In a kind of virtual #runwithmaud through drawing last weekend, the Sketchboard Community hosted a live drawing event with models Titiania and Alluris to raise awareness and commemorate Ahmaud Arbery. The two models logged on from opposite sides of the country and artists joined in from all over the world through Zoom. As Titiania and Alluris laced up their sneakers and prepared to pose, they each expressed their mixture of sadness and frustration with the pervasive hate crimes going on today, and how they hoped by continuing to talk and raise awareness about victims like Ahmaud Arbery, we could get that much closer to a safe, accepting society- for everybody, not just a select few.
With each pose change, they said “Ahmaud” to cue each other; it became a kind of musical rhythm anchoring the sequence of movements and setting the emotional tone for everyone: reverence for a man in modern America who just went out for a jog in his neighborhood one day.
At a time when it does feel like we are pulled apart more than ever - physically from Covid, politically, racially - I found a lot of hope in this drawing session as artists from around the globe took two hours to recognize and draw the spirit of Ahmaud Arbery. The fight for a more equal, authentic world continues even during a global pandemic!