Tapestry of Hope
As part of the 2022 CreateSpace Public Art Residency, artist Jeni Chen created an audio installation, collaborative artwork, and an accompanying activity booklet that encourages participants to examine their inner voices and pivot towards positive thought patterns.
Project at a glance
Location: Richmond Cultural Centre Plaza, Richmond, BC
Artist: Jeni Chen
Year: 2022
Project Photographer/Videographer: Jeni Chen, Tat Wah Tam
Services: Artist Capacity Building
1
artist-in-residence
100+
participant audio recordings
4
artist mentors
15
languages
2
days of activities
200+
ribbons
About Tapestry of Hope
For the BC Culture Days Festival Weekend, 2022 CreateSpace Public Art Residency artist Jeni Chen invited participants to experience her immersive installation and add their voices to the exhibition. Collaborative from start to finish, Tapestry of Hope called on contributors to record audio clips expressing their fears and worries, which played on a loop in Jeni’s public art installation to mimic stressful thoughts running through our minds.
Viewers walked through the installation, then out into the sunlight and open space of the site’s natural surroundings. There, they wrote down their wishes, dreams, or feelings that they hoped to manifest on ribbons, which were tied to a row of “wishing trees” and later woven into the Tapestry of Hope.
Learn more about Jeni’s residency journey through her website/blog where she documented the process.
“The idea was to create an art installation where people can experience a changing perspective. This would not have been possible without everyone’s engagement and involvement.”
About the Artist
Jeni Chen
Jeni Chen is a Taiwanese-Canadian artist based in Richmond, BC. She has experience creating public artworks and leading community-engaged workshops. In 2021, she was chosen as a BC Culture Days Ambassador. With her background in science, Jeni was awarded an Artists in the Classroom grant to introduce the immune system to elementary school students through different art forms. Jeni has also written and illustrated a children’s picture book Emet’s Box (The Little Press, 2022) and was selected as a touring presenter for the 2023 Canadian Children’s Book Week.
Project Partners and Funders
Partners and Funders
Tapestry of Hope is in collaboration with BC Culture Days and Richmond Art Gallery
The 2022 CreateSpace Public Art Residency is supported by the City of Toronto as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021 – 2022, TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment, Canada Council for the Arts, and Ontario Arts Council. We also acknowledge the support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada.
