unlearn fear + hate

An intervention into our shared lives, Unlearn Fear + Hate aims to promote public dialog and civic engagement.

Unlearn Fear + Hate

Prompted by local conversations about history and identity, this artwork activates words from a poem we commissioned by Frank X Walker. Read the entire poem below (in the Love Letter To the World section).

This artwork started with the idea of creating one halo and a large stencil for the street. The images here show some of the many ways the artwork evolved over a period of 2 years.

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Rachel "Haddie" Bryant

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Camilo and Jackie (with the Spanish language halo)

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Hoda with the Arabic language halo

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Qian (with the Chinese language halo)

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Hortense (with the Swahili language halo)

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Shana (with the Hindi language halo)

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found at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, KY

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posted online by Taylor who discovered the stencil on a sidewalk

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our friend Felice photographed her daughter and a friend drawing with chalk around a sidewalk stencil

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colors of the Pan-African flag on the steps of Sav's Grill in Lexington, KY

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The first of 14 times we painted a large stencil in the streets. We stenciled at this scale in 4 different languages, at Locations in Lexington, Nashville, Los Angeles and Capetown, South Africa

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full installation of halos in the 25 most commonly spoken languages in Grand Rapids--part of ArtPrize 9

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detail of previous image (with Hebrew halo)

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Sara Beth joined us at an event to cross-stitch "Unlearn Fear + Hate" in all 153 languages spoken in Lexington

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Hiromi with the Russian translation

Adinu--Unlearn Fear and Hate