Finding Our Rhythm, 2024

Girasol O’Neill @solmakesstuff

The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution commissioned a participatory public sculpture workshop by School of Art alumni Girasol O’Neill during their Summer 2024 Conflict Resolution Youth Summit. High school students participating in the Summit worked together to assemble two human-sized figures out of wood, one representing the Sun and one representing the Moon. After assembling, the students wrote and drew messages of hope, power, and humor on the figures and attached them to the back of a turtle, which is the base of the sculpture.

The figures standing on the back of a turtle references the Indigenous Turtle Island Story

The figures were embellished with a variety of "jingles" made out of found objects and recycled materials, inspired by Indigenous Jingle Dress Dancers that originated in the early 1900s as a symbol of dreams, visions, healing, and hope.

Girasol O’Neill is a multimedia, teacher, and human rights activist based in the DC Metro area. He graduated from George Mason University in 2022 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and currently works as an Elementary Arts teacher with Arlington Public Schools. O'Neill's work explores presence, justice, and socio-political themes through fusing symbols and vibrant colors in whimsical, surreal compositions.

Emotional exchange between art and audiences is the core of his practice, something he refers to as “finding the heart” in each experience. He believes that finding the heart leads us to finding justice through connecting with universal human pain, hope, fear, and joy. O’Neill grew up in Northern Virginia hiding his trans identity and immigrant status for fear of retribution. Reconnecting with his Indigenous Bolivian roots has breathed new life into his individual and community art purpose.

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Special Thanks to Project Sponsors
The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
Facilities and Campus Operations: Waste Recycling Team, Paint Shop, University Sustainability
Mason Exhibitions
Murals at Mason
School of Art

Special Thanks to Project Collaborators
Ben Aswhorth, Kevin Brim, Brian Davis, Isaac Jasper, Jerry “Jay” Lang, Carmelo O’Neill, Matthew O’Neill, Yassmin Salem, Jose Vasquez