MITIGATING LONELINESS BY MOVING ONLINE

GLAM Gets Mindful | Melissa Mertsis
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Humans are inherently social creatures, but with social distancing and isolation in full swing, many of us are bound to have creeping feelings of loneliness and anxiety. These past few weeks have been a drastic change from my average social life; instead of visiting museums and galleries, I'm stranded at home, and it's only a matter of time before boredom prevails. GLAM institutions are aware of the effect that closures have on the publics that typically enjoy them, and have come up with many ways to mitigate loneliness, curb your boredom, and keep your mind active. Here are some of the coolest online activities to explore when you're feeling especially restless. 

Digital tours are a great way to satiate your need to visit your favourite museum, especially since many institutions have closed their doors. The Museum of Modern Art in New York offers more than 84,000 of its artworks through online collections; from Van Gogh to Picasso, you really can see it all from the comfort of your living room. Always wanted to see Musée d'Orsay, but never been to Paris? Never fear. You can sift through the museum's collection index to see some of your favourites (or perhaps discover a new one!) 

One of my favourite fossils at the Royal Ontario Museum - the T. Rex! You can check this guy out on the ROM's online collections page while the museum is closed. Photo Courtesy of Melissa Mertsis.

If you're more of an auditory learner, the GLAM sector's got you covered. Many institutions offer free videos on their websites, from artist interviews and exhibition previews to collection highlights. The Met Museum has over 1400 videos available to watch on their website, in addition to audio guides of different exhibitions (available in 10 languages!) Some institutions are also on YouTube. The National Gallery of Canada's YouTube channel offers short video clips about exhibition installation, the curators behind your favourite exhibits, and more. 

Social distancing also allows time for picking up a new skill or a craft. Although many museum craft tutorials tend to be geared towards children, adults are free to try too! The Children's Museum of the Arts offers free online resources for crafting, including how to emboss with foil and painting with ice cubes. The #MetKids series on YouTube offers a variety of video tutorials at different learning levels. Try your hand at weaving on a hand-made loom, or learn some comic illustration techniques - the possibilities are endless. 

I tried my hand at weaving with some help from the #MetKids YouTube series - it's for grown-ups too! Photo Courtesy of Melissa Mertsis. 

If you're worried about losing out on learning opportunities while you're at home, there are plenty of opportunities to move this learning online. For example, you could try enrolling in an online lecture series such as the one John Walsh (Director Emeritus) of the J. Paul Getty Museum offers. This lecture series on the art collection at Yale University has a "syllabus" of its own, with recorded lectures and even a suggested reading list. Just because you're not in school anymore, it doesn't mean the learning needs to stop! 

We're certainly living through an interesting period in history with many of us spending more time at home than ever. The good news is that you don't need to stop interacting with museums just because you're at home! From arts and crafts, to tutorials, to exploring a new collection - moving your discovery online is one way to mitigate loneliness and boredom in our current climate, all thanks to museums.