The Connections Project
Crossing Cultural Barriers
The Connections project invites individuals to connect with those who don’t look, think, or act like us. Various stances on social issues, race, gender, and the economy spark heated debates in the public sector, on social media, and around family dinner tables, continuing to divide us. But this project challenges individuals to take a fresh look at how they see their neighbors. If we take the first step and just start talking to the person next to us, listening to their story, we can begin to overcome our prejudices.
The Connections project creates new healing spaces to help people cross boundary lines like skin color, ethics, or gender and connect through empathy and mutual respect. To continue the movement of hope, the audience engages with the work by writing a note to someone who is different from them. The exercise encourages participants to think about how they can intentionally cross a cultural division to embrace a new friend and work to understand and accept others. Every society needs courageous individuals who endeavor to let go of what divides us—to help unite our world.
Read the inspirational story behind the Connections project…
The Connections project demonstrates how art can bring people together to increase our understanding—and accept our differences.
More than two thousand participants from seventeen different school, community, or gallery visitor groups participated in the Connections project by drawing an illustration or writing a response.
For the project, I interviewed a dozen individuals from different ethnic backgrounds to talk about our universal prejudices towards others, and we wrote social contracts about how to form meaningful connections with those who are different from us.
Students of all ages discussed how to move beyond the divisive thoughts and ideas toward ways to unify and draw people together.
