Thirty volunteers helped assemble almost 4,000 paper birds for my ArtPrize 2013 Wing and a Prayer installation. After the nineteen-day exhibit in Grand Rapids, Michigan, several organizations or individuals contacted me, expressing an interest in the birds. The birds continue to give hope flight.
Most of the birds traveled to an inner city tutoring organization, The Stockbridge Boiler Room; this organization helps children with their schoolwork and teaches them life skills, such as bicycle repair. Another small strand flew to a family in peril as they faced a private heartbreaking situation. Later this spring the rest of the birds will travel to Asian Family Support Services of Austin, Texas to support abuse victims.
But I wanted to highlight a special story where a few of the birds took flight to California to encourage a man dying of cancer. This gentleman’s sister emailed me after ArtPrize, requesting the paper cranes for her brother. So I agreed to donate some birds.
The woman came to collect the birds late one Friday evening. After carefully loading the origami cranes into her car, I said, “There isn’t anything magic about these birds. Your brother may still die. But the birds are a symbol of hope and healing. I will pray for your brother.” A few tears tumbled down her cheeks as we parted. Several weeks later after I inquired about her brother, she sent this response:
Funny you should email me today. We are just returning from CA. My brother passed away last week. He did receive the birds. They were beautiful and a perfect gift. We used them at his funeral on Friday. I couldn’t have thought of a better gift for him.
This moved me: the devotion of a loving sister who was determined to send a few paper birds to her brother in his final days. Although I’m not sure where these birds will end up, it’s obvious that hope continues to soar.
