Name: Erika deVries

Title of project: Beloved

How have you chosen to interpret the theme “SENSE?”

In relation to AiOP’s theme of SENSE – I am interested in the sense of interconnectivity amongst people especially, but also creatures/objects/place/planet/universe.

Why do you believe 14th Street is a compelling site for creative response?

14th St. is compelling to me as a hub connecting downtown to midtown – a place of exchanges in travel and commerce – but also a residence for many.  I think the residential aspect is most compelling to me perhaps because it is the most mysterious to me, but also the stationery within the stationery within the busy(i)ness is what I am drawn to.

What reactions are you hoping to draw from the public?

I am hoping to create moments of warmth & recall with the neon texts.  Warmth in recalling one’s individually beloved(s) – then also recalling the use of the term in relation to Dr. Martin Luther King and spiritual contexts.