Featured Artist: Sarah Ahmad

The American Dream is built around a refugee tent such as those used following the Tulsa Race Massacre; it will be transformed with iconographically rich marigold flowers, placed in a forest, and filled with archival photographs of the massacre’s aftermath. The marigolds visually recall the firebombs that destroyed people’s homes. Yet even as they memorialize an act of violence, the blossoms also suggest renewal and rebirth. Sculptural memorials of marigolds will be placed in different locations at the Oxley Nature Center, where the tent is nestled in the woods. The American Dream calls on the sense of peace and stability of these natural forms to create a memorial that equally honors past destruction, and invites healing through notions of universality and regeneration.

Invitation to Visitors

Visitors are invited to bring flowers to the tent as a way of offering a healing process for the innocent victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre and of massacres in the US, Pakistan, and all parts of the world.

The American Dream will be on display on May 26 through May 31 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Oxley Nature Center, 6700 Mohawk Blvd, Tulsa, OK. The installation will remain after June 1st onwards 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Closing Date TBD.