Together Apart was a participatory art installation in response to COVID-19. The physical separation of social distancing can easily make us feel disconnected from each other. The goal of Together Apart was to illustrate our similarities as well as the unique ways we are dealing with this pandemic and communicate the ways we can still connect together while we are apart from each other. We used the symbol of a hand to represent human touch as it has been something we’ve missed most while isolated. Throughout the course of the installation, we asked people to paint a rock representing something they miss as a result of the pandemic. A total of 1362 rocks were painted. At the completion of the installation, we asked community members to help by taking the painted rocks and distributing them all across Central Virginia.