Community Created Art
Creating connection and transformation by inviting joy, play and carefree creativity
What if art wasn’t just something we observe, but something we experience, shape, and create together?
Community-created art invites people into the creative process as an act of connection, expression, healing, and collective imagination.
It is also a practice of social change. By creating space for people to share their stories and explore new possibilities together, art becomes a powerful tool for building awareness, belonging, and collective action.
Each piece begins not with a fixed outcome, but with curiosity, courage, and the willingness to co-create something meaningful in community.
The Elephant in the Room
The Elephant in the Room: Jubilee emerged through this process by transforming unspoken burdens, gendered expectations, and collective truths into a vibrant expression of visibility, reclamation, joy, and hope.
These experiences remind us that something powerful happens when people gather to name what’s been hidden, release what no longer serves, and imagine new possibilities together.
Whether through painting, reflection, storytelling, movement, or playful creativity, you are invited to participate in future community art experiences and help bring new visions to life.
Come as you are. Add your voice. Leave your mark. Co-create something bigger than any one of us could create alone.
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A community-created painting that transforms the unspoken burdens of gendered expectations into a vibrant collective artwork revealing “the elephant in the room” and inviting healing, visibility, and cultural change.
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Together, we moved through 4 phases:
Release — naming the harmful messages, expectations, and double binds that attempt to contain and control.
Reclaim — layering paint and new truths over the old, not to hide, but to transform.
Reimagine — inviting joy, play, color, and carefree creativity back into the process.
Reveal — making the elephant in the room visible and holding the possibility for a brighter future.
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This experience has been so transformative and parallels the call to action:
Noticing and naming the elephant in the room requires attention, courage, trust, and hope.
Noticing the elephant in the room requires attention.
To attend and attune to both the obvious and the subtle. The shifts of bodies, glances, and energy. The things implied but not spoken, the unwritten rules that govern by insidiously operating in the shadows. They lose their power in the light. They lose their grip when voiced.
Naming the elephant in the room requires courage.
Courage to make what’s invisible visible. The courage not only to stand in truth, but to take a stand as you step into your power. Bearing witness. Being a force of love.
Naming the elephant in the room requires trust and hope.
Trust that it will be met, heard, held, and shifted. To hope for change when outcomes are largely out of your control, but the power is in the willingness to name it and do your part to bring the vision of change to life.
This elephant represents the hope for a shift toward a majestic, magnetizing matriarchy, captivating but never captive. One that centers children, elders, and those most harmed by current systems in a circle of collective care. Rooted in reciprocal relationships of attending and attuning to each dear heart. Power with and power within. Knowing the Weight of Wisdom. A collective force of love and fierce compassion. Badass and Brave. Flourishing in Jubilation and Rebellious Joy.
To each person who participated in and witnessed this community art project: thank you. You have left your mark. You have shared your magic. The energy of this experience is held and shared.
May this be a reminder of the power of collective co-creation and a call to courage to continue naming the elephants in the room, because something beautiful happens in the process: the release that comes from no longer holding it alone or biting your tongue, the freedom to begin a new foundation with support, the permission to invite wild and carefree creativity, and the ability to imagine a world where everyone is free to be their fullest selves.
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The Elephant in the Room has not only been noticed, but named!
Introducing ....Jubilee!
And what a fitting name for this elephant and this community created project with the intention of transforming the unspoken burdens of gendered expectations inviting connection, healing, visibility, and cultural change.
Jubilant: adj: feeling or expressing great joy.
Perfect for the Gender Joy Art Show!
Watch the Unfolding
The Elephant in the Room: Jubilee was born through community participation, courageous truth-telling, joyful creativity, and collective imagination.
Whether you helped create Jubilee at the Gender Joy Art Show, followed her unfolding online, encountered her in person, or simply felt moved by her story, I'd love to hear about your experience.
Your reflections will help document the impact of this community-created artwork, honor those who helped bring it to life, and inform future exhibitions, presentations, and community art projects.
Jubilee is here to be seen and known. Thank you for helping tell her story.
Deep gratitude to the YWCA of Duluth and PAVSA for coordinating this powerful event and project. To Avery Makesroom for curating the amazing artwork from talented local artists, and for Zeitgeist Duluth for hosting in your beautiful space
Artwork including The Elephant in the Room: Jubilee will be on display at the Zeitgeist Atrium until June 26th.
This piece is not for sale, but other pieces are and a portion of the proceeds go to support the YWCA and their mission to empower women and eliminate racism.
Featured in
The Process
Release
We release the things holding us back.
Reclaim
We co-create a new foundation
Reimagine
We invite joy and carefree creativity
Reveal
We set intentions for a brighter future
Making the Invisible Visible
Being an artist means holding a vision others can’t see yet and trusting yourself to bring it to life. Knowing that even when it becomes visible, not everyone will “get it,” but trusting that those it resonates with will see it, understand it, and feel seen in the process. It will find its way to those it’s meant for and take on a life of its own as others share in the experience of it.
It was an honor to be part of the YWCA Gender Joy Art Show and share a vision as we worked together to co-create it. That is what we are doing here: holding a vision of hope for a brighter future and working together to create it.
“Artists often express something that is just out of sight for the rest of us, and their work is a revelation, helping others see more clearly… We need writers, painters, and other creative visionaries to illuminate a fresh view of the world and inspire us all to work for change.”
Want to Co-Create at your Event?
If a community created art project feels aligned with your organization’s goals or the spirit of your gathering, I would love to connect and explore possibilities together.
Please reach out to Rachel by completing the form and to begin a conversation and brainstorm next steps, including scope, format, and how this community-created art experience could best serve your conference, retreat, or organization.
I look forward to co-creating something meaningful with you.
Want to learn more or brainstorm together?
Book a free 20-minute “Curiosity & Wonder” Call: