LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Art to Forget, Tech to Transform
T
his month marks one year since the COVID-19 pandemic brought monumental change throughout the United States. I’ll never forget driving on Interstate-85 during the first few weeks of last spring’s shutdowns. More than once, I looked ahead through my windshield and behind through my rearview mirror to discover I was alone on a five-lane expressway. It was as if “The Walking Dead” had come true. Through the spring of 2020, we got used to news of coronavirus and school closings, and we started wearing masks. Through the summer and early fall, shops and restaurants that had been closed reopened, and we looked forward to happy holidays. But as cold weather set in, the virus ramped up again. At this writing, I’ve lost count of how many people I know who have had COVID-19 since Christmas. The past year has been a rollercoaster. But rather than the fun, amusement park kind, it’s been the dark, jolting type that nightmares are made of with “Danger Ahead” signs at every razor-sharp turn. But for all its dark turns, this past year has been the kind that leads to great art and technological advances. “For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh,” said French painter Georges Rouault. Some read novels, some grow flowers, and others paint, sculpt or sing to shift from daily concerns to a place of peace. As much as art inspires those who create and enjoy it, it also provides an escape to both the artist and the art appreciator by allowing them to block out the world while they create or enjoy what’s created. At their best, art is balm to the soul and tech is a boost to humanity. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” goes the saying. Some believe Plato was the first to utter the phrase that eventually morphed into this English proverb. Plato lived 428-347 BC. Surely, the great philosopher would gasp at the inventions that have transformed mankind through the past two millennia. Today, inventions made possible because of tremendous technological advances come at us with warp speed, whether it’s in the form of smart home technologies or vaccines to combat COVID-19. In this issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine, we share the art of local creators whose work not only inspires but allows us a momentary escape. And we visit technologies that are changing the way we live and how we travel. We also catch up with Coweta’s first COVID-19 patient. What a year it’s been for him. What a year it’s been for us all. Here’s hoping 2021 offers art and technology to heal and to advance peace. God willing, and the creek don’t rise.
Jackie Kennedy, Editor magazine@newnan.com
Editor Jackie Kennedy rests by the Mediterranean at Tel Aviv on her last day in Israel in 2018. See her "Tracking Easter in Israel" photo essay on page 52.