Local artist Kathleen Crocetti is no stranger to working from home. Having her own art studio at home, she is used to working there, creating pieces and developing community art projects.
But Crocetti admits that shelter-in-place has taken a bit of a toll.
“Honestly, it’s been really lonely,” she said. “I’m a very social artist. I miss [my studio partner] Susanne and all the high school students who have been coming to the Muzzio to make mosaics.”
Last year Crocetti opened the Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center, an after-school arts program for youth in Watsonville. In addition, Crocetti is a teacher—which she says has been a challenge during the current school closures. She has been teaching her Mission Hill Middle School students through Long Distance Learning.
“Long story short, my teaching hours are no longer part-time,” she said. “It has been a huge challenge… to keep a schedule, to turn off the computer and not answer any more student questions for the day so I can get out to the studio.”
Recently her studio has been home to an in-progress mosaic that will adorn the skylight at the entrance of Ramsay Park’s Community Center. The piece, designed by local artist Jaime Sanchez, will feature a flock of birds in the shape of a heart.
Sanchez’s work was selected in February by the Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission, along with three other pieces by local middle and high school students, for installation at the park.
The week before shelter-in-place went into effect, Crocetti and her husband Bill Lucas took down the metal lattice that was over the front door of the Community Center, so they could have the exact size of the frame for the mural. Then they began to modify the frame, removing the lattice crosses, designing and fabricating the frame to eventually hold glass.
“Thankfully, glass is an essential product for the building of houses,” Crocetti said, “so I was able to order what we needed.”
After enlarging Sanchez’s design, Crocetti printed it on overhead plastic and projected it to paper. The design was then placed under the tempered glass, and colored glass was cut into pieces and glued onto it.
“When the mosaic is complete… [we will] glue it into the frames,” she said. “We still need to get the frames powder coated, though our local powder coating company is closed, so that may be a problem.”
Crocetti is now working on the mural at the Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center. She said that it will be installed at Ramsay Park sometime after shelter-in-place has been lifted.
The fabrication of Sanchez’s mural might be a job for Crocetti, but the artist was quick to highlight the importance of art during shelter-in-place. She encourages everyone to start a project of their own.
“Pick up a pencil and draw what you see outside your window,” she said. “…sing a song, or just let go and dance, no one needs to watch or see, just do it for yourself.
“The arts have the ability to convey meaning and emotion… Somewhere, right now someone is creating a piece of art that will become the iconic image of this period of time and that work will be a touchstone for all of us.”
