Boston Lyric Opera Partners With CostumeWorks to Make Clear-Front Face Masks For the Deaf Community

Boston Lyric Opera is working with its costume shop partner, CostumeWorks, to make clear-front face masks for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Boston Herald reports.

The initiative is funded by a grant from Mayor Martin Walsh's Boston Resiliency fund.

"We know that wearing face masks is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of COVID-19," said Mayor Walsh in a statement. "It is critical that our residents are able to access face masks, and I am pleased that through the Boston Resiliency Fund we are able to support Boston Lyric Opera's unique partnership to create needed face masks for our Deaf and Hard of Hearing residents as well as others who rely on lip-reading and facial expressions to communicate."

Over 1,800 masks will be made, and then donated or sold at a discount.

"Who could predict that a pandemic would bring to us an opportunity like this - to serve a new community," said Bradley Vernatter, Boston Lyric Opera's chief operating officer. "Along with the production staff at BLO, the artists at CostumeWorks took great care in designing and delivering a simple, elegant product to help potentially thousands of Boston's deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens."

Read more on Boston Herald.