Welcome

Thank you for you interest in COVID-19: Hopes & Dreams.  

COVID-19: Hopes & Dreams is an Arts Based Research Project with the goal of documenting and exploring people's lived experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

A short narrative video, COVID-19: Our Hopes & Dreams, will be created to summarize and share these results.

Why is this study important?

• This study will help us learn what people are dreaming about at night and hoping for when awake while going through the COVID-19 pandemic. 
•  The results of this study should further our understanding of how people experience and cope with a pandemic.
• This understanding may may help Art Therapists and other mental health professionals better understand how they can help those experiencing mental health impacts of a pandemic. 

What's involved?

This study is designed to be completed at home with any materials that you have available.  No artistic experience or skill is required.  You will need the technology to be able to take a picture of your artwork, upload it to a website and complete a short survey online. 

You will be asked to create a piece of art using any materials you have at home, to upload an image of this art and answer a short survey about your work and process.  This survey will have limited demographics questions such as the year you were born and your zip code.

This study has two parts:

Dreams- You will be asked to create an art work about a dream or dreams you have had during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hopes- You will be asked to create an art work showing hopes for what life will be like after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

You may choose to participate in only one or both parts.

You must be an adult 18 years or older to participate in this study.  

Use materials that you have at home  Examples include: pencils, pens, markers, crayons, paints, clay, collage, fabric, and found items.  You can draw, doodle, paint, sculpt, collage, assemble or otherwise create an artistic image or representation. Use your creativity and the items you have at your location.  

There is no artistic experience or skills required. The goal of the art is to represent the feelings and lived experience of the person creating the art. 

How much time will it take?

Creating Your Art (15 minutes to 1 hour)

Creating an art piece, taking a photo and uploading it will take approximately 15 to 60 minutes, depending on how long you would like to spend creating your art. We request that you spend at least 5 minutes but not more than one hour to create your art piece. 

Survey (2-5 minutes)

Answering the survey questions will take approximately 2-5 minutes. You will be asked for a title, the materials you used and for a short description of your image. 

You will also be asked limited demographic questions including year of birth, gender, country and zip code. You may skip any of these questions. No personally identifying information such as name, email or birth date will be asked or kept. 

Are there any risks to participating?

Participation in this art based research project is completely voluntary. You may decline altogether, or leave blank any questions you don’t wish to answer. There are no known risks to participation beyond those encountered in everyday life. Your responses will remain confidential and anonymous. Data from this research will be kept secure  and reported only as a collective combined total. No one other than the researchers will know your individual answers to this questionnaire.

Are there any benefits to participating?

By participating, you may help us contribute to a better understanding of the lived experience of COVID-19 . This information may help art therapists and other mental health professionals develop better or new ways to help those impacted.

You may enjoy the process of art making in this study.  Many people find creative self expression and art making to be enjoyable and relaxing experiences.

What if I have questions?

You can contact us to ask questions or leave comments by clicking on the "Contact" link in the main menu above and filling out the form.  

If you choose to participate in the study, you will be given additional contact information for any specific questions or concerns you may have. You can withdraw from participation at any time.

What will be done with the data collected? How can I find out about the results?

Participants' images and descriptions about their dreams and hopes will be analyzed for themes and patterns by a team of Art Therapy graduate students.   

A short narrative video, COVID-19: Our Hopes & Dreams, will be created to summarize and communicate these results.

The goal of the video will be to share themes about our collective experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This video is scheduled to premiere on this website in Summer of 2021.