56 | JUNE 9 • 2022 

ARTS&LIFE
ART

“On our opening weekend in May, 
a video was taken of the young artists 
reacting to seeing their enlarged 
picture and their names next to it. 
They were so excited. So were we.”
Margolis was touched emotionally 
by a mom reacting to the image Sezer’s 
Diary from Turkey. It shows a boy 
in a wheelchair included in playing 
basketball. The associated slogan (“I 
am not defined by an inanimate object. 
Look at me and not my wheelchair.”) 
comes from Alabama.
“The mother told me that she has 
a child in a wheelchair,” Margolis 
recalled. “She said she can’t wait 
to bring her child down to see the 
banner because her child will feel so 
comfortable by seeing this huge picture 
of a kid in a wheelchair playing with 
others.”
Docents have been trained to guide 
groups and individuals, and there is 
an educational component available to 
teachers.

GETTING THE PROJECT STARTED
The Sarasota initiative was motivated 
by a traveling exhibit sponsored by 
Jerusalem’s Museum on the Seam, 
which defines itself as a socio-political 
contemporary art museum. 

In getting the program started in 
Ann Arbor, Margolis established a 
nonprofit organization, set up a board 
of directors and activated volunteer 
committees — all while Margolis 
and Lichter raised some $200,000 
from interested corporations and 
organizations. 
Sponsors include public and private 
schools, varied ethnic and religious 
groups, and arts associations. Among 
Jewish affiliates supporting the 
program are the Jewish Federation of 
Greater Ann Arbor, Jewish Community 
Foundation of Greater Ann Arbor, 
Jewish Family Services, Congregation 
Beth Israel and Temple Beth Emeth. 
“The art is divided among the four 
participating parks — Gallup Park and 
Leslie Science and Nature Center in 
Ann Arbor as well as Riverside Park 
and Parkridge Community Center in 
Ypsilanti — to bring together our two 
communities that are close but don’t do 
a lot of things together,” Margolis said. 
“The most banners, 39, are in Gallup 
Park.
“People can go any time the parks are 
open, and we are giving free field trips 
to schools and camps. We’re paying for 
the buses and will have docents in the 
parks to take them on tour.” 

With the objective of encouraging 
conversation, Margolis approached a 
young boy and asked what he thought 
about an image (Liberty Enlightening 
the World) from Oregon that showed 
the Statue of Liberty with the face of 
a person of color. The phrase (“Don’t 
wait for better leaders; become one.”) 
was submitted from Florida.
The boy apparently remembered 
actually seeing the Statue of Liberty 
and commented that the pictured 
woman is not green as he remembered 
the statue.
“Now that comment could be a 
meaningful conversation starter,” 
Margolis said.
“Nancy and I have talked about 
the exhibit and ideas throughout 
the community,” Lichter explained. 
“We were successful in standing up 
the project within one year because 
organizations and people we approached 
in our community resonated with the 
project’s mission.” 

ABOVE: Liberty Enlightening the World
RIGHT: Visitors to the exhibit’s opening in May.

continued from page 54

