Join us for a PEM Prize community art project and help build a work of art that will hang in the museum! Visitors ages 8 and up are invited to co-create a jingle sculpture conceived by artist and PEM Prize recipient Marie Watt (Seneca Nation).

Between May 11–June 7, we invite you to contribute to the artist’s co-creation by adding a tin cone to a pair of cloud forms. The finished sculptures – made by many hands in the Salem community and beyond – will be revealed at the Salem Arts Festival and PEM Prize Opening Day on June 8.

About the Artwork:
In Marie Watt’s newest series of works, thousands of jingles (tin cones) are sewn onto a mesh netting to make abstract, cloud-like forms that hang from the ceiling. The jingles that form these sculptures were historically made by rolling up the circular lids of tobacco containers into tiny bells. They adorn regalia worn when performing the Jingle Dance, which originated in an Ojibwe community during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918–1919. When a dancer moves, they activate the tinkling sound of the jingles, setting their medicinal properties in motion. Through these jingle sculptures, Watt reminds us that each of our actions has the potential to influence healing.

PEM commissioned these works to honor Marie Watt, an interdisciplinary artist whose work draws on history, community engagement and Indigenous teachings. The PEM Prize recognizes artists whose work explores the catalytic relationship between creativity and civic engagement.