Coronavirus played havoc with his festival, so Seattle artist Xavier Lopez Jr. brought the festival to his bedroom

Xavier Lopez Jr. wears many hats.

He writes a culture blog for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

He holds down a day job to pay the bills.

And “I’m a multi-media Latinx performance artist and conceptual sculptor.”

Before the pandemic, Lopez was in the midst of organizing a Seattle-based Latinx performance festival. Now that he and his girlfriend are self-isolating in their apartment, Lopez has turned his creative energy to videotaping solo performances in their bedroom. He calls the new series “Performances From the Foot of My Bed.”

“I noticed my open closet made a good backdrop,” Lopez jokes.

And the price is right.

“Venues for performance artists were actually difficult to come by in any event,” he says, even before the pandemic.

Seattle’s high-priced real estate put the squeeze on artists seeking studios, theaters or other dedicated work space. So performing for free in his bedroom is a no-brainer right now.

Lopez isn’t worried about his personal economic situation, but he is concerned about what will happen to Seattle’s once-vibrant cultural community, now shuttered in the wake of the public gathering restrictions. Many organizations and arts presenters don't have the resources to weather the pandemic, even with public and private relief money.

But Lopez says he and other artists he knows carry on, because he believes artists are more necessary than ever before, telling stories, making music, and reminding everyone in social distance mode that they're not alone.

“We need to focus on the things that matter when things are collapsing,” Lopez says. “I think that art is definitely part of that. The desire to know that other people are in this, too, that we’re not alone, I think that has a lot to do with what comes from art.”

Lopez and his girlfriend look forward to the time when they'll emerge from their self-quarantine and enjoy a meal at their favorite sushi restaurant.

“And hug each other,” Lopez adds.

They're also looking beyond the pandemic to what Lopez hopes will be a major shift in how Americans view each other.

“Because we’ve been through something major together. This virus doesn’t discriminate against race, color, creed,” Lopez says. “We’re going to see each other more as humans, I hope.”

Lopez plans to reschedule his Latinx performance festival for this fall.

Pandemic willing, of course.