Open by appointment for one person/household at a time - please email info@rhizomedc.org. In addition, we will host open gallery hours for drop-in visitors on Sunday April 25 from 10am-2pm; Saturday May 1 from noon-4pm; and Saturday May 15 from noon-4pm.

Letters of Hope

“Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.” -Elie Wiesel

This installation depicts what we need now...Hope.

“Letters of Hope” is an interactive installation where the audience can come into the space and open letters from anonymous people. Receiving a message of hope and positivity. For this installation to work, the audience has to move through the room and untie the letters that are connected to the balloons to receive the message of hope. The use of the handwritten letters in the installation is to go back in time and experience when someone has written to you. The letters were written by people I know, some may be in a different language. The feel of holding a handwritten letter is the experience of a message directed to you. The thought of someone taking their time to write you, no matter who they are shows affection. The use of blue balloons in this space is to give a sense of calm and soothing experience as you walk into the room.

Tionna J. Cortez was born and raised in Washington D.C. She attended college at Pratt Munson Williams-Proctor and Pratt Institute with a major in Fine Arts painting. Now graduated from Pratt, Tionna works with various materials to narrate her attention to social realism and what it means to her. She works in oil paintings, drawings, and installations to convey the significance of what it means to interpret news, ethnic backgrounds, and her memories in art. The overall content of her work comes from an emotional connection between herself and the work and how it creates a conversation for people to talk about. Moments, when the public refuse or try to avoid certain topics, Tionna insists on creating work that creates a conversation where the audience is asked to share their opinions or feelings.