 Hello, and welcome back to the Berkeley at Home Variety Show. I'm Patrick Holmes, and on this week's episode, we'll see how cohabitating musicians are creating and performing new work during the pandemic. We'll talk to a staff member who turns fabric into art, and hear from another staff member who has captured the emotions of shelter in place on canvas. But first, we'll hear from a cow swimmer who is making waves in and out of the pool. Reese Whitley is a nine-time All-American, a five-time Pac-12 conference champion, and a 2021 Olympic prospect. I had the opportunity to speak with Reese about the work that he is doing to advocate for the end of racial injustice. You had mentioned on social media that you didn't initially speak up following the death of George Floyd. I'm curious what kind of made you inclined to speak out when you did? Since all of this has happened, I was in a really low place emotionally at first, and I had a lot of things to say, but I didn't quite know how to say it. So quite honestly, I took a long time just writing in my notes, developing my own thoughts, talking to friends, like, not even really talking to friends, just very close people like my family. And then I finally felt where I was at a point where I was comfortable speaking up about how I was feeling and offering my take on the situation because in the swim space, one of the few black men who is, I guess, visible in the sport, and I felt like a lot of people were wondering what my opinion was on everything that had happened. So it was good for me to kind of release something that was a little heavy, but I'm a lot healthier mentally now for it. So I'm very thankful. Many of the swimming world, I know that USA Swimming had put out a statement initially that you didn't really feel was adequate. What about that did you think was missing and, you know, how did that change when they kind of put out an additional statement? Well, the original statement lacked the word black even, just to give you a sense of what the vibe of the statement was. And yeah, I felt neglected. You know, USA Swimming has a lot of black talent that may not be as, you know, popular as, say, the Michaels and the Ryan's of the world, but still, like, some unmanual is probably one of the most visible Olympians that we have. And they're countless of others who are on that path to being at that level. So it was really disappointing to see a great organization with hardworking people make a statement that I didn't really agree with. But they were so willing to listen, led by President Henshey, great leader, has been so open-minded in this whole process. And unfortunately, I've been able to work with USA Swimming and other black athletes at the top tier level in our sport to make sustainable change for the organization. I'm going to put links to some of the articles that Reese has been featured in down below this video. Staff members from across the UC Berkeley library have put together a compilation of photos, essays, illustrations, song lyrics, poetry, and video. They created this informal publication, Stand Up and Say Something, to inspire organizational awareness and empathy for our communities of color and allies, and as a call to action. When my colleague Jean Smith is not at work, she can often be found manipulating fabric into beautiful works of art. I asked her to give us a virtual peek into the world of quilting. I have been quilting about 23 years now. Yeah, there's many different styles of quilting. First, are you using your sewing machine or are you piecing by hand? If you're doing it by hand, chances are you're doing something called English paper piecing. And it's pretty much just putting your fabric around a little cardboard shape and sewing them together, kind of like that. And then what you wind up with when you're done, and I've got this block about halfway done, is something like this. So that's English paper piecing. But then you can use your sewing machine, do something like that. There are art quilters whose works very artsy. There are very traditional quilters who use reproduction fabrics from Civil War era. So I mean, there's a million and one ways to go about the hobby. And there's usually a niche for everyone. The best advice I have for a new quilter or someone who's interested in it is, if you can, take a beginning quilting class. And also, if you really get hooked by a good quality sewing machine, doesn't have to be computerized. As a matter of fact, I do not quilt. I don't do my piecing on a computerized machine. And it's just another thing that can break. But yeah, the beginning class and having good equipment. You need good scissors. You need a rotary cutter and a mat to cut your fabric. And you need a sewing machine. And that's really it. The rest is just icing on the cake. Another staff member has been expressing himself through a very different kind of art. Matthew Sun is a web designer and web project coordinator in Student Affairs Communications. I asked him to tell us about this diptych he aptly titled 19. During this time, like many of us, I feel fearful, oppressed, and occasionally hopeful. Sometimes one after another, sometimes all at once. These emotions are finding their way into my paintings. One of the projects from my workshop was to make a pair of small paintings, a diptych. I created double portraits of a masculine man and a woman, alert, vigilant, but had fear for it, resolute. I hope that this small diptych, Titan 19, will give viewers a sense of fellowship and fortify our resilience. Thank you. A few weeks ago, we asked you to identify various bare statues on campus. Congratulations to our two first place winners, Nancy McKinney of University Development and Alumni Relations and James Dudek of People and Culture both earned perfect scores. The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive has launched a new series called Duets and Social Distance. These short videos feature cohabitating musician couples who are creating and performing new work during the pandemic. I'll leave you with a sampling of those videos. Thank you for watching and we'll see you again soon. So how can there be overlords when everything is God?