants and animals found in their communities and uploading them to iNaturalist. This year, the Challenge will not be a regional competition but rather a four-day global citizen-science collaboration that embraces the healing power of nature and supports scientists worldwide. The Arboretum will be serving as the lead institution for the Western North Carolina region and will be offering a variety of online programming for adults and youth in conjunction with the Challenge.

How to Participate

1.) Download iNaturalist, a free mobile application on your iPhone or Android device.

2.) From April 24 – 27, get outside in your backyard or a nearby natural area (while practicing social distancing) and take pictures of wildlife, including plants and animals (no pets, please!).

3.) Upload your photos to iNaturalist and tell your friends to join in on the fun! **Children 12 & under can submit their photos via ecoexplore.net.

https://loavesandfishesgreenville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Pantry-List-Internet-2020.pdf

List of Food Pantries in Greenville

Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence at Home

Around the world, people of all ages have joined Mo Willems in his studio for weekday LUNCH DOODLES. The three-week run, all 15 episodes and their downloadable activities, are archived below. Let the doodling continue! Please tag your artwork on social media with #MoLunchDoodles so that we can all see it!

We applaud the many other authors and illustrators who are sharing stories and leading activities online. For a short list of people to visit, click here. [Please note that this list is just a small number of the many wonderful artists who are sharing their talent and insights at this time. So, grab a favorite grown-up and look around the internet to discover authors/illustrators who are new to you!]

You can always visit Kennedy Center @ Home to enjoy free videos of extraordinary live and on-demand performances. Our KC Ed Now site also has fun educational activities to do at home.

Mo Willems and the Kennedy Center thank YOU for sharing your creativity with us! This pandemic is going to require some time to get better.  It is also going to require lots of kindness, lots of empathy, and lots and lots of doodles. Doodle on, fellow ART MAKERS!

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole proprietorship, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by COVID-19. SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The Paycheck Protection Program will be available through June 30, 2020.

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System officials are asking for the public’s help in making and donating homemade masks to area nursing facilities and hospital campuses.

Homemade masks donated will be worn in nursing facilities and by non-clinical hospital staff.

The health system also included instructions on sewing cloth masks:

Materials needed:

• Tight-weave cotton fabric (i.e.- quilting cotton)
• Fabric must be newly purchased within approximately the past year and never used
• Wash and dry fabric without fragrance or dyes prior to sewingSpartanburg Regional Healthcare System officials are asking for the public’s help in making and donating homemade masks to area nursing facilities and hospital campuses.
  • • Rope elastic, beading cord elastic will work. You may also use 1/8 inch flat elastic if 1/4 inch is unavailable. Some have used wide flat elastic and cut it in half with some success.

    One adult mask requires:

    • Two 9-inch by 6-inch pieces tight-weave cotton and two 7-inch pieces of 1/4 inch elastic. Therefore, one yard of 44-inch wide fabric yields 12-15 masks. You need 7.5 yards of elastic for 25 masks (14 inches per mask).

    Health system officials said people can make two sizes:

    • Adult and child. (Adult-sized masks will be the greatest need).

    How to make the mask:

    Put right sides of cotton fabric together. Be sure any fabric design is place horizontally.

  • • Cut 9 x 6 (adult) or 7.5 x 5 (child)
    • Starting at the center of the bottom edge, sew to the first corner, stop. Sew the elastic with the edge out into the corner. A few stitches forward and back will hold this.
    • Sew to the next corner, stop, and bring the other end of the same elastic to the corner and sew a few stitches forward and back.
    • Now sew across that top of the mask to the next corner. Again, put an elastic with the edge out.
    • Sew to the next corner and sew in the other end of the same elastic.
    • Sew across the bottom leaving about 1.5 inch to 2 inch open. Stop, cut the thread. Turn inside out.
    • Pin 3 tucks on each side of the mask. Make sure the tucks are the same direction.
    • Sew around the edge of the mask twice

    How to donate the homemade masks?

    • Please email: [email protected].