Local author brings “Before I Die” movement to Columbia.
Across the street from the Nickelodeon Theater, crowds were drawn to the large black wall. Among the curious chatters and flashing cameras, many stood in front of the wall, silently reading and racking their brains for what to write.
The 60-foot span of the chalkboard wall asked one question: What do you want to do before you die?
Between the unveiling of the wall by Mayor Steve Benjamin at 2 p.m. Thursday and the First Thursday celebration at 7 p.m. that night, the wall was nearly covered with chalk-written ambitions and dreams like, “Hug an elephant,” “Find out who Cocky is” and “Change the world.”
“People don’t think about it too often,” said Karl Larsen, the man holding Columbia’s bucket list. “It lets people step back and look at their life.”
After stumbling upon the 2011 “Before I Die” community art project by New Orleans artist Candy Chang, Larsen knew the movement would be a necessary addition in Columbia and saw First Thursday as the perfect opportunity to unveil the monthlong fixture. It will be on display until Oct. 5.
The 28-year old Columbia author not only saw the expansion of the project as an opportunity for the community to reflect, but personally saw this as an innovative way to bring the community together.
“We live in a divided city, and it’s an issue,” Larsen said. “The lines of Columbia need to go away, but the beauty of this is that it doesn’t discriminate.”
Larsen knew his idea to unite was beginning to work when a homeless man approached him and the wall days before it opened.
“He asked if he could write on it, like he was unsure if he was allowed, but I said of course he could — he would just have to come back Thursday,” he said. “And he came back. He wasn’t scared.”