Wanna Puzz?

Several illustrations with a students (a simple sihouette). One arrow with the word SHARE points to community mapping workshops (students gathered around a map). Another arrow with the word PAINT points to painting workshops (students painting a giant jigsaw puzzle). A third arrow with the word PLAY points to assembly events, with hands putting together a jigsaw puzzle and two hands in a high-five.

An Asian American woman points at a large printout of a map of the Wisteria neighborhood while two students look on. A third student writes on another map in the background.

An abstracted map with grey lines representing roads and soft green areas indicating parks.

The previous map, with the addition of 23 multi-colored circles with calligrapy of place names in white. A few places are the Cantor Arts Center, Schiff Lounge, and the EVGR Wellness room.

Quotes in black calligraphy appear inside rounded rectangles overlapping the related circles. The rectangles are color coded to match the circles.

The previous map iteration, plus small illustrations, like a Rodin sculpture to represent the Cantor Arts Center

The previous map iteration plus botanical illustrations filling out the white space along the edges.

A close-up photo of puzzle pieces with pencil outlines and a base layer of paint, with a reference image of a sculpture by Rodin.

Students paint at a table, with a cup of brushes in the foreground.

a photo of the finished puzzle, which closely matches the previous design, with visible jigsaw puzzle seams.

Students confer with each other while holding puzzle pieces in their hands while other puzzle pieces are assembled on a grey mat on the ground. Trees are in the background.

a hand moves a puzzle piece with the text, Cantor Arts Center, into place beneath the illustration of the Rodin sculpture which was in the process of being painted in an earlier image.

rendering of a holographic sticker sheet with ilustrations from the puzzle, such as Cantor Art Center, Lake Lagunita. Also shown are representations of the process, like art materials, boba, and pizza, and puzzle pieces with faces on them.

Wanna Puzz? was a social practice project engaging university students in creative place-knowing, painting, and playful cooperation. It resulted in a interactive, 185-piece jumbo jigsaw puzzle highlighting places which support wellbeing.

Stanford University’s Office of the Vice President of the Arts invited me to be the Neighborhood Visiting Artist and collaborate with Residential Education. I developed Wanna Puzz? to support social cohesion and the identity of the eight residential neighborhoods—a sprawling system which houses over 8,000 undergraduates on campus.

First, I led community mapping workshops and an open call to ask students where they felt a sense of connection, confidence, restfulness, confidence, and more. I gathered over 100 submissions from 81 students representing all eight neighborhoods. From this input, I created a map to highlight 23 places, accompanied by quotes from students as well as illustrations. I added leaves and flowers to represent the eight neighborhoods.

Next, I transferred this design to lasercut jigsaw puzzle pieces, which were painted with help from students and project team members. Finally, we invited students to assemble the 185-piece puzzle and receive holographic sticker sheets. While the earliest jigsaw puzzles were credited to a mapmaker in the seat of the British empire, this puzzle was collectively created to highlight wellbeing and encourage play and belonging.

video still with the artist and participating painter painting in an art studio

Credit: Christine Wong Yap and contributors, Wanna Puzz?, 2023–2024, social practice (workshops, handouts, didactics, mats), 185-piece jigsaw puzzle (lasercut plywood, primer, pencil, paint, varnish, printing), holographic sticker sheets, puzzle: 80 x 108 inches; sticker sheets: 7 x 5 inches.

Huge thanks to the Office of the Vice President for the Arts (especially Deborah Cullinan, Ellen Oh, and Edi Dai) and Residential Education (especially Cole Shiflett and Simeon Pogue). Special thanks to Ellen and Edi for support at every step of the way, and for being present at numerous events around campus. Thanks to Taylor Jones and Alejandra Campillo. Thanks to all the students who came to events and contributed.

Additional thanks to Tyler “EagleBabble” Brooks, Erina Calejo, Alyssa Victoria Diaz, Claudia Dorn, and Vivan Sming. Painting assistance by Erina Davidson. Event photos by Violet Crow, Ellen Oh, Sydney Osifeso, and Christine Wong Yap. Puzzle documentation photo by Wyatt Michael Hall. Lasercutting by Pagoda Arts. Direct to substrate printing by Local Language. Sticker printing by Sticker Giant.