What is a Wind Phone? New Stone Mountain art piece helps callers heal
The Brief
A new public art piece installed near Stone Mountain Park is helping provide a source of healing to anyone in the community going through loss.
Kelly Campbell installed the Wind Phone in her front yard while dealing with the death of her father.
The whole helps people cope with loss by making the intangible something you can physically grasp in your hand.
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - A new piece of public art in Stone Mountain Village has many people asking the same question - what is a Wind Phone?
Kelly Campbell knows loss, but the death of her father during the COVID-19 pandemic hit differently. Campbell told FOX 5's Billy Heath that she felt so many things were left unsaid and wanted to find a way to deal with those emotions.
While listening to a podcast, she learned about Wind Phones and how people around the world use them to cope by making the intangible something you can physically grasp in your hand.
What we know
The website mywindphone.com describes the concept, originally created by Itaru Sasaki in Japan as follows:
"A wind phone is connected to nowhere and everywhere at once. It's where those grieving can connect with their loved ones who died, letting their words be carried through the wind. Wind Phones are profoundly powerful as a source of comfort, hope, and support."
Kelly has found this to be true. She constructed the phone over a six-month period after her wife Danielle gave the OK for the art installation. Originally, the phone was for use by her close family in her backyard, but Campbell decided she wanted to provide a source of healing to her neighbors and community as well. Campbell's home sits along East Mountain Street just outside of Stone Mountain Park, and hundreds of people hike into the park past her house each week.
What they're saying
She says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"I'll hear our dogs barking, and I look out the window and see somebody holding their little kid up to the phone, and it just warms my heart to know that other people use it and get to experience what I experience."
Campbell's neighbor, Starla Harris, was one of the first people to use the wind phone. Harris has experienced several deaths in her family in recent years and picked up the phone to speak with her father.
"I read both signs and thought, well let me give it a shot. You know, I know I'm not going to hear my dad's voice on the other end, but I had a lot to say to him," Harris said. "I thought, let me just tell him my current events and tell him I miss him. When I hung up the phone, I broke down."
Harris is incredibly thankful to her neighbor for crafting the phone and made sure to let her know how much the phone impacted her.
What you can do
If you want to learn more about wind phones or locate one near you, the website mywindphone.com has several resources.
The Source
FOX 5 photojournalist Billy Heath reported this story out of Stone Mountain.
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