Client: LA Commons & The Music Center

Overview

Temporary and participatory art installation designed as a celebratory centerpiece for a Los Angeles community event rooted in arts and culture measuring 12’ x 31’ x 31’. Composed of

Inspired by community outreach initiatives fostering the collective vision for the future of Los Angeles, the art proposal called for a celebratory centerpiece that would engage the community and activate Jerry Moss Plaza. The design reflects a parts-to-whole concept where individual ribbons represent the diverse voices of Angelinos. In unison, the ribbons create a vibrant composition of color and texture designed to dance in the wind. The installation invites visitors under a festive canopy to contemplate their dreams for our great city. In the center lies a communal ring composed of multi-colored ribbons inscribed with the wishes of Angelenos where aspirations of affordable housing, green space, peace, love, equity, and inclusivity were shared. Symbolic of prayer flags, the dreams are carried in the wind and shared with all of Los Angeles.

Goals

Create a celebratory centerpiece that would engage the community and activate Jerry Moss Plaza.
Be designed, constructed, and fabricated within a 3-month time frame with a set opening date for the event.
Unite the community in a conversation rooted in collective hopes for a more just, sustainable, healthy, and equitable Los Angeles.

Process

Over the past two years, the Creating Our Next LA project hosted by non-profit arts-based organization LA Commons has united the communities of greater Los Angeles through art and participatory events that shed light on our hopes and aspirations for the future of our great City. Through personal stories, surveys, and artwork, the narratives that evolved from the events share a common vision for a more united, just, equitable, sustainable, and healthy Los Angeles.

Mandy Palasik Studio was awarded the design commission to create a centerpiece for Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center that engages the community and translates those visions into a work of art for the celebratory event commemorating the project on October 22, 2022 in partnership with The Music Center.

Additional Information

All materials used in the installation were donated to local non-profit arts-based organizations/artists where they will be reused to generate new works. The inscripted ribbons with the community's dreams were documented by LA Commons as part of the Creating Our Next LA project.