THE SUN WILL FIND US brings 13 hand-sewn banners to 10 outdoor spaces throughout the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood — transforming everyday places into points of reflection, care, and connection.

SAVE THE DATE:
Sun, Nov 9, 2:00-5:00pm

Community Celebration at the Thurber Park Pavilion

If you feel inspired to share this work, please tag us!
@jenniebeee
@madisonbubbler
#TheSunWillFindUs

THE SUN WILL FIND US is a (multi)site-specific work created for the community and neighbors surrounding the Thurber Park Studio. The artist, Jennie Bastian is compelled to connect to the world around her through art, this installation is one example of the many ways she explores within her residency at Thurber.

Over the last four months, Jennie has worked with community members to co-created 13 large sewn banners with text. Each text depicts one section of a longer poem she’s written titled THE SUN WILL FIND US. Community members donated bed sheets, cut and sewed squares of fabric, offered to host banners on their homes and in their yards -- and even helped install them!

This work will be on display through November 15, 2025 and is listed as a participant in the Terrain Exhibitions, a national grassroots public art festival that brings artists and neighbors together in neighborhoods across the world.

Join us at the Thurber Park Pavilion on Sunday, November 9 from 2:00-5:00pm to celebrate THE SUN WILL FIND US with neighbors and friends alike. The spoken program will begin at 3:00pm as a way to honor the stories, banners, and connections made throughout the project. Bundle up and Come on out! We will have light refreshments and warm beverages for everyone.

Hosting Sites:

13 banners, 10 sites - visit them all!
Neighbors near the Thurber Park Studio have generously offered up domestic spaces for this temporary installation. Look for the banners hung on fences, porches and homes.

At each site, visitors can find a colorful box containing a takeaway packet with a map, a note from Jennie, the full poem titled THE SUN WILL FIND US, and a curated book list inspired by the project. All books listed are available for checkout through Madison Public Library.

  • 200 block of Oak St (with a secret second banner on this site is visible from Reger Park!)

  • 2000 block of Union St

  • 3000 block of James St

  • 100 block of Powers Ave

  • Corner of Memphis Ave & St. Paul Ave

  • 3325 Thurber Ave

  • 400 block of Memphis Ave

  • 500 block of Rethke Ave

  • St. Paul Community Garden

  • Corner of Memphis Ave & Thurber Ave

The community in our physical vicinity is the community we have to rely on to keep each other safe, to make change, and to lean on in a crisis.

How do we connect to them more at a time when we are increasingly isolated from each other?“

— Jennie Bastian on The Sun Will Find Us Installation

THE SUN WILL FIND US:
A Poem by Jennie Bastian

THE SUN WILL FIND US

SMALL SPROUTS SEEKING

ROOTS WILL SECURE US

HANDS CLASPED

RETURN PROTECTION

LOVE IS FEROCIOUS

GATES WILL CRUMBLE

WE WILL REACH YOU

AN EXCAVATION OF LOVE

THE SUN WILL FIND US

THE SUN WILL FIND US: A Curated Book List by Jennie Bastian

Why Public Space Matters by Setha M. Low

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit

A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future by Benjamin Vogt

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World By Robin Wall Kimmerer

What Can We Learn from the Great Depression?: Stories of Ordinary People & Collective Action in Hard Times by Dana Frank

How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong

Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities by Victoria Law and China Martens

We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition by Maya Schenwar, Kim Wilson and Beth Richie

All titles are available for check out at Madison Public Library.

The Thurber Park Artist Residency is supported by Madison’s Municipal Arts Fund (Madison Arts Commission), The Friends of Madison Arts Commission, Madison Public Library, and The Friends of Madison Public Library.