Review: “Prayer Flags for a Better City” in City Beat

July 27, 2017

“Prayer Flags for a Better City”

Grace Hill
City Beat, July 26th, 2017

“Sage is Wave Pool’s current Art Space Is Your Space artist-in-residence, a program that calls for artists to prompt community conversations and explore ways contemporary art can be a catalyst for change.

Cal Cullen, co-founder of Wave Pool, notes an inherent optimism behind the art. “It’s kind of what you expect people to want,” Cullen says. “Healthy, happy places to live.”

Sage’s installation also shows the worries of the city: gentrification, development, waste, access, environment, economy. Though the flags depict sometimes-grim realities, their placement inspires hope. According to Buddhist tradition, the winds that pass through them will bless all else they touch.

At an opening reception last Saturday, images documenting the citywide installation covered Wave Pool’s walls. One showed a neighborhood girl with her hands folded in prayer. Flags span the tall black fence of the basketball court she stands in. This spot, the Schiller/Hughes Playground basketball courts, is threatened by residential development in Over-the-Rhine. The artist’s statement urges support of the space. Her intent is that the newly blessed wind will bring change.”

Check out the full review of the exhibition by visiting the link below:

https://www.citybeat.com/arts-culture/visual-arts/article/20970586/prayer-flags-for-a-better-city