Sharing Common Ground at the Orange County Airport

This weekend I was lucky enough to travel to San Francisco, and even luckier to find a cheap flight out of Orange County airport, also known as John Wayne airport, or Santa Ana airport as it’s airport code would suggest, SNA. (map)

As I walked the length of the terminal to get to gate 14 at the end, I noticed jars of dirt lining one wall.  Underneath the jars were labels with country names, leading one to conclude that the dirt was from said country.  It was actually pretty interesting to see the different kinds of dirt.

I then found a poster with information about the Common Ground 191 Project.  Turns out, the dirt isn’t just a random collection, but part of an exhibit as part of the Common Ground 191 Project.  The project’s creator, Gary Simpson, has a goal to create a 50′x50′ art project, using 196 panels of abstract art.  Each panel would integrate soil or sand from each of the 192 UN countries (and 5 other countries).

The idea behind the piece is that,

“the individual pieces will reflect the identity of each nation, but the implication of the whole is that there is an underlying unity.” – Gary Simpson, creator and artist

The collection of dirt at the Orange County airport is from 189 countries, leaving just a few countries from which soil still needs to be collected.

You can actually participate in this project and get involved in the dirt collecting by submitting a volunteer form, which can be found on the Common Grounds website.  This is a very unique opportunity, and super easy to do!

Photo Credit: pink sherbet photography