The Rise of Art in the Pandemic

The Coronavirus Pandemic has been sticking around for about eighteen months now, and it shows no signs of leaving. But as we’ve mentioned before, COVID-19 showed some silver linings, as horrible as it has been. When the pandemic began, more and more people joined social media in 2020. Apps like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram gained millions of users because of the pandemic’s sheer boredom.

Social media apps like the ones mentioned above have a very different culture that has shaped real life. There are millions of niches and groups within the same app that love different things. Some dedicate their accounts to books. Some dedicate themselves to a TV show they love. But one that has risen exponentially, more than others, has been art. More and more people have picked up art as a time-passer in quarantine, and now they share their creations with the world.

Art is a very broad term. There’s theater, painting, makeup, and so much more. But one that has shined in the feed has been digital art. Where tablet and stylus gained prominence and all the colors of the world were at the artist’s fingertips.

And while lots of people on social media don’t get a large following, the ones that did have a good amount of followers just gained more. People started to admire the dedication artists have to their work and became fascinated with digital art. Some of these users inspired me to work on my digital art myself.

Ismene Omogbai, the executive director of the College Art Association of America (CAA), talked about the rise in artists during the pandemic in an interview with Education and Career News, saying that “just like how a muscle is built through resistance, creativity is often born out of challenging circumstances.” In this case, where lots of stores had been closed down, lots of people decided to do an alternative to the otherwise obvious choice: They bought devices online to make art with instead of spending hundreds on a stockpile of expensive art supplies. With stores closed, the former was the better choice. However, if the pandemic hadn’t happened, there would arguably be fewer users in apps like Procreate and Ibis Paint X.

Accounts on social media, like AudityDraws on TikTok, shined a light on the side of digital art. Paired with her top-tier humor and her Disney-esque character designs, she’s verified on the video-sharing app, with 12.7 million followers. She has her own prompt-generator app and merchandise, both of which have made a considerable amount of money. All of this happened because of the recognition her art gained.

Of course, digital art isn’t the only art that has been making a rise. Some people did have access to their local art store and started doing traditional art: painting, sketching, and coloring. More and more artists have made their breakthroughs in the art field thanks to the virus. Helma Marie Joseph, an artist based in India, made a series called Question Marks, where the meaning is supposed to “[raise] questions about the life of women in [the world’s] society.” It had quickly become India’s biggest art show ever, despite the pandemic pushing the exhibition dates during their second wave.

As anyone can see, art has quickly become something to be appreciated in trying times like these. There are millions of people who are using their skills to show their followers, sell prints and clothes, make jewelry, even make sculptures. The artists before had long been underappreciated, being put below other users that the algorithm loved. Now, they are getting the recognition they need. More and more people are joining the community every second. It’s a community that has been rising and will continue to do so. All in all, it’s a niche in social media not to be ignored and could always use more artists to share their creations with the world.