Water cooler: Join the movement to share images on Instagram

Technology has given us another way to connect during quarantine – this time not using words, but images. Instagram has long been a virtual gathering place for doodlers, painters, photographers and crafters alike. Art challenges became a way for people to share their creative interpretations of the same idea – now add a quarantine spin on that and you have four art challenges you can do from the confines of your own home.

Quarantine Art Club: This Instagram challenge was created by Carson Ellis, children’s book illustrator and artist and spouse to Colin Meloy, frontman of the indie folk rock band The Decemberists. Check her Instagram @carsonellis each day for a new art challenge. Past challenges have been painting or drawing gardens, the view out your window, butterflies and even treasure maps. To share your work or find the work of other participants, use #quarantineartclub. If you’re not on Instagram, you can also find the challenges on Ellis’ blog at carsonellis.com/blog.

Antisocial Art Show: If you’re looking for a bit of a looser challenge for every medium, check out the #antisocialartshow on Instagram. It was started by the New York-based company Airigami, a team of artists that creates large-scale balloon installations. The challenge is open to drawings and paintings, but also clips of people playing instruments, reading a poem, making their favorite recipe, gardening, or anything really – it just has to be using materials that you already have on hand. Find them on Instagram @airigami or visit antisocialartshow.org to learn more.

Quarantine Photo Challenge: You don’t have to be a photographer for this challenge, but you do have to have an eye for photographing everyday items. This challenge, run by photographer and artist Isis Ascobereta, tasks participants to take one photo a day while staying home, using a new topic each week and a specific criteria within that topic each day. For example, one week of challenges was “color,” and each day participants were challenged to photograph a new, specific color. Find the challenge on her Instagram @ascobereta and find or share photos at #quarantinechallenge.

From My Window: This movement originally began in Spain, but an arts organization in Ontario called Critical Mass has launched a version of it from its Instagram to get more people to join in the fun. The idea is to create an outdoor gallery using the window of your own home. As your neighbors and community members are out for their cabin fever-fighting walks, they will be able to enjoy art right from the street. Participants of all abilities and ages are able to join and win prizes given out by Critical Mass. To join and see the windows that are part of the outdoor gallery, visit @criticalmassart on Instagram.

Social circle

Brain train

Test your knowledge with today’s trivia question

What year was Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” registered for publication?

• 1587
• 1610
• 1602
• 1594

Tuesday’s answer: 64

Stewart’s sonnets

The latest quarantine-inspired internet phenomenon is something that will put a song in your heart and a smile on your face. Patrick Stewart, yes the Sir Patrick Stewart, has decided to bless the interwebs with readings of Shakespeare’s sonnets, one each day, and has thus spawned the Twitter hashtag, #ASonnetADay.

Find him on Twitter @SirPatStew to bring the soothing sounds of exquisitely read poetry into your home.

• If that got you in the mood for more theater, The National Theatre recently announced the launch of “National Theatre at Home” which will include recordings of past productions available on YouTube for free viewing, beginning today.

This will include recordings of “Treasure Island,” “One Man, Two Guvnors” starring James Corden, and “Jane Eyre.”

PBS also has hours of free Broadway performances available from their Great Performances collection, including Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter,” “An American in Paris The Musical,” Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” and “The Sound of Music.”

• If you’re in the mood for contemporary theater, Hampstead Theatre in London, which specializes in developing and producing the work of new writers, has launched its series Hampstead Theatre At Home which will have free streamings of a previous show each week through April. This week featured “Wild” by Mike Bartlett, to be followed by “Wonderland” by Beth Steel available beginning April 6.

Book club

Libraries may be closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still rent great books.

Spokane Public Library, Spokane County Library and Coeur d’Alene Public Library all have digital libraries available to you for free with a library card. Borrow eBooks for Kindle or the internet browser of your choice, as well as audio books.

Here are some of the most popular choices currently available:

Fiction: “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt; “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones, “Daisy Jones & The Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid,“The Whistler” by John Grisham and “Redemption” by David Baldacci.

Nonfiction: “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson, “Girl, Wash Your Face” and “Girl, Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis, “The Pioneers” by David McCullough and “Know My Name” by Chanel Miller.

Young Adult Fiction: “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, “Fantastic Beasts” by J.K. Rowling, “P.S. I Still Love You” by Jenny Han and “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins.