#WOWchs - Wishing on Winds: Flag-Making for the Common Good
- marthacultivate
- Apr 8
- 8 min read
Updated: May 18
April 8th, 2025 at Maybank Public House
Cultivate friends & family gathered at the Maybank Public House to kick off #WOWchs. This marked the start of a city-wide public art project honoring the ancient Tibetan tradition of prayer flags and repurposing them to become catalysts for civic action. Volunteer artists created the first batch of flags filled with wishes and intentions centering on science, art, civics, and community, that would later be strung together and shared across communities.
Presented by:
Marielena Martinez, MFA, local artist, STEAM educator, Creative Director, Cultivate SciArt
Martha Criscuolo, artist, yogi, & Project Coordinator, Cultivate SciArt
DIG INTO THE SCIENCE
Harnessing Hope: Where Science, Community, and the Wind Meet.
Hope isn’t just a feel-good idea—it’s actually backed by science. Psychologist Andrew Abeyta, Ph.D., talks about hope as a way of thinking that helps people set goals, and figure out how to reach them. Hope provides a mechanism to stay motivated using empowered agency, especially when things get tough. This is especially valuable in education, as Scott Geddis emphasizes the Power of Hope by breaking down its application in classrooms, showing how teachers can help students build hopeful thinking through cultivating intentional teaching, helping students to set goals and creating action plans. It turns out, when students learn to think hopefully, they’re more likely to do well in school and bounce back from challenges.
That same energy is at the heart of Cultivate SciArt + Civic’s #WOWchs - Wishing on Winds project. This project invites everyone to write or draw their hopes on flags to be carried by the wind— creating an opportunity to mix artistic expression and a collective expression of hope. The idea is simple but powerful: by visualizing their hopes and literally sending them out into the world, people connect with themselves and others in a really creative way. It’s a perfect example of how science, art, and community can come together to spread hope in a hands-on, meaningful way.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” --Desmond Tutu
Cultivate SciArt + Civics looks forward to welcoming Dr. Jen Cole Wright, Professor of Psychology at the College of Charleston, and Co-director of Charleston Climate Coalition presenting her research on hope in July!
EXPLORE THE ART
Sheets turn into flags, wishes turn into actions on winds
Volunteers arrived in a helpful mood and got right to work after Cultivate Creative Director, Marielena Martinez, provided tips for using stamps and acrylic markers to express intentions, hopes and dreams using words, symbols or images. Martinez explained that #WOWchs will be a long-term viral community art project to share thousands of individual hopes on flags strung across the Lowcountry, and beyond. We were grateful for the extra hands to make the first batch of flags!
The project’s name, #WOW – Wishing on Winds, reflects the tradition of Tibetan prayer flags as dependent on the wind to disperse goodwill. Participants focused their messages using Cultivate’s four pillars of: Science, Art, Civics, and Community, as they explored using the art materials on fabric.
"When prayer flags flutter and the prayers inscribed on them blend into the wind, the surroundings sing. Hope soars, compassion spills. May those feelings guide us all through the day.” --Pooja Bhatt
An Ancient Buddhist Practice of Spreading Goodwill
Tibetan prayer flags have been used to spread goodwill since 1040 CE, with origins that can be traced to the tradition of the Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautama, whose prayers were said to have been written on flags in the 6th Century CE for the devas (deities) to take into battle.
In the Tibetan tradition, prayer flags form brightly colored, cheerful strands.
Made of cloth rectangles in the colors of the Five Elements, the flags are a visual representation of the harmony that ensues when the elements are in balance. Each piece of cloth is printed with symbols and mantras (words or syllables with spiritual meaning that are repeated to aid in concentration and meditation) and strung in high places to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The most common flag design features the Lung Ta, or Wind Horse symbol in the center, surrounded with mantras and images of four powerful animals in the corners: dragon, garuda (eagle), tiger, and snow lion. The Wind Horse serves to carry the blessings out into the world, reaching all beings. The wind serves to lift and carry the blessings, and in turn, the blessings purify the air.
Colors Can Ignite Emotions And Concepts
Traditionally, Buddhist prayer flags feature the colors of Buddhism’s Five Elements: White (air), blue (sky), red (fire), yellow (earth), and green (water). Cultivate flag colors correspond to these traditions with a twist that reflects the organization’s ethos. Pink flags instead of red, honor the importance of community ‘fun’ at Cultivate events. Socializing through happy hours, community dinners and pop-ups; bringing the community together to meet and share ideas. Green flags represent science, and the technology and progress that inspire us to learn. Teal flags represent art, and the power to create new and beautiful things for ourselves and society. And salmon flags, corresponding to the grounding energy of the traditional yellow earth flags, represent civics and the importance of collaboration.
-> Skip down to our DIY section to create your own #WOW Flags and strands for your yard and community.
-> Personalize our example lesson plan for your classroom or group.
-> Get inspired by our #WOWchs - Wishing on Winds flag showcase.
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. --N.H. Kleinbaum, Dead Poets Society
COLLABORATE IN CIVICS
It Takes A Village
Over the past decade, Cultivate SciArt has hosted over 60 public Science + Art mashups. We call them mashups because they are our unique blend of local scientists sharing their research, artists leading art activities, and community partners sharing civic opportunities, all in an inclusive, social atmosphere for all ages.
