We caught up with UAlbany alumnus and poet and educator D. Colin and her partner, photographer Robert Cooper, who are hunkered down in their apartment in Lansingburgh, in the northern reaches of Troy.
Quarantine is tough financially for gig economy creative artists, as they've found out. The couple faces serious financial stress with the loss of their usual income streams after in-person workshops, photographing events and the weekly Poetic Vibe poetry event at Troy Kitchen that Colin hosts all shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
They have pivoted to online options and have kept each other’s spirits up by collaborating on new projects. Colin, the author of the poetry collections Dreaming in Kreyol and Said the Swing to the Hoop, has done online tutoring for UAlbany students and she has written a new coronavirus poem, which she was kind enough to read at the end of the interview.
To learn more about their work, go to Colin’s website at dcolin.com and follow Cooper’s Instagram feed at @rcooperphotography. He is also building a new website at robertcoopermedia.com.
Colin also encourages readers to join her in assisting artists who are struggling financially by donating to a United Way initiative with which she is partnering.
Here's a link: https://www.unitedwaygcr.org/creative-impact