Inside out project arrives

On Oct. 22, 3-by-4 foot blackand-white photos of individuals

bombarded the Xavier and Evanston communities. The photos are part of a large art movement, the Inside Out

Project, and were brought to the Xavier and Evanston communities by the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC).

The Inside Out Project is a creation of French street artist, JR, who won the 2011 TED prize, which grants the recipient one wish to change the world, along with $100,000 to achieve that wish. JR's wish was to remind us that

we are all fundamentally the same. He chose to display large blackand- white or "inside out" photos of individuals from different communities in public places in cities across the world. The CAC received Cincinnati's portion of the TED grant and distributed it to local communities, like Evanston, to fund their own versions of the project. Sean Rhiney of Xavier University's Eigel Center, Flavor Art Studios and Satellite Projects organized the Evanston initiative. "Evanston has this rich, rich history and Xavier has this rich,

rich history and our point was to bring them together to celebrate as a community," Rhiney said. The Evanston project was the largest of the Cincinnati projects, with over 65 photos displayed at four locations on Xavier's campus

and five locations in the community, including a temporary billboard at the corner of Dana Avenue and Montgomery Road and the Evanston Recreation Center. Xavier students teamed together with other photographers, including

Xavier 2011 alumn Alyssa Konermann to take the pictures

of local Evanston children, residents and community leaders as well as Xavier students and faculty.

The CAC received the photos, enlarged them and sent them back for several volunteers to affix to various locations using an organic wheat paste. "It was great to see kids who

were in pictures helping to hang them up... It was what the project was about—everyone coming together to make art for everyone to enjoy," Konermann said. Though the posters will eventually deteriorate due to weather

conditions, the project is far from over for Rhiney. "I want to inspire people to discover the community and ultimately

ask: Are we a campus in a neighborhood or is the neighborhood

our campus?" Rhiney said.