Get inspired! Stay inspired!

It's been grey and gloomy where I am these past few days.

There have been tough things happening in the news (as there always is) and things are feeling a little heavy.

Sometimes when things are gloomy, whether internally or externally it helps to find a spark of inspiration to remind us of what is possible for us as humans.

I always find inspiration when I hear stories of how art can change our lives, how it has the ability to lift us out of the weight of our circumstances and into a place of potential. They're my favorite stories to hear and to share with others.

This will be the first part of a series of stories about how art changes the world. Hopefully they will inspire and motivate you.

Photo from http://www.insideoutproject.net/

I've known about this artist for a long time, but I never fail to be moved by what he is doing.

JR might be one of the most recognized artists today who is using street art to transform communities and the people who live in them.

His work uses large scale portraits pasted on walls to describe the people who inhabit the community where the project occurs.

His ongoing work called "Inside out project" is a participatory global art project that provides people from every country around the world with the ability to share their portrait and their story.

Each participant has their portrait taken and they are then pasted in the streets of their community. Each photograph displays extraordinary humanity and tells the story of the people, in their own way, with their own expressions.

What I love about JR's work is that he gives people the tools to create for themselves, to decide how they want to communicate their story and where they want to put it.

The art is made for and by the community.

When the participants of the project get to see their portraits displayed it reinforces the sense of community and the importance of the people in that community regardless of social class, race, gender, religion. Everyone is represented.

His work has been particularly impactful in places like the Middle East where the portraits of two opposing sides are displayed side by side. In his work, he brings communities together.