Impact 25 Reflection

 I really enjoyed working on my Impact 25 project. I am fascinated by what makes New York City function, and the spirit of resilience that sets it apart. Cheyenne and I went through several iterations while organizing this. At first, we imagined a more involved project in which participants would submit drawings and respond to more questions, including what they would change about New York. Over time, our goal shifted toward reaching as many people as possible, which meant making participation positive and low lift. The ethos of our project was that civil servants should be the authors of the visual and cultural story of the city. Their labor is what allows New York to be what it is. I also hope that, through participating, they were able to see the beauty in the everyday parts of their work. The three questions we asked were: describe your job in 30 words or less, what do you love about your New York in 30 words or less, and share something visual that represents New York to you.

My favorite part of the project was how organically submissions came in. It really felt like a reflection of the city itself, where you never know who you will meet or how things connect. We also asked participants to share the form with at least three other people who work for the city, which helped the project expand in a way that felt natural rather than forced and allowed it to reach across different agencies. In terms of outcome, we translated the submissions into a physical collage and made two versions, one that was photographed and one that was scanned. We also created a newspaper-style piece that highlighted quotes we felt captured the tone of the project. In this way, participants were not just contributors but collaborators, shaping the content of the work through their responses and helping the project grow through their own networks.

One of my goals as an art educator is to connect the classroom to the larger community through interactive projects. I found this to be a rewarding and fruitful introduction to that idea.

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