Make it Right: A Sculpture Installation

A decidedly unusual site now greets visitors to the Lower Ninth ward: lots which have remained mostly vacant since August 29, 2005, have been transformed into a village of bright pink cubes.

Formally unveiled on December 3, the structures, which are constructed from scaffolding covered in custom tarpaulin, cover 12 city blocks. The installation will remain in place until January 8, open for visitors to walk through during the day, or drive through at night, when they are dramatically illuminated from below. The cubes represent homes simultaneously past and future. In their current, scattered state, they reflect the post-Katrina devastation. As contributions are made to the show’s organizers, the Make it Right Foundation, the cubes will be gradually rearranged into a neighborhood, symbolic of the homes that can and will be built.

The Make it Right foundation was founded as a collaboration between the Jolie/Pitt foundation and the Global Green Initiative, who have worked with 13 world class architects to conceive designs for eco-friendly sustainable homes. Brad Pitt has been an active presence in the Lower Ninth ward, consulting with community organizations over how to proceed with rebuilding, to which he has pledged $5 million. In addition to this he has overseen the installation of the sculptures, and answered questions from curious residents and passers-by. In a press conference amid the pink houses on December 3, Brad Pitt stated “the plan here is to start with 150 homes… to build those 150 homes I need the help of the American people, we need to join together to do this, but the point is that this is possible, we can make this happen, we can have people in homes by next summer… 150 homes is our goal to begin with, but there’s no reason why we can’t do 1,000 homes, 10,000 homes. This thing will go as far as the support that it given.”

Make it Right will break ground on the first of these homes early next year. Robert Green Sr., a resident of the Lower Ninth ward, will be one of the first to receive a new house, and spoke enthusiastically of the progress that Make it Right is making: “I’m happy that we get the chance to bring our community back, Gloria Guy is getting a house, I’m getting a house, Charles Dupress is getting a house, and many more of my neighbors are joining in, we get a chance to bring our community back, and all with the help of Make it Right, we’re gonna get that done soon. And as a group, and this is something that we need, something that is going to spearhead things so as we can make things right in this community.”

Within 24 hours of the first television coverage of the installation, enough money had been donated through Make it Right’s website to build 7 homes.

Later in the day a party was held on the 1800 block of Deslonde Street for residents and those involved with the project. There was live music from Rebirth and Jerry Lee Lewis, as residents of the Lower Ninth, some of whom had not seen each other since the Hurricane, were reunited, and eagerly sought applications to become part of Make it Right’s rebuilding program.

Common Ground has worked closely with Make it Right, on both the plans for the rebuilding of the neighborhood, and in providing assistance for the groundwork and lighting of the exhibition., as it surrounds the residences and facilities at 1800 Deslonde Street. For the run of the exhibition, Common Ground volunteers will be present outside the 1800 building to answer any questions and provide information about the Lower Ninth ward to visitors.

And as for the new temporary color of the lower ninth landscape, Pitt suggested “why is it pink, well, some people say it’s to represent little pink houses, the American Dream, the idea of getting a job and raising a family, sending your kids to school, and all that was destroyed and could be again… I like that. I heard someone else say, “well, it’s like the pink elephant in the room” it’s business as usual at the federal level and down here we’re still in limbo, I like that too. My thinking as to why it’s pink is because it screams the loudest, it says, “people are coming back.””