Broken Wings challenges students to overcome negative social situations with kindness
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley
Share your story #BrokenWings
The first few visitors interactive at Broken Wings
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley
Share your story #BrokenWings
Visitors start to engage with the work while we were still setting up
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley
Share your story #BrokenWings
Broken Wings engages the viewer through art and invites growth. It’s a twofold process. First, just like a butterfly changes within the cocoon, individuals are invited into a transformative experience. A personal opportunity for growth. As visitors interact, the work begins the process of changing, transforming, and emerging.
Secondly, the work connects the artist and the viewers through collaboration. One smiling woman said, “This work makes me feel so connected to others. My kindness promise is linked to another’s promise. So, in a way, this work links us all together.”
This woman experienced hope through engaging art. She experienced the power of healing within an interactive creative experience. Her contribution, as well as everyone else’s, has the potential to bring about collective change. Eventually, after visitors had written their promises and the work was ready to emerge, like the butterfly, the kindness-promises took flight.
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley.
Share your story #BrokenWings
It was an honor for Broken Wings to be featured at the @grmuseum for #ArtPrize10.
As I work in schools across the country, I had a special opportunity to make monarch butterflies with preschool children and talk about the butterfly’s unique characteristics and what it needs to survive. The paint-stained fingers led the children into experiencing the joy of discovery. Even though everyone had the same two colors of orange and black, each child’s painted butterfly emerged as unique.
Before we started painting, I asked the children, “Did you know that the butterfly can’t see details?” Interestingly, the butterfly can see colors that we can’t see. Then I asked, “Did you know that some butterflies’ tongues are almost as long as their bodies?” To help the children imagine the butterfly’s long tongues, I bought juice boxes to drink the sweet nectar juice through the long tongue-like accordion straw. Finally, I asked, “Did you know that a butterfly can’t fly when it’s cold?” The children and I pretended to be butterflies waking up as the sun energized our wings. I even wore elegant butterfly wings made of painted sheer fabric to illustrate the flight of a butterfly.
During our time together, we discovered more about the delicate butterfly’s unique characteristics. We learned about the importance of clustering together to help these cold-blooded insects to survive. We celebrated each preschool artist and the beauty and fragility of their butterfly. We ended by discussing the importance of showing kindness, unity, and love to help all the butterflies to be healthy and safe in the garden.
What is one way you can use creativity to teach children about bullying prevention and safe schools?
Broken Wings
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl Street NW (west of the river)
September 19 to October 7, 2018
Vote #66688
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley.
Share your story #BrokenWings
Each year ArtPrize visitors thank me for providing the opportunity for them to be a part of my work. The interactive nature of my work invites collaboration. Each unique installation offers an immersive art experience.
Year after year, ArtPrize visitors say that they seek out my work. Their enthusiasm to be involved in the creative process truly inspires. As a result, the art personally connects the artist and audience, unlike the traditional formal exhibits where the artist and audience rarely interface.
The nurturing quality of my art deepens relationships and facilitates healing. Visitors are drawn towards culture care, or soul care, they sense within the art. Some even call it a Divine Encounter.
How can you help facilitate soul care for yourself and others in your community?
Broken Wings
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl Street NW (west of the river)
September 19 to October 7, 2018
Vote #66688
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley.
Share your story #BrokenWings
While on a cross-country flight, I took along some children’s butterfly books to prepare for my next exhibit, Broken Wings. As the flight was landing, a fellow passenger tapped my arm and asked, “Are you a teacher?” She had been watching me underlining important phrases in my children’s books that were sprawled across my tiny airline desk.
I told her that I was an artist and that I was preparing for my next installation about butterflies, bullying, and school shooting. With that, the look on her face changed. Perhaps she was imagining that I was this sweet kindergarten teacher. But instead, she discovered that I was an artist creating an exhibit about butterflies and school gun violence.
I explained that the butterflies represent the beauty and fragility of childhood. If a child, or our culture for that matter, is healthy, then the scales on butterfly’s wings refract light—producing gorgeous shimmering colors. But when the wings are broken, light can’t reflect. So, the colors grey or disappear.
Bullying and school gun violence reflects a broken culture and destroys children. To help each child emerge from cocoons with beautiful wings, the transformational process will require everyone. If each of us starts a Butterfly Effect of kindness and compassion, then the next generation of beautiful, delicate butterflies will begin to thrive and flourish—and restore the balance of our cultural habitat.
How can you help nurture or show kindness to one specific child?
Broken Wings
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl Street NW (west of the river)
September 19 to October 7, 2018
Vote #66688
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley.
Share your story #BrokenWings