Museum Challenge To Recreate Art At Home Goes Viral In Coronavirus Quarantine

When the Getty Museum in Los Angeles called on its online followers to recreate famous artwork with household items on Wednesday, the internet responded with thousands of at-home quarantine masterpieces.

The Getty, which closed until further notice two weeks ago as a result of the coronavirus, found a unique way to engage the public, many of whom are in self-quarantine.

From recreating Claude Monet’s Water Lilies series in backyard ponds to fashioning their children into Johannes Vermeer subjects, the museum received thousands of online submissions.

According to The Getty, staff were inspired by a similar challenge issued by The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as well as an Instagram account called “Between Art and Quarantine.”

Art recreation challenges are the latest trend in museum engagement as cultural institutions look for ways to engage the public while virtually all physical locations are shut out of fear of the coronavirus. In the meantime, museums and galleries are issuing digital content, like online portals of their collection and virtual tours.