Color of COVID-19 A creativity program to manage emotions in a time of pandemic

Abstract

Museums can incorporate major events into their educational programming, such as the Covid-19 pandemic that is currently affecting many aspects of society, including personal, family, school and community issues. The Covid-19 has become a center of interest for people susceptible to being taken advantage of by educational institutions. Among them, the Museum of the University of Navarra has wanted to transform the situation that this pandemic generates into an educational opportunity. For this purpose, it has developed the program "256 colors, after Vik Muniz" with the main objective of promoting creative and emotional intelligence in school children through art. This is a collaborative project in which 704 primary school children from 23 educational centers have participated. The programmed educational instruction uses creativity to generate an introspection that helps in the identification and emotional management in this pandemic situation, looking for the meaningful experience as a method to promote a more significant learning. Creativity has been enhanced through contextual synergies with real artworks from the Museum's own exhibitions, especially with the work "256 colors, after Gerhard Richter" (2015) by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. The reality generated by the Covid has forced the Museum to adapt in order to carry out the educational program in two different scenarios: face-to-face mode at the Museum or at the educational center. In this second case, the visit to the exhibition of the artist Vik Muniz has been done virtually.