Totality Project 2024

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my creative experiment. As a community, we manifested collective healing and an overall improved state of being. This canvas was then prayed over, intuitively painted, and completed during the Great American Eclipse.

Totality Project by Kelly Ann Swartz

The Totality Project is a seven step, interactive, time based community art project that was completed on April 8th, 2024, during totality of the Great North American Eclipse.

About 6 weeks before the historic celestial event, I was brainstorming how to commemorate and visually memorialize the upcoming experience. I researched the Merriam Webster definition of totality, external to scientific context, and realized whatever I made would not be completed alone.

Over the past few weeks leading up to totality, I asked salon and gallery visitors to interact with the project in any way they found healing.

Many shared dreams, wishes, prayers, or personal intentions to manifest in the life after totality.

The entire experience was humbling & emotional, thank you so much for trusting me with your personal thoughts and deepest corners of your soul.

Before the eclipse, the canvas was blessed with Holy Water & Blessed oil of St. Rafael the Archangel of protection. Intentions of positive energy, completion, release, and love were infused into the canvas.

Then, in the moments before and after totality, the canvas was intuitively painted with respect for the words underneath. Interestingly, the only visible text remaining is the project outline in my own handwriting.

The Totality Project has since arrived back at HiLites Salon & Art Gallery where it will remain. I truly believe the content here doesn’t properly capture the powerful essence of this vast existence.

I feel thankful, blessed, inspired.
Thank you so much to everyone who has visited the salon space, engaged with my visual art, even had something nice to say.