3.5***

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Change noticed the many abandoned, boarded up homes in New Orleans. One such house was in her neighborhood – a daily reminder of damage, devastation, shattered hopes and despair. She was inspired to do something and got permission from the owner and the city to create a piece of public art. She painted one wall of the house with chalkboard paint and stenciled Before I Die… on it. Then she affixed baskets of chalk and waited to see what people would write. The result was amazing. People poured out their hopes and dreams – some as small as “Kiss Brian,” others as large as “See World Peace”; some as practical as “plant a garden,” others as fanciful as “walk on the moon.”

Her project brought her neighborhood together as people wrote, read, and discussed the responses. When the board filled up, she washed it clean and let people write on it again. Eventually she saw a new owner of the house completely refurbished it and moved in … answering the hope of one person who wrote: Before I die I want to see this be a HOME again!.

Chang’s project drew national and international attention, and other groups or individuals sponsored similar walls in cities around the world – covering 40+ countries on six continents and using 16+ different languages. The locations had populations from as large as 18 million, to as small as 20,000 (Not counting the wall put up during Burning Man Festival where there is no permanent population). The top five most common response over the globe were: 1: Love / 2: Live / 3: Travel / 4: Be happy / 5: Help others.

This is a fascinating look at some of the cities where the walls were placed. This book explores what inspired the sponsors to create a wall in their community, and highlights many of the responses. In some cases, the person completing the sentence was further interviewed with more info given on their background and the meaning behind their brief message. ( )

This book was purchased in collaboration for the Before I Die exhibit being hosted at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library (closes Jan 31, 2014) I always wanted to do this but didn't know how. The book begins with the author explaining how it came about. Next it moves to the first display in New Orleans and how it expanded from the first display. Each display has a fact about the country, how the project came about, the impact it has had on the community. There are some stories of those who wrote on the wall. I loved reading the foreign language entries as well as the English entries. The end of the book has stats of Before I Die project, map of where it has been featured and a how to do your own project. Lovely. ( )