Public Art Seeking a Home

Thank you Shmuel Thaler, senior staff photographer at Santa Cruz Sentinel. What a delight to see our community project featured prominently on today's front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel as "A Joint Venture". Indeed it is. This is especially helpful as we shift gears and begin to look for a home for this co-created Communi-Tree.

We are seeking a permanent location where the tree will be visible and accessible to the community. This community created art project is a colorful 10-foot-wide by 11-foot-high flat mosaic of a majestic tree with over 180 spectacular leaves, each about the size of your hand. Each mosaic leaf was crafted by an individual community member, from four-year-olds to elders, who came together to create mosaic art symbolizing their deep hopes, concerns, and values and to express their emotions as a way to be united in our care and respect for one another at this time in history. As an experienced mosaic artist, Christine led this year-long project, supported by myself and dozens of other motivated volunteers. Participants time and again told us it was a gift to take the time to stop and think about what they care about deeply and what they would like to see supported by our leaders. Together each person translated these deep feelings into a tangible creation that united so many in working on a common art project.

We look forward to having the tree available for public viewing. If you have ideas or leads about where and how this installation could be visible and accessible to our community, please contact us at mosaicswithmeaning @ gmail.com.

Join us for our next GROUTING day!

April 22 11am - 2pm (adjusted time)

There are about 75 more leaves remaining to be grouted. 
We would love for you to join us ... reconnect with the meaning of your leaf and the many contributions of others. 

And ... if you have connections with the press, please share the news. We're excited about taking the next step of find a home for this tree, a symbol of our values, to set down roots in our community.

Hope to see you here!

Christine & Julie

Moving Right Along ...

Thanks to all who helped, lots of leaves were loved into being during the first grouting day. This beautiful mosaic communi-tree is bursting with life.

Please join an upcoming grouting day ...

Sundays
February 4  -  March 4 
1-4pm  

Let us know if you can join. You are welcome to grout your own leaf 

and/or help grout the leaves of others in our community. Many hands make for little work!

Email us at Mosaicswithmeaning@gmail.com

ONE STEP AT A TIME ...

On Tuesday, November 7 (election day) a final small group joined us to complete the remaining leaves on our community tree. Their contributions communicated their values and hopes for us all. That we may ...

radiate peace
soften and be held in light
hold space for understanding & what is yet to be born,
remember love as the healing force in the face of differences

Solidarity and collaboration reigned during this journey of leaf creating during the past 10 months. We came together, regardless of our political affiliations, to create with care and respect for ourselves and one another as we shared what has heart and meaning in our lives.

And now we're ready for the support of our community as we take next steps ...

The first is to grout each leaf on the tree.
The second is to find a home for this tree to set down her roots in our community.
The third is to organize the photos, video and feedback of participants. We hope to find creative ways to communicate the meaning and values evident in the tree to those who see it in the future... augmented reality?

Step 1: 

First Grouting Day
Sunday, December 3  1:30-3:30pm

If you'd like to grout your own leaf, we hope you can join us on that day! Please email us to RSVP. mosaicswithmeaning@gmail.com. People will join on that day to grout their own leaf and help grout other leaves as well. Hope you can make it.

Coming Together

This community mosaic project is moving along ... and, is nearly done. Last weekend we held our final day of public leaf making. All along the way our intention was to bring people together to create, express their cares and concerns, and be united in care and respect. 

Since inauguration day, 169 adults and children have participated by creating individual mosaic leaves using a variety of colorful pieces to represent what they care most about at this time in history.

Everyone’s involvement in this project to date has been possible due to dedicated volunteer efforts. Additional volunteers are welcome now to aid in creating augmented reality digital options for communicating the tree’s messages to viewers.

On Monday (Labor Day) we had a prep session - filling in between the leaves with mirror and also refilling the stash. Sunday (9/10) more leaves were created and participants brought special homemade goodies. Those who chose to shared aloud about their leaf and cares. 

Many have told us it is a gift to take the time to stop and think about what we care deeply about and what we want to have respected and cared for by both ourselves and from our leaders ... translating our emotions into a creation and united in a common project. A highlight at the end of Sunday's session was putting the four large panels together to get a birds-eye view. 

The next phase of the project is to find the right Santa Cruz home. 

This will allow the trunk, bark, base and roots to be custom to the location. Our co-created mosaic “communi-tree,” will need a space 10 feet wide and 10-12 feet high to reside. We seek a permanent location where the tree will be visible and accessible to the community, honor the voices, concerns and values of the many diverse participants, and mark this time in history. And... ideally, we'd like to have a bench below. If you have ideas about a great location, or know volunteers to help with the augmented reality portion, please contact mosaicswithmeaning @ gmail . com!

Compare the two photos below and imagine our delight of seeing this vision materializing.