Step Into the Light
In 2014, I created ‘The Wish‘, a permanent installation at Anythink Huron Street library in Thornton, Colorado. The Wish is a giant dandelion composed of paper seeds that symbolize private wishes that come together as a whole in a metaphor for human connectedness.
In 2022, I returned to this amazing library system as an artist-in residence at Anythink Wright Farms, where I constructed a giant paper lantern that hangs in the library. Viewers were invited to step inside of the lantern and ponder how they can ‘be the light’. When they step out of the lantern, they are prompted to think about how they can share their light in their communities.
As of June 2023, the lantern is on view at the Vail Public Library’s Galleria. Stop in to see it if you are in town!
Here’s an 8-minute video showing the basic construction process.
I had a Q&A with the Anythink Wright Farms Library Branch Manager Michael Hibben about the piece and my work in general which you can watch on Facebook Live or YouTube.
My residency was part of Anythink Library’s mySummer program. Anythink Wright Farms hosted an “Illuminate the Night” event on July 30, 2022. At the end of the evening, a group of 200 of us walked around the perimeter of the library with our lanterns and ended up under my piece. Here’s a video that will give you a glimpse into the that part of the event.