One of our biggest summer goals: we were on a mission to see all 21 of the Doorways to Hope across Lincoln. Impacted more than I anticipated, these displays and their stories have changed the way that I look at art and at community. While I did a short series on the doors near the end of June, I felt strongly that I needed to feature these collaborative projects one more time for two reasons.
- These doors are only viewable around Lincoln until the end of September, so you have limited time to visit them.
- To celebrate the conclusion of the displays, they are having a free family event and auction on Sunday October 5th from 2:00-5:00 at the Nebraska Tennis Center, which is a part of the Abbott Sports Complex off of 70th Street, North of Cornhusker Highway.
The first time I wrote about the art displays, I featured five of them. Since then, I have seen ten more, with the final six to come tomorrow. Rather than showing you all ten, I have chosen to focus on just a few. On the day that I saw these three doors, I was accompanied only by my middle son. I decided just featuring these three would help me to focus a bit!
The approach of The City Impact Art Club was out-of-this world. Wanting to show the reason for their hope, they featured the One that they feel holds the stars in place. Featuring a verse penned by younger hands, this door demonstrates a “Galaxy of Hope.”
A door to “Courage” can be found at Gateway Mall. Artist Jean Stryker had her neighbors decorate small picture cards showing what hope means to them. By forming a collage, they became part of a giant work. The person is purposefully created to be many colors to show how people of all skin tones can relate to each other and become essentially color blind. The door is a refurbished one, rescued from her neighbor’s remodeling project.
Found in a small gathering room at Eastmont Towers, “Hope Shines Through” is composed of several mosaics in finest form. Completed by Shannon Ziebel along with the Military Wives Group of Lincoln Berean Church, the panes illustrate stained glass pictures of hope. Featuring both patriotic and Christian faith symbols, these ideas are what give military spouses the inspiration to continue on in a challenging journey. Having just taught mosaics to children in an art class, this one is one of my favorite doors.
If you live in the Lincoln area, PLEASE take the time to go see these doors for yourself. Although they will all be on display at the final event on October 5th, seeing them as stand-alone pieces at the various locations might help you to ponder the meaning behind each doorway a little bit deeper. To learn more about the part that Lincoln’s Habitat for Humanity and Hildegard Center for the Arts played in this project, please click here, then scroll down to about this project. Thank you to all of the artists for inspiring me personally!
[…] Habitat for Humanity (2014 “Doorways to Hope” Project) […]