Courtesy of Riccardo Kirven
Audio By Carbonatix
The pandemic may have faded from headlines, but for thousands of Coloradans still living with Long COVID, its effects continue to ripple through their daily lives.
That ongoing reality is the subject of It Comes in Waves, a new exhibition opening November 7 at the People’s Building in Aurora. Through a combination of illustrations by incarcerated people and mixed media work by Colorado artists, the show captures the resilience of those whose lives were permanently changed by the virus.
“COVID isn’t gone,” says Heather Schulte, founder and director of Stitching the Situation, which organized It Comes in Waves. “It’s still very much present as a virus that infects people, and so many people experience Long COVID in some form or another. I hope this exhibition reminds people that this is something that we should be paying attention to and that public health resources and research funding should be going to learning more about it.”
Running through December 30, It Comes in Waves invites viewers to consider what happens when a crisis slips from public view but its consequences remain. Supported by an INSITE Fund grant from RedLine Contemporary Art Center, the project builds on artist Schulte’s ongoing initiative Stitching the Situation, a national effort to document the human toll of COVID-19 through collective textile work.
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Courtesy of Mario Rios
Schulte began Stitching the Situation in 2020, cross-stitching all COVID-19 deaths based on data from Johns Hopkins as a way to process the pandemic’s overwhelming scale. The project grew into a nationwide network of volunteer stitchers and storytellers contributing designs that transform abstract numbers into tactile acts of remembrance.
For It Comes in Waves, Schulte wanted to focus on those living with Long COVID, whose fatigue, migraines and cognitive struggles often defy easy visibility, and to expand who gets to tell that story. When initial outreach to art students yielded few results, Schulte turned to a friend working in the carceral system.
“She told me incarcerated artists would love to participate in something beyond those walls,” Schulte recalls. “It was really powerful to put those two experiences, Long COVID and incarceration, in conversation with each other.”
Five incarcerated artists from across Colorado ultimately joined the project, each responding to stories submitted by Long COVID sufferers. They worked from their cells, using limited materials and improvised setups.
“I was totally blown away that I had never known of long-term COVID, and I was devastated by the pain and isolation these folks felt and were dealing with,” wrote Douglas “DC” Lehman via email from prison. “It really hit me hard. These stories challenged me emotionally much more than I had thought. These people feel the same hopelessness that I deal with so often, and the isolation too, since I’ve done so much time in solitary confinement.”
For Lehman, who often draws sitting on the floor of his bunk due to lack of chairs, the collaboration became a bridge out of isolation.
“This was a wonderful way for me to escape my own isolation and really experience my own humanity so much deeper and better. I’m very grateful for the chance,” he says. “I’d like for the viewers to really feel the pain and emotional toll these people are going through. To leave with a deeper understanding of an issue that’s fallen by the wayside of society, that needs to be heard and learned from.”
Courtesy of Douglas “DC” Lehman
Several of the other incarcerated individuals also noted the parallels between confinement and living with the impacts of Long COVID.
“The experience with LC is a challenge, no different than being incarcerated,” wrote Sonny Lee. “Having LC and being incarcerated are similar, especially the resilience part. It doesn’t matter how bad the outcome is with Long COVID, you have to find positive ways to keep moving, and that is the same way in here. You have to think positively and continue to do what you need to do to live your life the best you can, even with the many challenges that you may face.”
Inmate Riccardo Kirven shared that Long COVID reminded him of his experience in prison during the pandemic. Seven inmates in the facility Kirvenv was at died of COVID as part of what he believed was the prison guards’ attempt to deliberately infect the inmates to achieve herd immunity.
“These stories also touched me because I have caught COVID several times while incarcerated. I usually catch the virus at least once or twice a year,” Kirven wrote. “The virus has become normal to us in prison. And I have had family friends and people that I grew up with pass away from COVID during the COVID pandemic. I think almost everybody had somebody they loved pass from COVID. The COVID-19 virus impacted all of our lives.”
Kirven, who lost friends and family to COVID, said he hoped viewers see that “even though I’m incarcerated, I’m still a human being who cares for others. The media portrays people who’ve committed a crime as unredeemable, the lowest of society … I want people to know that there are good people in prison who have taken the necessary steps to better themselves, because when or if they get a chance to get out of prison, they will never come back.”
The incarcerated artists’ illustrations appear alongside works by Colorado artists Karen Breunig, Sally Hartshorn, Teague McDaniel and AnaKacia Shifflet, who use painting, collage and mixed media to convey their own experiences with Long COVID. A digital exhibit by Emerson Morris explores the overlapping impacts of HIV and COVID-19 on incarcerated individuals, expanding the show’s reach beyond physical walls.
Courtesy of Karen Breunig
The exhibition will feature roughly 25 works, as well as find posters, pamphlets and zines from local health organizations offering education and resources on post-COVID care. She also plans to publish a digital version online, ensuring accessibility for those unable to attend in person.
The People’s Building will host open hours on First Fridays in November and December from 5 to 7 p.m., with a special reception on December 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera will give remarks at 6 p.m., highlighting Colorado’s ongoing research and healthcare efforts related to Long COVID. Masks will be available on-site, courtesy of Mask Bloc Denver.
As Schulte finishes final preparations for the show, she says she hopes It Comes in Waves will not only elevate the voices of those living with Long COVID but also spark broader reflection on how society responds to chronic illness and invisible suffering.
“I myself don’t have long COVID, but I do have other chronic conditions that, at times, have been completely debilitating, so I can sympathize with what it’s like to be completely dependent upon a medical system that is very broken and in many ways inaccessible to a lot of people,” Schulte says. “And even if it is accessible, it’s just a total maze of complications if you’re trying to get the treatment that you need. Also, we still don’t have all the answers, so we need to keep looking, and I hope that’s what It Comes in Waves encourages people to do.”
It Comes in Waves will be open to the public on First Fridays, November 7 and December 5, from 5 to 7 p.m., and a reception will be held on Wednesday, December 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. Learn more at stitchingthesituation.org.