Constructed from hundreds of 6” x 24” pieces of corrugated cardboard serving as the clapboards of a physical ‘home,’ a public art installation calling attention to the issue of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing was unveiled today in the lobby of Stamford Government Center.
New Neighborhoods, Inc. (NNI) and Pacific House have partnered with CT public artists, Elena Kalman and Susan Hoffman Fishman, to engage the Stamford, CT community in a highly visible, interactive, public art project entitled, HOME.
Participants of all ages and abilities from all segments of society, including members of the homeless community and beneficiaries of affordable housing, have attended six HOME-Making Events at sites throughout Stamford and surrounding towns. Each individual depicted in words and images their own personal meaning of ‘home’ and ‘homelessness’ on pieces of corrugated cardboard. These corrugated ‘box boards’ have been attached by the artists as ‘siding’ onto the framework of a physical building structure, consisting of 2 x 4 lengths of lumber and represent the community’s response to the fundamental need for and importance of home.
HOME, has been installed in the atrium of the Stamford Government Center and will be open to the public through Wednesday, November 23.
“It’s great to see an innovative approach to engage the community in a very important issue” said Ross Burkhardt, NNI’s President/CEO.
“Interactive, public art projects like ours have the power to capture the attention and impact the attitudes of people from all walks of life on issues of social justice that words alone cannot.” said artists, Susan Hoffman Fishman and Elena Kalman.
The artists and the project partners, NNI and Pacific House, regard the project as a vital and creative way to demonstrate the connections we all have to people who live in shelters and affordable housing through our universal need for a home and to encourage public participation in the solution to homelessness in our communities. Connecticut is the second state to end veteran homelessness, according to the federal Housing and Urban Development, and is aiming to be the first state to end chronic homelessness by the end of 2016. Projects like HOME provide the visual impact needed to help bring awareness to the issue of homelessness.
