Three Nonprofits Are Teaming Up to Pay Artists to Create Images That Combat Widespread Misinformation About Coronavirus

Three organizations focusing on visual media have come together
to launch an open call for artworks that can fight against a
rising tide of misinformation related to the coronavirus
pandemic.

The initiative, titled
Artists Against the
Infodemic, aims to
“harness the power of visuals” to “improve public communication and
news delivery surrounding COVID-19,” according to organizers, who
are soliciting images
to promote public-health advice and fight the pernicious effects of racism and
xenophobia.

“For some people, this pandemic
is still an abstract concept, and we need people to understand the
very real consequences and encourage a community and public-health
mindset,” says Peter DiCampo,
cofounder of the Everyday Project, which launched the initiative
with the nonprofits Catchlight and Dysturb. All three organizations
fund progressive efforts in photojournalism and other forms of
visual storytelling.

The project takes its inspiration from World Health
Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
who said at a conference in
February that “we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re
fighting an infodemic. Fake
news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as
dangerous.”

“To effectively fight this
infodemic, we need images that go beyond hazmat suits and empty
grocery store shelves—images that sow discord and division at a
time when we need cooperation the most,” Mailliet Storm, the CEO of
Catchlight, tells Artnet News. “We believe artists are uniquely
placed to convey important information that directly affects
communities in their own ways. And that role will remain important
as key messages will change throughout this crisis.”

Submissions can be sent in just about any visual form, including
photography, video, graphic design, illustration, and painting.
Artists will receive $500 for each artwork chosen, and proposals
will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting this week.

In conceiving the initiative,
the organizers set their sights on two
issues, DiCampo
says.

“One is that freelance
photojournalists and artists are being hit very hard financially.
And the other is that healthcare messages will continue to evolve
and need to reach vulnerable populations,” he says. “So we designed
this project to help satisfy both needs.” 

The organizations will begin
their campaign by getting public-health notices out in
Seattle, New York, Paris, Nairobi, and the San Francisco Bay
Area through public art installations, paste-ups, projections,
posters, and flyers, as well as on social media. But artists
sending images for consideration need not be in those areas.

Initial funding for
the project came through a $30,000 grant from the John S.
Knight Journalism
Fellowship at Stanford University.

The post Three Nonprofits Are Teaming Up to Pay Artists to
Create Images That Combat Widespread Misinformation About
Coronavirus appeared first on artnet News.