“Optimist’s Toolkit” / 2019 / photo (edition of six) / hammer and ceremonial feather dipped in International Optimism Yellow
“Oozes and Drips” 2019
The Pollination project, 2018. A Collaborative community project with Riley and The D.R.A.W.’S Pop Up Gallery Group in the City of Kingston.
Transforming “negative” into “positive” during a global pandemic
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and INTO Yellow is a color with a cause.
Prompt : Find an object, text or image with a negative connotation (such as sad, broken, dark, discarded) then use the color YELLOW as a metaphor for Optimism and to transform it into something positive, joyful, useful, beautiful, or inspiring. Display your work someplace safe to brighten the world, such as in a street-facing window or door.
This week we mark time with our neighbors G Riley Johndonnell, an artist/activist/Optimist and creator of INTO Yellow and Optimism art movement. International Optimism Yellow (INTO Yellow) is a color created in collaboration with Pantone Color Institute and UMEWE.org. It was developed as a tool to inspire artists to explore Optimism, to positively impact reality, and to inspire community connection through collaboration and creativity. The color is a symbol of Optimism and has become a color for mental health awareness (just as BLUE for Autism, PINK for breast cancer and RED for HIV).
Share: Share on Instagram and Facebook with #thedrawkingston #OptimismInAction #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #INTOyellow. Tag us @thedrawkingston.
G. Riley Johndonnell
Learn more about G. Riley Johndonnell, and the INTO yellow Project
G. Riley Johndonnell is a conceptual artist and social activist who explores Optimism as a spiritual practice and as an art ‘Ism’ (just as Cubism, Modernism, Minimalism are ‘isms’). His personal and public works instigate transformation and challenge our perception of what is good and bad, dark and light, positive and negative.
Read Time’s special issue on optimism:
WHY ART IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR OUR TIMES
