SOS WORCESTER

ELM PARK, WORCESTER, MA

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) was on view from June 10th until October 6th 2023 in Elm Park, Worcester, MA. The 2023 Art in the Park exhibition, “LOVE IN ACTION: Joy, Community, Creativity,” included installations by 23 regional artists. Elm Park is one of the oldest public parks in the US and contains landscaping designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

This SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) installation initially featured eight Swimmers. One was vandalized and removed at the midpoint of the exhibit. Each figure represents at least four million of the estimated 32 million refugees in the world at the time of the installation.

SOS TORONTO

HARBOUR SQUARE PARK, TORONTO

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) was on view from July 17th until September 16th 2019 in Lake Ontario, Toronto, Canada, as one of the first temporary art installations commissioned and sposored by Waterfront Toronto, which is spearheading a multi-billion dollar waterfront development program.

Each figure represents more than one million of the estimated nearly 26 million refugees in the world today. Three figures have been added to the installation since its 2016 debut.

Photo: Nicola Betts Photography
Photo: Nicola Betts Photography
Photo: Nicola Betts Photography
Photo: Nicola Betts Photography
Photo: Nicola Betts Photography

SOS BOSTON

FORT POINT CHANNEL, BOSTON

22 brightly painted figures floated in Boston’s Fort Point Channel for two months in 2016.

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) relate Fort Point Channel to the seas crossed by those in search of shelter, freedom, prosperity and safety. They evoke Boston’s long history of welcoming immigrants.

Each figure represents more than 1 million of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated 22.5 million refugees in 2016.

Animated by the environment, SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) take on a life of their own. Changing weather and different viewpoints give the installation a range of meanings.

Commissioned by Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC).

SOS SANCTUARY CITY

SOMERVILLE MUSEUM, SOMERVILLE, MA

The Somerville Museum hosted “Sactuary City” from September 16th to November 19th 2022. Curated by Julia Csekö, the exhibition featured the work of 12 artists on the theme of the experience of immigrants and refugees.

Three Swimmers from the SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) outdoor installation were displayed high on one gallery wall.

SOS VIDEO

SOS RECOGNITION

AWARDS AND HONORS

Forecast Public Art Review 58

In 2019, Forecast Public Art Review featured SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) in a special anniversary issue showcasing 15 projects from across the world.

FORECAST PUBLIC ART →

Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review

Americans for the Arts 2017 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review program recognized SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) as an outstanding public art project.

PAN YEAR IN REVIEW →

ArtPrize® Nine Featured Public Project

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) was a Featured Project at ArtPrize® Nine in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2017 where it was a Top 20 project in the Public Vote.

ARTPRIZE® →

SOS ARTPRIZE®

ARTPRIZE® NINE, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) was a Top 20 project in the Public Vote at ArtPrize® Nine.

ArtPrize® is a 19-day international art competition which attracts over half a million visitors to Grand Rapids, making it the most attended public art event in the world.

SOS INSTALLATION

SHIP, ASSEMBLE, LAUNCH, ANCHOR

SOS PROCESS

DESIGN AND FABRICATION

#SOS

SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT

Traffic to FPAC’s website more than doubled during the days surrounding the project’s installation and promotion.

FPAC’s social media platform exploded in the days and weeks following the installation, with hundreds of comments sparking thousands of reposts across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

– Emily O’Neil, FPAC Director

FPAC was able to grow interest in our programs and events due to the project’s impact.  We added more than 300 new names to our mailing list in the month of October 2016.

– Emily O’Neil, FPAC Director

SOS PRESS

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) Selected Press

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) promotion sheet.

‘SOS Swimmers’ sculpture in Worcester symbolizes global refugee crisis, MassLive, 8.6.23.

CAPSULE PREVIEWS: July/August 2023, Artscope, 7.6.23.

WELCOMED IN SOMERVILLE, Artscope, 11.3.22.

Museu de Somerville estreia exposição “Sanctuary City”, Brazillian Times, 9.25.22.

Somerville Museum launches ‘Sanctuary City’ exhibition on time, Somerville Times, 9.20.22.

Sanctuary City: Love, Resilience, and Friendship, Somerville Times, 9.12.22.

The Dehumanising Language of the Refugee Crisis, Varsity, 1.16.22.

Art exhibit in Lake Ontario highlights plight of refugees. Digital Journal, 8.1.19.

TwentyTwentyArts, Interview with Toronto non-profit and blog, 7.30.19.

Chilling art installation brings refugee crisis to Toronto Harbour. NOW Magazine, 7.19.19.

U.S. art installation representing plight of refugees now in Toronto harbor. Toronto Star, 7.17.19.

Public Art Review, Forecast Magazine, 40th Anniversary edition #58, featuring 15 public art projects that embody “Powerful Spaces,” 2019.

Art with a Message, CODA Magazine, July 2018.

Up-voted over 14,000 times on Reddit.

Named by The Artery/WBUR one of the top 15 public art projects in Boston in 2016.

2017 Public Art Network, Americans for the Arts (PAN) Year in Review program outstanding public art project of the year. Chosen by jury from 325 entries, the 49 selected projects represent the most compelling work from across the country.

Top 20 ArtPrize® finalist work pushes talk of global refugee crisis, Noah Fromson, WZZM13, Grand Rapids, 10.3.17.

The Tide and the River: an interview with SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) ArtPrize® artist Ann Hirsch, Kevin Buist, Cultured, Grand Rapids, 9.18.17.

The Boston Globe, Feathered Admirer, Metro Section, p. 2, 11.3.16.

With Fort Point Exhibit, A Look at the Global Migrant Situation, William Batchelor, BC Heights, 11.2.16.

What Orange People Clinging To Inner Tubes In Boston Channel Says About Refugee Crisis, Greg Cook, WBUR’s The Artery, 10.24.16.

The Boston Globe, Plight of the Refugees, front page photo, above the fold, 10.13.16.

Boston’s newest art installation takes on world refugee crisis, Amanda Jackson, CNN, 10.13.16.

Artists Aim To Bring Attention To Refugee Crisis With Fort Point Floating Art, CBS Channel 4, 10.11.16.

Floating Art Turning Heads in Boston’s Fort Point Section, NBC Channel 5, 10.11.16.

SOS CONTACT

    A+J Art+Design

    A+J Art+Design is a multidisciplinary collaboration between artists Ann Hirsch and Jeremy Angier. We share a commitment to site-specificity, interactivity and community engagement. We do extensive research and intensively collaborate in the service of the community and the site’s history, current identity, and future aspirations. We believe that public art can provoke and entice while inspiring civic engagement.

    A+J Art+Design.com

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