Tape artists offer hope

By Britten Follett

Published: April 19, 2005

The following is a script from a News9 broadcast

Ten years ago, the Festival of the Arts brought a group of tape artists to Oklahoma City for the first time.

A decade later, eight artists drove 27 hours straight from Providence, R.I., to Oklahoma City to finish what they started.

NEWS 9 report
The Hope Project

Britten Follett shows us their work.

They've been at it all day, and when the final project is complete, there will be five scenes across this wall, representing the five themes of this National Week of Hope.

They came with a vision, a couple bags of Doritos and rolls of blue tape to bring a sense of healing 10 years later.

The healing process began days after the bombing with their first tape mural.

Over the years, the healing has continued piece by piece.

Up close, the artists breathe life into a piece of tape. From a distance, the picture begins to take shape.

And so it's the people who will play a special role in this mural -- the special blue tape that outlines their bodies was discontinued a number of years ago -- 25 rolls and counting down.

And as each roll dwindles to nothing, the circle becomes complete.

Traditionally, tape art is torn down within 24 hours of completion. On Sunday, after the marathon, the group hopes everyone can take a piece of tape -- a piece of history.

The tape artists' experience in Oklahoma City sparked a decade-long project.

The Hope Project begins with the Oklahoma City bombing and ends with the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City.