Courtesy photo Albert Wilkinson operates a photo-restoration business in his studio at The Picker Artists building.

NASHUA – Artists, by nature, are creative folks, an asset that’s coming in mighty handy in these days of apprehension and uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 virus threat.

Take The Picker Artists, for instance, the Nashua-based collaborative where an assortment of artists ply their respective trades – and until recently, have welcomed visitors to come by and take a look, even if they’re simply browsing rather than buying.

But now, with the virus threat ramping up, the artists’ home at 3 Pine St. is an echo chamber, devoid of humans except for the occasional artist stopping in to check on an order or someone taking a look-see to make sure nothing’s amiss in the building.

To Gail Moriarty, who operates Picker Artists with Renaissance Glassworks owners Kathy and Mark Frank, that condition wasn’t acceptable.

“I couldn’t just sit still and do nothing as our building became stagnant,” Moriarty said Wednesday.

So she turned to technology, calling upon a web-developer friend for some guidance on how best to go the “virtual” route.

The friend suggested a couple of options, one of them being the app “Shopify,” Moriarty said. “It was easy (to install and operate), I was able to do everything myself.”

So one shop at a time, photos and brief bios of her fellow Picker Building artists began appearing on Shopify, along with examples of their work, pricing and ordering and shipping options.

Moriarty said she’s also posted a link for the purchase of gift cards, which can be used anytime, like when the virus threat is finally over and customers can visit in person.

For more information, and to purchase gift cards or items from the artists, go to https://shoppickerartists.com.

Another virtual shop has been opened by Tyler and Medina Gauthier, whose brick and mortar silkscreening shop, Mint Printworks, is in the neighboring W. H. Bagshaw building.

They have begun printing logos of local businesses on T-shirts, which they call “communitees,” a play on words that reflects the Gauthers’ mission of supporting, monetarily and otherwise, their neighboring businesses.

The communitees sell for $20, half of which the Gauthiers donate to the business whose logo appears on the purchased shirt.

Funds raised, the Gauthiers wrote on their Website, are designed to support the businesses and their employees, and to “help ensure we all have a place to come back to, to work, stronger than ever.”

For more information and to view the communitees, go to www.mintprintworks.com.

Meanwhile, photographer Sid Ceaser, a longtime Picker Artist, said the reality of the pandemic hit home for him on a Friday in mid-March.

“That was the cutoff for me … they all cancelled in one day,” Ceaser said, referring to his corporate customers. “Now, we’re completely shut down, because of the order.”

He referred to the governor’s order requiring only “essential” businesses to remain open.

Ceaser did stop in his shop, Sid Ceaser Photography, briefly Wednesday afternoon to check on a couple of things. The artists’ visits must be brief, according to Moriarty.

“We come in one or two at a time, and we’re sure to wipe down anything we touch,” like doorknobs, light switches and such.

Ceaser said it appears like people in general are “trying to buckle down, to weather the storm.”

He and the other artists, meanwhile, are hoping “to make some sales online,” and are “trying to figure out something, for any trickle of revenue we can get.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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