Yoko Ono's participatory installation "Wish Trees for Los Angeles" is on view at the Broad museum as part of her solo exhibition "Music of the Mind." The piece invites visitors to write their hopes and dreams on paper tags and tie them to the branches of ten century-old olive trees on the museum's East West Bank Plaza. The installation, which Ono has staged over 250 times globally since 1996, draws on a Japanese Buddhist tradition. The original "Wish Tree" from Ono's first solo show at Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica tragically burned in last year's Palisades wildfire.
The installation resonates deeply with Angelenos during a period of collective anxiety, addressing climate change, wildfires, immigration enforcement, and global instability. Broad curator Sarah Loyer notes that the work provides a necessary space for hope and reflection. The thousands of wishes, written in at least ten languages, offer a snapshot of the city's emotional state, ranging from calls for world peace to personal struggles with illness, financial hardship, and family pain. The piece demonstrates how participatory art can serve as a communal coping mechanism in unsettling times.