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Kindness Cascade
Project type
Mural / Public Art
Date
September 2026
Location
Ottawa
Kindness Cascade visualizes how acts of kindness spread exponentially within social networks. Based on scientific research demonstrating the cascading effect of cooperative behaviour (Fowler & Christakis, 2010), this public artwork represents kindness as a generative force within communities.
Visitors can stand at a coloured dot representing a single act of kindness, then follow the lines and experience how that individual act can inspire others.
Accompanying Kindness Cascade on the York Street steps is a temporary interactive public art project: a series of Awesome Boxes that invite you to record and receive messages of kindness. Find them throughout the Arts Corridor at the National Gallery of Canada, the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Ottawa School of Art, and nearby at the OTTAWA sign.
Both the Kindness Cascade and the Awesome Box are part of the ACE District, and are presented in partnership with the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG).
Sources:
Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2010). Cooperative behavior cascades in human social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(12), 5334–5338.