Boston-based artist, sculptor, and jewelry maker Ja’Hari Ortega is making history—and sparking joy—with her new large-scale public art installation, Big Hoops to Fill, debuting May 1 at The Greenway.
The stunning piece features two oversized golden bamboo hoop earrings, known popularly as “door knocker earrings,” transformed into interactive swings.
Made from steel, resin, fiberglass composite, epoxy paint, and polyurethane, the artwork is suspended from a frame inspired by the very swing sets Ortega played on as a child growing up in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Through Big Hoops to Fill, Ortega honors the cultural significance of bamboo hoop earrings, a timeless symbol rooted in early hip-hop fashion and worn proudly by icons like Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Roxanne Shanté.
Journalist Ivette Feliciano once described these earrings as “symbols of resistance and cultural pride,” particularly for immigrant communities and communities rooted in Indigenous and African traditions.
Ortega’s installation does more than celebrate a fashion staple—it reclaims public space for women of color, offering a rare invitation to play, rest, and heal.
“Big Hoops to Fill creates opportunities to heal one’s inner child, cultivate and encourage healthy multigenerational relationships, and foster confidence in one’s identity and culture,” Ortega shared.
By centering the everyday lives and objects of Black and Brown women at monumental scale, Ortega challenges conventional ideas about which stories and symbols deserve to occupy public monuments.
As scholar and curator Tina M. Campt has noted, it’s the “textures, surfaces, patterns, and objects that make up the weft and weave of everyday life” in Black communities that deserve celebration.
Big Hoops to Fill stands proudly as an affirming beacon of play, rest, and cultural pride in the heart of Boston, a powerful reminder that joy and identity deserve a monumental platform.
The Greenway will officially open the installation to the public on May 1, inviting everyone to experience the beauty, resilience, and history woven into Ja’Hari Ortega’s groundbreaking work.
