Offering 'Community Advice' in College Terrace

Here's some advice currently on offer outside my house.

It's part of an extension of a public art project created by the excellent Susan O'Malley and commissioned by the Palo Alto Art Center entitled 'Community Advice.' 

This is Susan's description of the project:

I interviewed a few shy of 100 people in Palo Alto for this project. I asked: What advice would you give your 8-year-old self? What advice would you give your 80-year-old self? Using the words of those I met, I designed ten different letterpress posters. Sometimes the poster text is verbatim from the interview; other times I conflated several people’s advice into one. In addition to hanging the works in the opening exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center, these posters were installed along Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto for passersby to see.

I saw the installation while driving down Embarcadero Road before I knew about the commission. I was so taken with Susan's posters that I stopped and took some pictures of them.

Then my neighbor and textile artist, Ealish Wilson, had the brilliant idea of inviting Susan to extend her project in collaboration with residents in Palo Alto's College Terrace neighborhood. A selection of Susan's posters are now gracing various local yards for the next two weeks -- a celebration of community, positivity, and art. I'm thrilled to be a part of the effort.