Performing Statistics Creative Director Mark Strandquist collaborated with Ta’Dreama McBride and Clyde Walker, youth leaders in Richmond from RISE for Youth, to create the two, 160 ft Tall monumental portraits that covered the sides of Richmond City Hall.

These words, which were read as narration for the AR animations, illustrated a collective poem co-created by youth organizers from RISE for Youth and Performing Statistics in Richmond, as well as dozens of youth organizers from across the country.

To create the AR animation we developed a deeply collaborative process that connected youth leaders in Richmond with the incredible animators at Invisible Thread. Youth collaborators chose the lines of their poetry that most spoke to them, then turned those lines into a series of storyboards that showcased their vision for the animations. Using these storyboards, and scanned artwork, the animators transformed this collective vision into the truly powerful animations that thousands experienced through their phones hovering in the clouds above city hall. Collectively the project showcased a one of a kind collaboration that reached massive audiences and ensured that youth voices, dreams, and demands were loud, beautiful, and present at the center of power in Richmond, VA.

At the time, this was the largest interactive public art installation on a government building ever installed in the United States. The installation stayed up for over a year, received wide media attention, and was likely was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. Connected workshops were done in collaboration with the Valentine museum and the John Marshall House.

High above the city, at the top floor of Richmond, VA’s city hall, participants met together in a circle. They had just been on the street below doing the Performing Statistics’s Augmented Reality experience that brought the massive banners to life with animations, audio, and calls to action. After hearing the dreams of youth, participants came to the observation deck where they learned about Richmond’s history from the Valentine museum. They then could respond to various questions that were taped to the windows so that as you looked out, their ideas and thoughts blended in with the Richmond landscape. These workshops not only gave historical context to the contemporary advocacy of the youth leaders, but invited participants to see how they could step up to help support the needs and dreams of the next generation. Huge thanks to Patty Parks and the Valentine museum for helping to create and facilitate these tours.

The banners on City Hall transform a building where adults in power typically speak for residents of the city and instead lift up youth voices, by turning the building into a giant megaphone for their dreams. Young people generally have no say in the laws, budgets, and policies that impact their lives. The banners provide an example of how political and legal spaces could create platforms for youth to demand to be heard even though they do not possess power in formal elected positions like the adults inside. As part of the 3 part City Hall tour, participants could step into the historic John Marshall House and imagine how Richmond would be different if there was a Youth or Citizens Supreme Court. This interactive workshops connected civil rights efforts on a national level, with those that participants could support and initiate on a local level.

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