In the goldenrods of the land where I was born—cicadas singing, freshly cut grass in the air—we formed a rainbow. Not one born of storms and clouds, but of humans blossoming into their favorite hues. When the sun caught us just right, it felt like we were shining something back—something more than fabric, more than fashion. What shimmered was harmony and unity. Like a chord of music, there was richness when we all linked our energy together.
A Circle of Color
Gratitude filled me as fifteen humans stepped into my pieces, trying on shades that weren’t their usual. Their hands found colors on the rack—some tentative, some bold—and then their hands found each other. They connected. They trusted. They allowed themselves to blossom.
The beauty was in its honesty: I didn’t force it. I didn’t direct it. Each person self-selected, and still, a rainbow formed. That’s the miracle.
Jesse began in daffodil yellow—radiant, joyful—before transitioning into the shifting blues of sea glass and kingfisher. Breah, originally in peach, settled into bronze and palomino gold, glowing with warmth. Others wandered through greens, reds, and purples until the right hue anchored in their body. To see people light up when they found their shade—that was my birthday present.
Improv in Color
After practicing improv at The Comedy Project, I realize this is my new stage: playing with humans, not with punchlines, but with pigments. Letting the group show me what’s possible. A rainbow always forms, but never in the way I plan.
What moved me most was seeing people stand shoulder to shoulder—each shade clearly different from the next, each one still belonging. Groupings emerged: greens beside blues, fire tones beside earth tones. Expressions shifted as people realized the power of their shade in relation to others.
We don’t need to be the same. We need to shine our own hue. And when we do it together, the full spectrum appears.
A Night of Senses
The evening itself was a rainbow of experience. We ate together—burgers sizzling, cookies passed around, potluck flavors mingling in the dusk. Laughter rose. Children ran the winding paths.
Later, crickets swelled into a chorus. Mosquitoes hummed their sharp notes while Jessie strummed the ukulele. We improvised, weaving Hallelujah and Lean On Me to the tune of Just the Two of Us, voices lifting and giggling under the stars. Light flickered above us like specks of dye across fabric.
Head-to-head. Shoulder to shoulder. Hand to hand. Far from the horns and hum of the city, the land grounded us in silence. Sacredness was in the gesture, in the shared breath, in the unity of standing together in color.
The Spectrum Between Us
That night was more than a celebration. It was a living preview of my ArtPrize installation, The Spectrum Between Us (Entry #44345)—a rainbow installation about dopamine dressing, color therapy, and somatic fashion as connection.
Dates: September 18–October 4, 2025
Location: Veterans Memorial Park (downtown Grand Rapids), courtyard of HAS HEART
Suspended ten feet in the air will be 30 portraits, each paired with a hand-dyed tapestry (Dash-Dye / Dash & Bag). Each image was captured on a different day, but together, they form another rainbow—another line of connection.
My hope is simple: that when you look up, you connect with the portraits. But then you look out—to the person beside you—and feel our shared humanity. Fashion is not just surface. It is memory. And I hope you can see the unique colors coming out of every one of us.
Be Remembered
Most days during ArtPrize 2025, from noon to 3 PM, I’ll be live-dyeing in the HAS HEART courtyard. Bring a garment to transform—we’ll co-create with my Dash & Bag method ($10 per item). At the close of ArtPrize, we’ll gather for a community fashion show where participants wear their self-made outfits. Another rainbow. Another circle. Another chance to be remembered.
To know you is to remember you. You leave a mark; I’d love to help make it visible. This is my gift back to you: my little prism. I can’t wait to see what hue you self-select.
Bookings & questions: andrea@curlyhost.com
