Artwork Sparks Conversation, Not Confrontation

To engage its audience and help overcome COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in 2022, Virginia-based Tidewater Arts Outreach (TAO) sponsored an arts competition and exhibit called “Knowledge is an Art Form.”One of the participating artists was both immunocompromised and vaccine hesitant, and her piece, titled “Conversational, Not Confrontational” explored both sides of her personal situation. When TAO installed the first exhibition in August 2022, they discovered that the piece resonated strongly with viewers. “The artist is immunocompromised like I am,” wrote one survey respondent. “I felt like they perfectly encapsulated how it is to be vulnerable during this pandemic. Thank you for being so brave to share your art and for showing people how it feels to be in this sort of climate where personal safety, life vs death is turned into a political compass.”

Funding for this effort is made possible through a subaward from the CDC Foundation and is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000.00 with 100 percent funding from CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.