Collective Feeling is a participatory art project which brings together community members to recall positive memories and make art in safe, healing, and creative environments. The goals of this project are to provide participants relief from daily stresses through positive thinking and art making, to build community through shared creativity, and to represent the resilience of our community during these challenging times. This project invites members of the Sacramento community to contribute to a series of collective paintings which will become records of the creativity, strength, and positivity of Sacramentans. In order to reach audiences who do not usually engage with the arts, at least two out of the four Collective Feeling sessions will be held at venues located in areas without traditional art institutions. 

When a participant arrives at a Collective Feeling session, they will be asked to recall and reflect on a positive memory through a series of prompts. After reflecting on their memory, either on their own, with a partner, or with a project facilitator, they will choose paint colors and will be provided a designated amount of time to contribute to a collective painting. While keeping the memory in mind, they will be encouraged to make shapes or images on the canvas and to take up as much space as they’d like. 

At the end of the session, the canvas will have become a representation of collective positive memories of a group of people at a specific day and location. This project will conclude with an exhibit of the paintings created during these four sessions.