As New Yorkers endure nearly a month under new work-from-home and school-from-home rules, Long Islanders have found a way to con- nect through art while still following social distancing protocols.
A Facebook group, titled “Rainbows Over Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Beyond,” has grown to nearly 50,000 members in less than three weeks. Members from across Long Island (and eventually around the world) posted their rainbow artwork, often made with chalk on driveways, to help brighten each other’s days in isolation.
“We’re so blown away. It’s amazing. We’ve had people as far as the Philippines post to our Long Island group,” said Lauren Dunn, a founder and current administrator of the group.
Curating the most spectacular displays, Dunn and other members have started an Instagram offshoot of the group where they show the boldest and most unconventional rainbows.
“Most people are trying to keep busy, and this gives people a way to channel that energy to gain comfort from it,” said Dunn.
Overnight, the group went from 10,000 to over 25,000 members, with rainbows being posted from Hawaii, London and Portugal. It is fitting, since the inception of the group was inspired by the camaraderie and friendship shown by Italy in the past few weeks.
The rainbow parameter, providing families with a good kernel to start an art project, has become a personalized vision of happiness through tough times, a type of “rainbows of their life,” according to Dunn.
Expanding from personal projects, the group has been planning to do giveaways, raffles, and donations to hospitals to funnel the bright spirit of the rainbow movement into tangible efforts to fight the pandemic.
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