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Wishing Tree Project

An age-old ritual meets social practice art and science to reveal the aspirations of our communities.

In collaboration with its community partners, the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity has been studying the wishes and aspirations of the people of Dallas.


Using a novel participatory approach, grounded in ancient traditions and social practice art, the Wishing Tree Project aims to understand the aspirations and needs of a community, to help inform community programs and broader policies.

The History

The Dallas "Wishing Tree" was launched in 2018 as an initiative of the Crow Museum of Asian Art as part of its Lunar New Year celebrations, in partnership with Jin-Ya Huang and MAP / Make Art with Purpose. Social practice artist Jin-Ya Huang created an innovative and participatory installation of a symbolic contemporary “tree” sculpture, intentionally engaging all the senses of participants.

The Wishing Tree quickly became a beloved public space installation, which has offered its highly immersive experience to the Dallas community in several locations.  While making their wish, participants are engulfed by the wishes of fellow community members, building compassion and a sense of connectedness towards one another.

The Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity became a proud partner in this effort in 2018 when Executive Director Dr. Eva Csaky visited the Wishing Tree at the invitation of Jin-Ya Huang, also a Fellow of the Hunt Institute. Fascinated by the potential of bringing social and data science to this artistic, cultural, and spiritual ritual, to learn from the wisdom of the community, the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity team launched the "Wishing Tree Project".

Hanging wishes isn't a new phenomenon. Tanabata is a celebration that occurs every year in Japan. People of all ages make wishes, writing them on colorful strips of paper (tanzaku), and tying them to a bamboo tree at shrines or in front gardens. A similar tradition can be found in Turkey, while in Hong Kong wishes are tied to oranges and cast into the canopy of trees. In North America, Native American tribes like the Lakota and Seminole hung colored prayer ties from trees during the Sun Dance ceremony. Image: A wall covered in wishes leading up to the house of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, Turkey 

The Research

The “wishing tree” collects and displays the desires and aspirations of a community without participants needing to identify themselves. Participants write their wishes out on a tag and then place the tag on the tree. Expressing one’s wish involves an immersive, interactive, and participatory process. The experience is simultaneously reflective and communal, according to participants. 

Collecting data in this manner is nontraditional from a social science perspective but is relatable in many cultural traditions across continents.  Our team is exploring the role and value of this process in terms of its potential to offer insights that complement the findings of more conventional tools like surveys.  We are also studying how this approach may be able to give more voice to under-represented groups such as low-income individuals, youth, women, people of color, immigrants, refugees, minorities, etc. The data collected and processed through wishes from 2018 and 2023 offered the team a unique opportunity to compare the aspirations of Dallasites before and after the pandemic. Our early results show some fascinating differences.

The Results

Findings will be presented at the 22nd annual conference of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies.

The Research Team

Jin-Ya Huang

Jasleen Dhillon

Dr. Eva Csaky

Social Practice Artist (and mother of the Dallas Wishing Tree)

Dr. Eva Csaky

Jasleen Dhillon

Dr. Eva Csaky

Team Lead

Public Policy Research

Jasleen Dhillon

Jasleen Dhillon

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Program Manager, Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Diversity & Inclusion Research

Dr. David Lin

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Brittney Gross

Natural Language Processing Research

Brittney Gross

Dr. Candice Bledsoe

Brittney Gross

Project Manager & Research Analyst

Dr. Nadia Zrelli Ben Hamida

Dr. Nadia Zrelli Ben Hamida

Dr. Nadia Zrelli Ben Hamida

Economics Research

Farbod Tavakkoli

Dr. Nadia Zrelli Ben Hamida

Dr. Nadia Zrelli Ben Hamida

Data Scientist

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