The Wave, a traveling, interactive, public art project celebrating water, was inspired by the March 11, 2011 magnitude 9.03 earthquake in Japan. My partner in the project, fellow CT artist and architect, Elena Kalman, and I were awed by how the tsunami literally connected us all to one another: this enormous wave originating across the world and traveling from continent to continent before washing up along the western coast of The United States at our own ‘front door.’ The Wave represents how dramatically we are all connected, regardless of our nationality, religious preferences, race or other artificial divisions, by our mutual dependence on water, one of the fundamental requirements for life on Earth. In addition to the theme of our ‘connectedness’ and the universal nature of water, The Wave also emphasizes our individual and community responsibility to protect this vital resource in all of its locations.Individuals coming to a Wave site cut pieces of recyclable, polycarbonate film into ‘wave-like’ shapes of their own creation. As they do so, they are encouraged to recognize their own vital connection to water and are contributing to an ever-growing, dynamic wave in brilliant colors, calling attention to the beauty, power and essential nature of water. Each new piece is added to the complete installation, which grows in length and volume as it travels from site to site. The black parachute cord that we use to join all of the individual ‘Waves’ to one another, highlights how this Wave is being created, piece by piece, connecting individuals, communities, states and eventually, an entire nation, to each another.

To date, The Wave has been installed in 10 indoor and outdoor venues in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York City over the past year and a half. We have just returned from an installation/event at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD for World Oceans Day on June 8th, 2013.