Ta- Dah!

Gathered parts of a Star, by Alan, Anne, Bevin Ed, Edmund, Candy, Kianan, Cynthia, Daria, Karen, Stephanie, Mia, Hutch, John G., Ysabela, Janet, Rachel, Susan Joy, Robin, Siri, Simon, Laurie C, , Laurie F, Rowan Jai, Terri and Liza

I have two complete and exquisite images  to show you this evening, the culmination of the efforts of 57 people who filled in a piece of a 12-fold geometric star. The people who gave me these pieces did so  in response to seeing my post Invitation to my Sandbox or from a direct request from me.

Gatherings of a Star #2 by Kyra, Kimerer, Leif, Daria, Hutch, Siri, Helen, Esther, Cynthia, Kira, Dan, Beth, Kai, Molly, Bill, Carrie, Susan B., Susan Joy, Susan M,, Angela, Susan N., Kathy, Jenn, John G., Kate, Becky, Chuck,,Siri,Ed, Jade, Joyce ,Beth, and Cynthia.

I am over-the-moon happy with the look of these pieces. I had no idea, when I put out my request to people to participate, how this would turn out. I tried to court interest in this project across of wide range of people, and wondered how it would look when they all came together. There are people from age 5 to, well, much much older. We have a  nursery school teacher, elementary and higher level math teachers, a storyteller, a musician, artists, a Phd candidate,  high school students, college students, a geologist, a massage therapist, a writer, bloggers, and people who I don’t know anything about at all.

I had thought to write a long post this evening about many of the stories that come with this project, but it’s getting late and I need to put this project to bed for now. But there two wonderful moments I want to include here.

First, I want to point out tile # 11 in both stars. Here they are:

Tile 11 by Daria and Liza

It wasn’t until the large images were done that I saw that these pieces looked like they had been done by the same person. Not so!  Artist Daria Wilber worked on hers in Colorado while watching the Super Bowl with her husband, and Liza Goldberg, who I believe is a math teacher, and is mother to young children, did hers in hers at school during a prep period. It’s stunning to me how unlike they are to any of the other pieces, and how alike they are to each other.

Here’s another one of my favorite moments:

Tiles #27 and #28 by John G. and Jocelyn

Here are two tiles that couldn’t be more different. John’s is done by computer and Jocelyn’s a highly detailed hand drawing. But look how well they go together! Her red blends into his, and blue lines reach right into her drawing lines. Just exquisite.

I wish you could see this up close like I have been doing, as the relationships and the surprises are so inviting. These were hard to work on at times because all I want to do it look at them.

Putting these together is a reflection of my wanting to lean on the power of art to support the idea that coming together as individuals we create something different than what we can create alone. and what we can create together is wonderful. These stars are my gift, our gift, to an embrace of diversity and unity. Over the next couple of months I plan that some of my posts will include a closer look at some of the stories and more of the images that are part of this piece.

For my friends that think about math, I will be writing something soon on my Google Plus site that will be asking, okay, it’s art, but is it math? (The link will show up here when it’s available.) Also, to anyone who is going to TMC16, I will be coming, and bringing tiles to color in so we can make one of these during our summer camp days!

Thank you so much to all who contributed to this project.