Photos by Justin Fox Burks
On Nextdoor’s Holiday Cheer Map, there are listings for Christmas tree lots and festive holiday lights displays. And then there’s “A Snowball’s Chance,” an interactive holiday art display by local artist Judith Dierkes.
Dierkes’ description:
“A Snowball's Chance is what most people believe about change. I'm flaky enough to believe that individual change multiplied by 200 or more will create lasting change. If enough snowflakes join together to make a snowball bigger than the problem, change will occur. This interactive installment requires a commitment from YOU to treat all living things with the same respect. If you can commit to that, then take ONE snowflake to remind you of that promise because YOU ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION.”
The display debuted around this time last year. “It came out of the Trayvon Martin thing,” Dierkes says. “I felt like I needed to do something.”
Dierkes decided to start with her neighborhood, with 200 — the number of members of her Nextdoor group, Colonial Acres — as a goal.
She put together a geodesic sphere outlining a snowball in her yard. She then hung snowflakes made from plexiglass near the road. Each person who takes a snowflake is vowing to be part of the solution, says Dierkes. As snowflakes are taken she wraps white fabric around the dome as the snowball comes into being. When 200 snowflakes are taken, the snowball is completed, and, thus, there’s a chance for change.
Dierkes says she fell short of the goal last year after extending the display to Martin Luther King Day and into February. But, she has enough faith in mankind that she put up “A Snowball’s Chance” again this year.
“I want it to end by Christmas,” Dierkes says. “Come out.”
“A Snowball’s Chance” is located at 4524 Flamingo Road.
