On Sunday, September 20, 2026, from 1–3 p.m., artists, poets, musicians, families, and community members will gather at the Jackson Park Circle of Buddhas to celebrate the International Day of Peace through art, conversation, music, poetry, and collective action.
Presented as part of Ten Thousand Ripples’ Annual Peace Day project, all are invited to consider a simple question: What does peace mean to you—and what are you willing to do to create it?
Through music, poetry, art-making, and shared intentions, we will create small acts of peace and send them outward like ripples on water.
Facilitated by Cathy Schwalbe and Indira Johnson, this gathering is part of Ten Thousand Ripples, an ongoing public art project exploring how art can connect us and inspire positive social change. A gesture can become a conversation; a conversation can become a connection; and a connection can become a ripple that travels farther than we may ever know.
This year’s celebration takes on added significance as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. Rather than simply celebrating the ideals of freedom, democracy, and community, the gathering asks us to consider how those ideals are lived—and how each of us can contribute to a more peaceful and connected society.
Peace begins with one person, one gesture, one ripple.
Create a Community Blessings Rangoli for Chicago: Art, Community & Peace
Friday, September 25, 2026, 12–8 p.m. | Chicago Cultural Center
In conjunction with the Ragamala Festival
A Rangoli begins with a single line. From that line, a pattern emerges. And from many individual marks, something larger than any one person can create begins to take shape. It has become a tradition as part of the Ragamala Festival to create Community Blessings, a large collaborative Rangoli at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Rangoli is a traditional Indian art form made on the ground, often as an offering, a welcome, or a blessing. I have always been drawn to its ephemeral nature—the beauty of something created together, held in the moment, and eventually returned to the earth.
All are invited to join me in making the Community Blessings Rangoli adding their own marks and intentions to this collective work. The drawing is created from simple geometric forms—circles, squares, triangles—and natural materials such as rice flour, earth, flower petals, and spices.
Together, we will create a visual expression of our wishes for the protection and well-being of our Chicago community and our hopes for a peaceful world. One of the goals of this project is to discover through dialogue, art and ritual the commonality of our human experience, and the spiritual potential inherent in all of us.
This year, as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the Rangoli offers a moment to reflect on who we are as a diverse community and what we hope to create together—not simply looking back at our history, but imagining our shared future.
(See time lapse video of a Community Blessings Project that was done in 2019)
Many hands. Many hopes. One shared blessing.
Remember Me — On Going
An exploration of memory, identity, and the traces we leave behind
How do you want to be remembered?
Remember Me is an ongoing project that invites us to consider the stories we carry about ourselves—and the stories we hope others will carry about us. Beyond names, accomplishments, and photographs, what is it that remains? A gesture. A kindness. A way of seeing the world. A moment of connection.
The project asks each of us to imagine our own imprint: If someone were to remember me, what would I want them to remember?
Through new works and personal reflections, Remember Me continues to explore the delicate space between who we are, how we are seen, and what we leave behind. It is ultimately a meditation on legacy—not as something monumental, but as the small and often invisible traces we leave in the lives of others.
To participate in, send your Remember Me thoughts/drawings to Indira
@ freitasjohnson43@gmail.com
How do we want to be remembered? And what are we doing today to create that memory?
Momentum, Chicago Sculpture International Member Exhibition at
Leslie Wolfe Gallery from October 10 – November 5
I’m delighted to share that my work, Growth and Decay, will be on exhibit at Momentum, an upcoming exhibition, exploring sculpture that suggests movement, transformation, growth, and possibility.
The exhibition curated by Beth Shadur invites artists to consider the energy between stillness and dynamism and the sense of movement that unfolds as we experience sculpture from different viewpoints.
Old Town Art Center
1763 N. North Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614