Carole Loeffler, Assistant Professor of Art and Design, will be a featured artist in the second annual Art in the Open Philadelphia, held from June 9 through 12. Art in the Open is a citywide event created to celebrate local artists, their inspiration and relationship with the urban environment. The juried selection of artists will be present and exhibit their creative process alongside the Schuylkill River to inspire new ways of seeing the city of the Philadelphia.

“I enjoy creating new works developed around a particular idea or challenge,” says Loeffler. “I have been thinking about a number of ideas that invite interaction from the viewer, and it’s perfect timing to continue to develop these ideas for Art in the Open.”

“My preliminary idea for Art in the Open is to have viewers help me to construct a modified wish tree. The work would need a tree whose branches are low enough to reach at arms length or with a short ladder. I would prepare 30-foot-long red satin ribbons—on one end there will be a paper tag attached where the viewer can write a wish they have. On the other end of the 30-foot-long red satin ribbon there will be a stake. The viewer will write their wish on the paper tag and tie it to the tree and then be asked to carry the ribbon with them and plant the stake along the path they take to go elsewhere.

“This project allows the viewers to see that they have similar wishes as other people, understand that they are not alone (by the sheer numbers of ribbons tied) and see that they travel similar ‘paths’ as others. This project is meant to make ideas, dreams and the varied (and similar) paths we take everyday tangible.”

For more on Loeffler’s brainstorming process visit her blogs, If Wishes Were Fishes and Brought to you by… .