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Big Rapids Enfolded by Beauty Origami Art by Linda Stephen

Big Rapids: Enfolded by Beauty

27" x 39" x 12"
Not for Sale

To involve members of the community in this community collaborative artwork, artist Linda Stephen worked with the Big Rapids Festival of the Arts and the art gallery Artworks in Big Rapids. The Festival arranged for Linda to present origami workshops at elementary schools, the middle school, a local church, and public workshops at Artworks. At these, Linda taught both easy origami for attendees to take home and provided tiny 1/2" and 1/4" squares of paper in dozens of colors for participants to fold into tiny triangles. In three days, 400 city residents, ages 3 to 90 folded 2,000 tiny origami pieces.

Linda incorporated the tiny origami pieces folded by the public to create a mosaic collage background including forsythia flowers, the retaining wall, pine trees, cherry blossoms, greening leaves, waves on the creek, and layers upon layers of grass blades.

The artwork took 4 months to create and assemble and includes origami paper sculptures invented by Linda such as the dog, soccer players, backpack, thermos, picnic table, lampposts, guitar player, trees, bridge, the bank and other city buildings.

Media include Japanese mulberry papers, momigami (wrinkled) paper, yuzen (patterned) fabric papers, and PVA bookbinding glue.

The finished art is part of a private collection, has travelled to local schools, and is frequently on display at the Big Rapids Public Library.

Medium

Handmade papers. Collaborative community art collage including 2,000 triangular origami folded by 400 Big Rapids residents ages 3 to 90 during the 2012 Big Rapids Festival of the Arts. The artwork took 4 months to create and includes origami paper sculptures invented by Linda such as the dog, soccer players, backpack, thermos, lampposts, guitar player, trees, bridge, picnic tables.

Inspiration

Mitchell Creek Park in downtown Big Rapids, Michigan. The art honors the many kinds of people and talents that make a community a great place to live. Some people provide music; Some are athletes; Some are the audience. Some of us are flowering trees like cherries or lilacs or forsythia. Others are shade trees, a retaining wall, or a resting place.

Big Rapids Enfolded by Beauty Origami Art by Linda Stephen

Are you interested in a collaborative artwork for your community, business or organization?

I put on workshops across the country for all ages. I specialize in designing artworks and workshops that involve all ages in creating art that celebrates a vision or a place.