While creatively traversing the country from New York to San Francisco, I’ve been asking random people on the streets or in coffee shops this question: “How would you help heal our broken world?” In response, individuals are invited to trace their hand on a piece of map, representing our world, and record their answer. This traveling art called Open Hands represents a commitment to start a movement of hope and healing in an age of culture wars—by taking personal action.
Many of the participants, while thinking about how to respond, want to talk about all kinds of interesting subjects like women’s rights, bullying, refugees, and sexting. The following vignettes are a sample of some of the Open Hands interactions.
One woman shared her story of being bullied as a young teen. She described how an older male student pressured her into texting a nude image of herself. While tracing her hand, the woman shared the results from seeking peer approval in a risky way. The consequences of playing emotional “Russian Roulette”—when she pulled the trigger by tapping “send”—lasted for weeks as her image spread across the internet. As our conversation ended, the young woman wrote “Respect” on her handprint.
A student with a unique hand wrote “Kindness.” At first, I thought she had made a “Hang Loose” gesture and then traced her hand. But after catching a glimpse of her hand, I realized that most of her fingers were missing except for a thumb and a partial pinky finger. So, her drawing actually portrayed her own beautiful handprint. With the word “kindness” written across her tracing, the artwork communicated a profound message.
Open Hands has sparked many spontaneous discussions about important issues. Although we may not always agree on how to solve our culture’s challenging problems or personal dilemmas—this interactive art helps connect individuals through mutual understanding and respect—and facilitates healing.
Where will Open Hands pop up next?
Follow us on Instagram to find out where and to help us reach our first goal of one thousand handprints for a future exhibit.
Open Hands—healing dialogue and compassionate action—one hand at a time.