We could not have put these community workshops together without our collaborators – a wide array of nonprofit, academic, grassroots, government, and faith-based community partners. We celebrate all of you in our #WOW wishes!!
“Cultivate wanted to create events where everyone gets to ask questions, share their knowledge and build personal connections with the science, art and civics that supports our communities. We are so grateful for the amazing community partners we get to feature and work with on this mission.” --Dr. Bobbie Lyon, Executive Director of Cultivate SciArt
Coming Soon - Flag-making with civic partners in July! Want to be a civic partner? Click here.
What Does Civics Mean to YOU?
Cultivate wants to know what you wish for! We want EVERYONE to be our civic partners for this project.
Join us in creating your own flag strands and share your intentions for peace and well-being. Create just one for your yard, or work with your community on a larger scale! Along with your flags, we want to spotlight your video, skit, song, poetry, quotes, or just general advice for how to make our world a better place! So please take lots of photos/videos before, during and after you make your flags, and upload them through our Community Voices form. We look forward to spreading your ideas through the wind, with civic partners and government representatives.
-> Share your Hopes, Visions and #WOW Art through our
-> Educators can share your students' Hopes, Visions and #WOW Art through our Student Voices form.
And please help us build momentum for #WOWchs, a public civic art project, by sharing your content on your social media, and tagging us @CultivateSciArt #WOWchs #CultivateSciArtCivics
It takes lots of villages working together to build a movement!
CIVICS IN ACTION
Can One Person Make A Difference?
We live busy lives; educating ourselves, working for a living, and supporting others. We might ask ourselves if taking the time for civic engagement is 'worth it.' We might wonder if one voice can be heard above the noise. This article from Street Civics sheds some insight. Read about 15 individuals who made a difference.
Community Conversations take practice. Constructive dialogue skills can be sharpened by learning to listen and to approach topics from a place of neutrality. The Charleston County Public Library offers regular Let's Talk sessions for just that: constructive dialogue about community issues. Find a wide range of topics and schedules at CCPL's various branch locations. Read more about CCPL's Let's Talk series here.
FUN FOR ALL
Brainstorming Together
On April 8th, friends and family enjoyed working together to spark each other’s ideas and identify what the artists most wanted to communicate with their designs. As ideas were bounced back and forth, new inspiration flowed. The first batch of flags will find their way to strands across our city, but this event was only the beginning of #WOWchs.
ENGAGE WITH US
Join the #WOWchs movement by staying connected. Here's how!
-> Speedy sign-up for our newsletter here.
-> Become part of our community by filling out a Cultivate Community Card form with a subscription to our newsletter, so you can stay in the loop with our event calendar, and you won’t miss a thing!
-> Fill out our Community Voices Form and send us your artwork & stories-- we'll share it with our community and beyond.
DIY - DISCOVER AND CREATE
Follow these instructions to create your own strand of Wishing on Winds flags.
Questions to consider as you create your flag message:
Why is it important to have hope?
Why should we send wishes?
How does science help you?
How does art excite you?
What am I grateful for?
What worries do I have?
How do we depend on civics?
How can we contribute to our community?
What do I wish for our world?
What do I want for science?
What do I want for the arts?
What do I want for my community?
Materials List:
•Cultivate flags*, cut into 8"x10" rectangles and tie dyed (see note below on flag making)
•Jute string
•Sketch paper
•Pencil
•One or more of the following:
Permanent Marker(s)
Paint Pens
Oil Pastels
•Scissors or punch to create holes at top of flag and/or
•Glue gun to glue flags to strand
•Clipboard, cardboard, or paper table protector (materials will bleed through fabric)
•Your hopes, dreams and intentions for a better community
Procedure List:
Determine what wish you’d like to send on the wind. See below for a list of questions to help find focus and a gallery of flag examples for inspiration.
Sketch a few ideas. Note: wishes can be expressed with words and/or symbols. If you had to draw your hope for “science education” or “equal rights for all,” what would you draw?
Flags will be decorated vertically for Lung Ta style strand.
Leave 2” from top of flag empty (room for stringing)
With your plan in mind, design & decorate your flag
To string flags, punch 2 holes about 2” from top of flag, string flag onto jute.
After stringing, glue flags in place on strand by folding top edge of flag over string and sealing the fold.
Hang your strand up high outdoors and let the message disperse with the wind and weather. Flags are meant to deteriorate naturally in keeping with the Tibetan tradition.
Share images of your flags on your social media, tagging @CultivateSciArtCivics and #WOWchs
Send images or video of you and your flags to us for sharing with our Community Voices form.
Spread the word! Talk about #WOWchs with your friends, neighbors, and coworkers! Share our project with your community.
-> Reach out here to inquire about purchasing a flag-making kit for you or your group.
Want to make your own tie-dye flags?
Try a cotton sheet!
-A flat king sheet will make about 100 8x10” flags.
-Cotton fabric is best for absorbing dye.
-Check out these Tie Dye articles and blogs:
What type of dye to use when tie dying?
How to create beautiful tie-dye patterns
Making sure your dye stays bright
Logbook Contributors: Martha Duddy Criscuolo, Bobbie Lyon, Anastasia Simez Martinez, Marielena Martinez
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