Children Inspiring Hope is a program that connects students across the globe and inspires social responsibility. I had the honor of participating in Children Inspiring Hope, a cultural exchange between students in Ghana and the U.S. between 2009 and 2013. This project connects school children across countries through the language of art. Students in the U.S. were given a topic to create on- the environment, customs and traditions, water as a precious resource, games. Artwork was sent to Ghana and students in Ghana were given materials to respond in kind. I was able to participate as both a teacher in the U.S. and as a volunteer in Ghana. Students took away more than a sense of a friend or pen pal, but came to a larger understanding of a connection as a global citizen. Art was the method here and connection and responsibility towards each other was the result. I’m so very proud to have been able to experience this from both sides of the world. For more information visit ChildrenInspringHope.org.

At its core, tactical urbanism seeks to bring people together by bringing accessibility back to the streets for pedestrians and bikers and creating shared public space for all. Street Tweaks is a Tactical Urbanism Project sponsored by several non-profits in Asheville, NC to make streets more accessible to pedestrians and bikes. I helped paint this amazing large scale street mural in 2018 with dozens of volunteers. It was awesome to see the space transform and come alive, inviting all sorts of people to come and share in the wonder of it!

Murals not only bring life and color to a community, they inspire connection and community. Between 2001 and 2003 I chaired Metro Murals, a community art non-profit in Portland Oregon. During my time there, Portland had instituted a large-scale murals ban, due to a lost legal case with Clear Channel. Since the city of Portland would not allow large scale video advertising, Clear Channel fought back and declared any large scale piece illegal, including murals. Unfortunately big business won and created a long-term ban on Portland murals. During this time Metro Murals made many appearances in front of city council fighting for murals to exist once again. We also restored Tom Cramer’s mural with a local alternative high school to garner support for murals and to catalog and maintain aging murals for future generations. The sign code was eventually changed, but “Machine” was demolished in 2017.

The Asheville Art Museum asked STEAM Studio to build a Geodesic Dome for their Buckminster Fuller exhibit. I led a group of middle and high school students through STEAM Studio’s community outreach program called SkillSet, in designing the dome. We prototyped several types of joints and settled on this star concept. We invited students from the non-profit Hood Huggers to help us assemble the dome.

2023

15 ft x 6 feet

12 steel rod house forms covered in canvas on a steel base, Video and Audio Projections, Chalkboard

Homesick is a collaborative art piece between myself, Liz Williams, and Ethan Schultz. It is composed of 12 floating house structures. The houses are tightly composed and staggered in height reaching upward to 15 feet.

Homesick was shown in November 2022, April 2023, December 2023.

Originally made for Asheville’s Art in the Heart a rotating exhibit in PAC Square, it was also exhibited at Black Mountain College’s Re:Happening and Revolve Gallery.

The houses were lit up with video projections playing in unison with audio samples: testimonials of Asheville residents speaking about their housing experiences. Chalkboards welcomed the community to engage in dialogue asking “what defines home?”, and “what memories remind you of home?" The idea was born out of our work with BeLoved, in order to give the voiceless a platform to speak in this otherwise silent crisis.

Special thanks to all of those who shared their stories for this project. Collaborators include BeLoved Asheville, 12 Baskets, photographer Ponkho Bermejo, and Haywood Street Church.

Video created by Emmanuel Figaro for the City of Asheville's Art in the Heart program.