GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A mother and son team is seeking public responses for an art installation that will be featured in the 2021 ArtPrize competition. 

The project, titled Before You Go, is an audio-based art piece that begins with a series of interviews from people across the state and county. Monica Pritchard and Christian Reichle have been conducting interviews for the project for months via zoom, in-person and through a hotline phone number. 

The idea stemmed from Pritchard’s previous job running a law firm, where she worked with a lot of elderly clients. 

“I kind of fell in love with the clients and realized that a lot of them are wanting to share their story but not necessarily feeling comfortable sharing that story or feeling like anyone really wants to hear their story,” she explained. 

She and her son began brainstorming ways of how they could give those people and other generations an outlet. 

“We had been trying to figure out what was a unique way of doing it, we talked about a social media campaign, we talked about all sorts of different opportunities and we’ve always wanted to compete and be a part of ArtPrize and so we thought, why don’t we merge some ideas that we both had and put it together for this project,” Reichle said. 

The project seeks to spark thought and conversation within a diverse group of people from multiple generations while exploring topics surrounding life, death, collective hopes, dreams and regrets.

The interviews will support the project themes of intergenerational connection, mortality, missed opportunities, isolation and introspection. 

“Our real goal is to encourage people from all generations to have some of those conversations that we wish we would have well before it’s time to go,” Reichle said. 

Bits and pieces of the interviews will be put together and can be heard in a refurbished vintage phone booth on the Blue Bridge in downtown Grand Rapids. In light of COVID-19 concerns, people will also be able to access the compilations through a hotline number on their own phones. 

The interviews consist of two to three questions. To be included in the project, you can set up an interview through the Calendly link: www.calendly.com/be4yougo or call 1.888.665.2036 to leave a voicemail.