Student Angela Guzman says Unity Dome reflects city voices

Angela Guzman, a rising senior at Joliet Central High School, told an audience that the Unity Dome public-art project reflects the voices of Joliet residents after months of collaboration with the artist.

Guzman said she first encountered the artist Seema in October, when Seema began a series of public-art workshops across the city, including one hosted at Joliet Central. "As an art student, one of the things I've learned is that all art exists in context," Guzman said, adding that the Unity Dome's design "reflects the broader culture of Joliet."

Guzman described the workshops as participatory rather than prescriptive. She said dozens of residents, including students, were invited to make paper cuts and share opinions about the sculpture's design. "When every person in that room made one of these paper cuts and every person had something to say about the design of this sculpture and Seema listened," she said, "I think what everyone really wants is to be listened to."

She characterized the artist's role as one of synthesis: taking many individual perspectives and composing them into a single public work. "The job that falls to the artist then is to take all of these voices and compose them into a beautiful arrangement," Guzman said, praising the outcome by saying Seema "has done a wonderful job of that."

Closing her remarks, Guzman urged the city to balance respect for its historic roots with a willingness to try new cultural initiatives. "These past couple of years, I think that's the kind of growth that Joliet needs to see," she said. The presentation ended to applause from the audience.

The remarks were delivered as a short, first-person account of student engagement with the Unity Dome project; no formal vote or decision followed this presentation.