About

What is Ten Thousand Ripples?

Ten Thousand Ripples (TTR) is a multi-platform public art project. Think sculpture, community engagement activities, art residencies, an interactive website, and a citywide culminating exhibition, all rolled into one. We’ve designed it so that artists, neighborhood leaders, and residents are at the center of this community-driven planning and public involvement effort.

TTR is a partnership between artist Indira Johnson and Changing Worlds the lead agency in a consortium of community development, cultural and educational organizations. With 100 fiberglass emerging Buddha head sculptures designed by Johnson as inspiration, the project highlights the power of the arts to transform place, space and its use and meaning within 10 communities across the Chicago metropolitan area.

Why the Buddha?

The Buddha image has evolved into a universal icon for peace an archetypal symbol that crosses religious lines. You see it in public art and on T-shirts. You see it adopted symbolically by rock bands and trendy restaurants. The Buddha strikes a balance between its secular face and spiritual symbol. Visually compelling, these peaceful Buddha heads “emerging” out of the ground will initiate city-wide conversations about art and peace.

Engaging the Community, Maximizing Impact.

Host organizations in each of the ten neighborhoods will use the Buddha head sculptures as a catalyst to facilitate community conversations. They will also plan and implement arts activities (poetry, music, dance, visual arts, etc.) that will address an issue of importance identified by each community. Our unique approach is cross-functional (art, social work, business), cross sector (community leaders, individual residents, artists) and is designed to engage the community in its entirety. Imagine a world of neighborhood cohesiveness. We can make that happen.

Ten Thousand Ripples will launch in September of 2012 with a 100 Buddha sculptures installed at sites chosen by the participating communities. The artistic residencies, which follow, will reach an estimated 1000 youth and tens of thousands of residents across all sites.

In August of 2013, the Loyola University Museum of Art in downtown Chicago will hold a culminating exhibitionof the Buddha head sculptures and the various artistic responses from all ten TTR communities. TTR’s interactive website will offer visual tours of local art programming, allowing community members to upload reactions to the Buddha installations.

Who’s involved?

100 Buddha head sculptures will be placed in these 10 Chicago neighborhoods to spark conversations of peace and non-violence

 

Meet the lead artist for Ten Thousand Ripples - Indira Johnson