Crosscut Videos

In the uncertain early days of the pandemic, opera singer and vocal teacher Stephen Wall spent hours in his home office with his window cloaked, creating a musical dungeon where he could continue Zoom calls with his opera students. But as isolation overwhelmed him, he remembered that his passion for music came from the privilege of sharing it with the world. So in March, he began stepping outside to perform daily opera concerts from his lawn in east Ballard. These regular shows provide Wall a sense of normalcy and balance absent since the pandemic began. But for his neighbors and the visitors who make pilgrimages from all over the city to see him sing, it's a way to rejoice and come together — even while 6 feet apart.

Prayers streamed on Facebook. Curbside confessions. Parking lot masses. At St. Joseph Catholic Church in Issaquah, as with many other religious organizations around the state, finding ways to worship during the pandemic has required creativity, out-of-the-box thinking and meticulous logistics.

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Seattle artists began painting murals on boarded-up windows of businesses to deter vandalism and beautify the neighborhoods. And as social isolation evolved into a social movement protesting racial injustice and the killing of Black people by police, artists continued to take the streets with spray cans and paintbrushes. In this video, a few of the many artists who have painted messages of heartbreak and hope reflect on the role of art amid social upheaval.

Sadie Pimpleton is a single grandmother raising her grandchildren in Seattle. She recently survived COVID-19. She spent five days in the hospital and remembers feeling like it was the end for her. She is now back home and adjusting to life in lockdown with her grandkids. She leans on her community of other grandmothers and on her faith for support. The grandmothers group started sewing masks together as a way to cope, by doing something to help others. Pimpleton says things like sewing masks and her church livestreams every Sunday are what get her through each week.

"I'm worried that my grandparents are going to die." "I'm worried that when I come back to school not all my friends will be there." These are some of the statements that Caitlin McNulty, a kindergarten teacher in Shoreline School District's North City Elementary, has to navigate. Teaching remotely from her apartment, McNulty and her colleagues have faced many challenges as they aim to provide an equitable education to students in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Varisha Khan is a first-time city council member in Redmond. She drafted, proposed and passed recent legislation that protects Redmond residents from late fees and evictions, and offers support during other hardships. She recognizes this pandemic as a collective trauma for society and the only way she feels she can cope is by doing what she knows: helping her community through writing humane policy that mends a frayed social safety net.