Systems and sectors

What institutions can build when they build it together

Schools, nonprofits, municipal departments, health services, universities and businesses rarely make anything with their own hands at the same table. A participatory painting gives them one. The guiding question, the budget and the composition are settled together, and every partner has to decide what it will contribute, what it will cede, and whose story goes where.

The painting is the medium and also the method. Negotiating surface area, layering colour over someone else’s marks and agreeing how funds are split make cooperation the operating rule rather than the stated value. Partners pool money, lend staff and space, and introduce each other to the people they each already reach. What is left afterwards is a public artwork, and a set of working relationships and funding pathways that siloed structures rarely produce on their own.

In depth

Connected in Chaos

London, Ontario, 2020. What was proposed as a painted mural became a hybrid project when the pandemic closed the city. Over a hundred people met online across thirteen weeks, working through weekly creative exercises, and made their pieces at home.

Around a hundred and fifty individual artworks came out of it, in thirteen different art media, gathered into thirteen themes. Each group took a theme and decided how it would unfold, what it would ask, and what it would look like. It is thirteen projects in one. The pieces were photographed and composed into digital ensembles, and two public events brought people to the wall itself, where community members repaired and painted it. Co-led with the artist Alejandro Zuluaga.

The project was funded through the City of London’s Neighbourhood Decision Making programme, which puts resident proposals to a public ballot. More than ten thousand three hundred Londoners voted in that round. The work existed because the public chose it before it was made.

Partners: thirteen community organisations · Co-artist: Alejandro Zuluaga · Participants: 100+ · Individual artworks: approximately 150, in thirteen media · Funder: City of London Neighbourhood Decision Making, by public vote · Unveiled: October 2020

Materials, siting and care

Medium and fabrication: Thirteen digital ensembles, composed from roughly a hundred and fifty individual artworks in thirteen media, printed on PVC board for exterior durability in an unheated underpass. The wall itself was repaired and painted by community members.
Site and site-responsiveness: The Richmond Street underpass, London, Ontario. A threshold rather than a destination: the panels were composed to be read in sequence by someone moving through.
Public realm and circulation: A pedestrian and cycle route under the rail line, carrying people between the university and the centre of the city.
Intervention: The work makes an inhabited place of a space people had only ever passed through, which was the proposal residents voted for.
Permanence: Installed October 2020 and in place since.

The people who made Connected in Chaos 226 named

The list prepared for the mural plaque, in the roles people took and the names they gave.

Mural Art Contributors

Abeera Atique
Adele Xu
Alejandra Laria Aleaga
Alejandro Zuluaga
Alex McVety
Angela Found
Annette Sullivan
Barbara Gillham
Carolyn Szturm
Chesney Sickks-Jarvis
Courtney Apple McIntosh
Cristopher Zha
Dakota Sabourin
Danielle Moore
Denise Giboire
Denise Love
Denise McDonald
Desiree Kern
Eloise Zha
Emma Richard
Eren Can Dogun
Erica Brown
Ernie Wilson
Estelle Chen
Esther Kern
George Wang
Gianni Giorgio Battel
Hailey Tallman
Heather McKay
Helene Desruisseaux
Isabelle Avola
Janet Blair
Janet McCrea
Jeni Peralta
Jennifer Rex
Jennifer Topfer
Joanne Stilwell
Joe
Jon Lavkulich
Julie Ryan
Kai Smith-Kilmer (kesk)
Karen Rhebergen
Karissa June Hill
Kateri Derman
Kavya Kozhiparambil PradeepKumar
Kelly Webster
Kim crawford
Kitty Pang
Korey Morgan
Kristine Clarke
Kristine Wachowiak
Krystal Shen
Leah Wall
Linda De Bruyn
Lisa Rice
Maggie Hanan
Margaret Isobel Boos
Marie Antoinnette Parisio
Marisa Light
Maureen Schambach
Melanie Schambach
Melissa Lavallee
Michelle Quinlan
Michelle Short
MMS aka Sponge Bob
Monica Peeff
Nadya Shupta
Naomi Tamilade
Nicole Moore
Nicole Pham
Nikki-Lee Venair
Nnaemeka Anfinwe
Orla Rose Fleet
Pamela Hough
Rebecca Parisio
Rebecca Perrin
Rob Cosh
Rui Wang
Sandra Regalo
Stephanie Antone
Suzy Chen
Sylvie Verwaayen
Treva Depew
Virginia Hannay
William Neal
Willie Wu Wenyi

