Wednesday Walk: Where Art Blooms
Wednesday Walk: Where Art Blooms
Returning to the office, space to create, and a short-lived themed restaurant
Welcome to the Quarantine Creatives newsletter, a companion to my podcast of the same name, which explores creativity, art, and big ideas as we continue to live through this pandemic.
Every Wednesday, I share random thoughts and tidbits with links to let you do some exploring. I call these Wednesday Walks, as it’s the type of conversation we might have walking down a path in the woods- the topics are free flowing, sometimes related, sometimes not.
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Just Guessing
I’ve written a lot about company’s return to office plans (including here and here). The pandemic unexpectedly taught us that work can take place anywhere with an internet connection, which has changed our perspective on the office. Some organizations have leaned into this change, selling off expensive real estate and shifting to fully virtual. Others have resisted, mandating a full return to the office.
David Pogue’s recent piece for CBS Sunday Morning shows what companies may stand to lose by not embracing flexibility as this dynamic between remote and in-person continues to play out. But more importantly, Pogue examines the major shift in how employees and employers view the concept of work.
This situation will continue to change over the next few years, but at the moment, anybody making corporate policies is just guessing at what combination of in-person and remote will make the most sense for a corporate culture, life outside the office, and more.
This Twitter poll on CNBC’s profile hasn’t closed yet, but here are the results at the moment:
Where Art Blooms
The pandemic has also been a time to examine priorities and find new meaning in life. Speaking for myself, I realized how short and precious life is and I want to try to spend as much time as I can with my family and doing things that make me happy.
I really enjoyed this Tweet from comedian Melissa Villaseñor. She has been with the cast of Saturday Night Live since 2016, although it was recently announced that she is not returning for the 48th season that debuts this fall.
I love how she characterizes art blooming out of living life. It can be very hard to be creative or to imagine new ideas when trudging through the same routines everyday. It takes new experiences, travel, and seeing the world from other perspectives to really fuel the creative process.
It can also be scary leaving the safety, comfort, and regular paycheck of an established job, but sometimes that process is needed to reignite a creative spark.
I’m glad to see Melissa giving herself that space to discover what brings her joy at this moment in her life, and I hope the same for all of you. It’s never too late for a fresh start or a new path. Momentum shouldn’t define who you are.
Submarine Shop
Finally this week, I wanted to close on a light note. The YouTube algorithm served me up this short documentary film by Jake Williams from Bright Sun Films and it was so quirky that I had to share it. It looks at the history of the short-lived themed restaurant Dive!
Back in the 1990s, themed restaurants like Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe were all the rage. If you’re a Young Millennial of Gen Z, you probably don’t fully understand this phenomenon, but when I was growing up, eating overpriced burgers surrounded by random articles that once belonged to famous people was a big deal for some reason.
My dad used to come home from business trips and regale us with stories about the Rainforest Cafe in Chicago, where there were dancing gorillas and indoor lightning storms. He and his adult colleagues would visit these restaurants for fun. It was completely normal back then!
Dive! was a restaurant themed to submarines that served sub sandwiches. Not only that, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg were the lead investors and creative forces behind this restaurant. (I have a feeling their exclamatory styling may have influenced a certain politician decades later too…)
The Dive! concept only lasted for a few years and while the business plan called for rapid expansion across the country, only two locations opened in the U.S.: Century City (Los Angeles) and Las Vegas. There was possibly a third location in Barcelona, Spain at one time, although that seems to be murky on if it actually opened or was only planned.
If you enjoy the history of restaurants, themed entertainment, or the pastimes of the Hollywood elite, it’s worth taking a few minutes out of your day and exploring the history of Dive!
Would you eat a sandwich in a submarine themed restaurant? Have you given yourself space for art to bloom? Are you eager to get back to the office or hope to never return again? Leave a comment and let me know what you’re thinking about this Wednesday!
Other Wednesday Walks
If you’d like to catch up on past episodes of the Quarantine Creatives podcast, they can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
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If you’ve missed past issues of this newsletter, they are available to read here.
Stay Safe!
Heath