Medicine Man, Mage of the spokenword, radical faerie healer
Michael Dowlings current mission began in 1992 with an art-as-healing project named Medicine Wheel. When this and other public art projects grew, his efforts became incorporated in 2000 as the nonprofit Medicine Wheel Productions. Selfie
Photo/Michael Dowling
“Every spoke of a wheel is significant; if one spoke is broken, the wheel is incomplete – that’s at the core of what we’re trying to do,” he noted. “My life’s work is to create equitable opportunities for people’s voices to be heard collectively.”
Another public art project rooted in the 1990s has prompted several current year-round programs for youth. In 1996, Dowling helped residents of all ages reclaim an abandoned space between South Boston High School and Dorchester Heights known as No Man’s Land. He encouraged them to bring stones as well as stories that described what connects them with their Southie neighborhood.
“To my surprise, 300 people showed up with stones and stories,” he relayed. “We all placed our stones in a spiral circle that is still the center of the work at No Man’s Land.”