Community Participants

Alisa Barttlet
Alvin Taguibao
Andrew Fleet
Anita Bidinosti
Ann De Bono
Antone
Ariel Beaujot
Ashley Robyn Elaine Sandham
Bailey Giroux
Candice Lubick
Carole Perraud
Catherine Eve Czuma
Chris Smith
Claudia Lachlan
Clayton Lindsay
Colleen Jamieson
Danielle Hill
Denise McDonald
Dorit Osher
Ella Sheridan
Elsa Rose Eastabrook
Emily Amaral
Farwa Khawaja
Gabrielle Pelletier
Gayle
Gena Brumitt
Greg Miller
Gwen Brouwer
Gwenda Dieleman
Hannah Hewitt
Harshita Jha
Haven Patiño-Chacon
Ian Scott
Jaimi Forbe
Jasmine Ball
Jason Jordan
Jean Moir
Jennifer
Jennifer Martino
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Sontrop
Jessica Thornton
Jill Canterbury
Joanna Banks
Joanne Lynn Cooper
Jorge
Joseph
Kane Lachlan
Karina Viovy
Katie Stewart
Kelly Charlton
Krista Ruth Bailey
Kristina Fearon
Laurie Rintoul
Leah Blenkhorn
Leona
Lily Ryan
Lincoln McCardle
Linda DeBruyn
Lisa Coddington
Luis Claudio Brito Patricio
Luis Gerardo Nieves Sanchez
Madison Bamsey
Magdalen Mykaela Slack-Westlake
Marietta Dost
Mary Ann Hodge
Mary Bee
Mary Elizabeth Bowes
Meghan Nolan
Mina antone
Munya Haddara
Necole Douglas
Nicole Hernandez-Viovy
Paul Seale
Peter O’Dronyck
Pilar Barrios
Randy Stewart
Rasha Mohamedkhair
Rodolfo Patiño
Roueida Ismail
Samuel Hornby
Sandra Miller
Sarah Gastle
Stefanie Sosa
Susan Day
Tamara M
Tate Hornby
Thiago Mesquita Carvalho dos Reis
Tim Limsana
Treena Orchard
Trystan Trotman
Valentina
Vanessa
Wandy Dieleman

Community Organizers

Abeera Atique
Ahmad Qaraeen
Andrew Leest
Anita Bidinosti
Bailey Giroux
Carolyn Szturm
Chris Goss
Colleen Jamieson
Danielle Hill
Jenn Gilbert
Jennifer Rex
Julie Ryan
Karina Viovy
Leslie Giesbrecht
Lindsey Hoover
Marieta Drost
Monica Joy
Nikita Miller
Nikki Venair
Ryan Craven
Sarah Feehan
Shelly Happy
Toinette Parisio
Yasmin Hussain

Social Arts Team

Melanie Schambach
Alejandro Zuluaga
Julie Ryan
Ryan Craven
Maureen Schambach
Emma Richard

Special Thanks

Abbe Drennan
Abeera Atique
Annette Sullivan
Carlos Medina
Chris Goss
Dan Smoke
Jennifer Rex
Kane Lachlan
Kavya Kozhiparambil PradeepKumar
Iain Stevenson
Laurel Martin
Marie Antoinnette Parisio
Mary Lou Smoke
Pamela Hough
Randy Stewart
Ruby Smith Diaz

Community Supporters

Boys & Girls Club
Cornerstone, TVDSB
Cross Cultural Learners Centre
Hutton House
Muslim Resource Centre
Nokee kwe
Pillar NonProfit Network
ReImagine

E Ala E

Across the United States, 2021. An eighteen by eighteen foot canvas travelled twenty thousand miles with the Red Road to DC totem pole journey, as the House of Tears Carvers carried a pole carved by Jewell James from the Lummi Reservation to the National Mall. About a hundred and fifty people painted it across thirty communities, and it grew at every stop.

The route followed sacred places under pressure: the Snake River, Bears Ears, Chaco Canyon, the Black Hills, the Missouri River at Yankton, Standing Rock, Line 3 at White Earth and Line 5 at Mackinaw City. Five proclamations travelled with it, on sacred sites, places and waters; on the salmon people; on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; on the Doctrine of Discovery; and on the rights of nature. Each takes one question through a different frame, and each is built the same way: the issue, the root cause, the effects, and the reconciliation and action needed. That is the same analysis run five times over one subject, which is what this line of work is.

The painting is where people answered. The proclamations named what has to change in law, policy and doctrine. The canvas asked what people already do: the daily actions, practices and rituals that build a person’s capacity for connection with the natural world. Some of what was spoken from the stage went into the painting. Most of what went in came from the people standing in front of it.

The coalition is the reason this project sits here. Tribal nations and inter-tribal coalitions, faith communities, environmental organisations, legal advocates, philanthropy, museums, Native-led media and national policy organisations moved the same route over the same two weeks, and the Secretary of the Interior received the pole in Washington on 29 July. The painting is now hosted by East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Washington, which was itself a partner on the journey. The title was chosen by participants from Hawaii, after a story they carried into the painting on the road.

Partners: House of Tears Carvers, Se’Si’Le · Artistic support: Dirrion Montgomery · Project manager: Phreddie Lane, Sul ka dub · Participants: about 150, across 30 communities · Distance: 20,000 miles · Funding: private donations and volunteers

Materials, siting and care

Medium and fabrication: Eighteen by eighteen feet, acrylic on canvas. Rolled and carried, unrolled and painted at each stop, indoors and out, and composed into its finished state afterwards.
Site and site-responsiveness: No single site. Thirty, each one a place where the question was already live, and each one adding to the same surface.
Public realm and circulation: The canvas met people at ceremonies, rallies and gatherings along the route, and travelled between them in the same convoy as the pole.
Intervention: The proclamations addressed institutions. The painting addressed practice, asking what each person already does to stay connected to the natural world, and making those answers visible next to each other.
Permanence: Hosted by East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, Washington.

