Planting the Seeds of Hope

“Planting the Seeds of Hope” was an interactive installation at the Falkirk Cultural Center as part of an invitational exhibition entitled “Interactions”. My work addressed youth risk to HIV/AIDS in Marin County, the site of the exhibition. The installation had five parts addressing memory and loss, education, personal action, private grieving and community/public interaction in the form of gardening. Throughout the exhibition, viewers were invited to plant seeds in pots, which grew into about 200 seedlings of native California flowers. I worked with the Marin Aids Project’s Peer Youth Educators and Adam’s House, the only live-in residence at the time, which was devoted to people living with AIDS. The exhibition project ended with the planting of seedlings in a garden at Adams House by the youth educators and me.