Community arts practice is another form of my creative process. ARTivention is an umbrella organizational structure that I have created to house the various public art participatory projects I have undertaken. Examples of some of these projects include Care Packages where I partnered with the Uyghur American Association, Roosevelt University’s student body, Gage Gallery, Mansfield Institute of Social Justice and the general public to produce 17 Islamic prayer mats for the Uyghur detainees of Guantanamo Bay. The project brought awareness to the issue of human rights concerns and the U.S.’s policy regarding terrorist suspects. Participants also sent a letter to the current Army general overseeing the Guantanamo prison protesting the current policy. The prayer mats were mailed to a governmental address on the last day of the Bush presidency in January 2009 and were shortly returned due to non-existent/non-deliverable address. The mats were then shipped to the Uyghur American Association and brought directly to the detainees.
Commune-ique is a current community based arts project that explores the concept of community, diversity, inclusivity, faith/spirituality and history. It is comprised of hand felted wool that will be used to construct an architectural form reminiscient of a traditional Mongolian yurt. The constructed "shelter" will be installed at public parks for specific durations. At each site viewers will be invited to enter the tent and to contribute their own unique individualized mark. To participate, come visit me and the crew of students from School of the Art Institute and Roosevelt University on June 23, 30, July 7 and 14. For details, check out the Events page.
The latest ARTivention project is entitled Found Objects and will be taking place for one year from May 5, 2010 until May 4, 2011. For more information, check out the detailed description.