Four people holding a finished Connected in Chaos panel against the wall and levelling it as it goes up — *Connected in Chaos*, London, Ontario, 2020. Roughly a hundred and fifty individual artworks, composed into thirteen panels and installed in the Richmond Street underpass.

The individual artworks made for Connected in Chaos laid out together, roughly a hundred and fifty drawings, prints, paintings and photographs in thirteen media — *Connected in Chaos*, London, Ontario, 2020. Roughly a hundred and fifty individual artworks, composed into thirteen panels and installed in the Richmond Street underpass.

The people who made E Ala E 153 named

The carvers who carried the pole, and everyone who painted along the route, in the names they gave.

House of Tears Carvers

Jewell James, Se Sealth
Douglas James, Sit ki kadem
Freddie Lane, Sul ka dub
Siam’elwit James

Everyone who painted along the route

Abe
Adam Trejo
Ahjani Yepa
Alex
Alexis Naficy
Anais Patterson
Angela Zayaz
Annalise Guthrie
April Barker
Arely Martinez
Aria Naficy
Arial Woodend
Arianna
Arwan + Declan Washam
Atl Obi Garcia Walker
Bianca Williams
Billi Jo Beheler
Blanca Williams
Bonnie Swift
Brad Drappeau Jr.
Brian Less
Cali T
Camellia Sope
Cameron Johnson
Carolyn Yorke
Carrie Wood
Charles King
Chime Pratt
Chris White Eagle
Christina deVillier
Corina Bozzuto
Corina Lopez
Cumara Penn
D. Touchine
Daisy Albert
Daniel Roth
Dayvon
Debbie Pond
Deirdre Abrams
Delilah Ashue
Dellie James
Dorah
Doug Robbins
Dress Wedding
Elizabeth Battaglia
Ellie Snydsman
Elvita Kondili
Emerald McInerney
Flora Robinson Bertoni
Ginger Wireman
Güichita Schambach
Harriet Yepa Waquie
Hermus
Hezekiah
Isla Wolfe
Jacob Peterson
Jan Corey Arnett
Janie Ahmach
Jasmine Venegas
Jeanne
Jessie Weahkee
Johanthan
Joob’a Wood
Jordison
Joshua Isaac
Josiah Isaac
Kaitlyn Hope Abdo
Karen Ramsahai
Kayden Schutter
Kayla H.
Kaylise Droppcale
Kelsey Reedy
Kenji Smith
Kili Kawaidea
Kyla Schneider
Kyla Wilder Cook
Levi Myers
Lexi Myers
Libby Penn
Lisa Martinez
Logan Nelson
London Lee
Loretta Paseg
Lucas Hare
Luli Fields
M J Ione Eagle
Maaniinh Fonseca
Mabel Ardila
Madeline Alviar
Margaret
Maria McDonald
Marley Fuentes
Mary Antelope
Marylena Yellow
Melody Royal
Mia
Micah McNair
Michele Morel de Schambach
Micki Larimer
Micki Scagliotti
Muzzy Denets
Mya Buffalo Zarazua
Nancy N.
Natanee Patterson
Nauri Toler
Nikki Bass
Norah
Olivia Petoskey
Otis Boyd
Paloma Maité
Patricia Belanger
Pedro Jimenez
Phillip Waukazoo
Raine Valentine
Randy Schambach
Rily Albright
Robert and Gilma
Robin Kissineer
Ruben T.
Sadie Olsen
Saige Walksln Beauty
Salisha Danale Dean
Samantha Lee
Sarah E. Robinson
Sayen Sope
Seneca Johnson
Sidney Mills
Sierra Whalen
Sopena Family
Tahni Drappeau
Tamara Colaque
Tanya Lewis
Tara Black Elk
Taya Wilder Cook
Terry Sloan
Theresa Sheldon
Tokal American Horse
Tokana Spotted Eagle
Tony Hood
Tyson Hare
Tzenjikiní Wilson
Vincent McCovey II
W O Miles
Waaskonye Pamp
Wapand Kia WR
Wažúpiwi Gourd-Mackin
Wesley BUD’Hare
Zaiden Schattilly
Zora Ione Eagle

Related work

Project	Year	Place	Partner
Fostering Dialogues: Action ResearchLGBTQ+ older adults and homecare support workers picturing community care together, in a virtual arts and dialogue programme.	2023	Canada	Egale, published in Atlantis
We Are All OneResidents and staff of Participation House co-authoring a single image.	2019	London, ON	Participation House
Strategic Action Plan: One BodyA leadership organisation's direction worked out in paint rather than in a document, with Horizon Leadership and Mission Services.	2017	London, ON	Horizon Leadership and Mission Services