The Free Pass Project – A Social Practice of Spontaneous Compassion and Conversation

Creatively enacting spontaneous compassion and conversation.

(PLEASE NOTE: this website is now an archive of a ten year public art project that engaged and made the day better for over 4,000 people. My full art and project site is www.rachelcyreneblackman.com.)"FREE PASS": two words that can communicate simple compassion. Who needs the grace of a free pass now and again? Almost everyone. Think about your day, and even the last few hours. Has there been a moment where you've given yourself a hard time or been in a frustration? Have you interacted with a loved one or stranger who is stressed, is doing the best they can, feels disengaged from … Read More...

Read Our Stories...

Free Pass blogger…

Keep Working on Love (Blogger from Maine: link) TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014 Free Pass A ref friend of mine sent me this funny little poker chip in the mail the other day. “Free Pass” was stamped on its face. The enclosed note described how it was a part of an interactive art project, the idea […]

Free pass token jar…#765

“Token found at 3 Sisters cafe watching the general public eat ice cream. After checking out every flavor combination of ice cream there is, I saw the token jar resting by the door. Curious, I took one as an ‘opportunity’ to pass onto someone else. I look at it as a “free ticket” to well, […]

Kindness of Strangers

Last year, I found myself in tears on a grassy hill on the Carnegie Mellon campus, attempting to make it through the final morning of the Open Engagement conference. I believe it was you, Rachel, who approached me. You provided me with every sort of support and reflection I needed in that moment, as I […]

Waitress and a free pass

Outstanding Free Pass moment tonight with a young waitress. Showed a token to her and asked if she needed a free pass. She ‘got it’ right away – and snatched it up. If I got the story right, she gave up booze for Lent and had slipped after a job interview. Put it right in […]