Speak Not So Easy project promotes participatory art events.

On weekends, the grass lawn by the San Carlos Beach in Monterey is full of divers and their equipment. On Sunday, May 11, a colorful gazebo made of textiles flowing with the wind was more visible. It was made by Mai Ryuno of Play Full Ground, a creative micro high school community, as described on the initiative website, and local high school students.

The May 11 event was titled Speak Not So Easy. It involved Ryuno and three high school students who set up a participatory public art installation on the beach. Everyone was invited to get into the gazebo, sit down with the organizers and address the prompts they prepared. The participants were then asked to creatively respond to the prompts—either by writing or drawing something.

The project was designed to encourage human interactions and emphasized the fact that “we are all humans,” Ryuno says. 

Speak Not So Easy is a socially engaged art and education project Ryuno started in 2023. 

It was initially funded by an Individual Artists Grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County. Following that, Ryuno collaborated with the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey High School and the Youth Arts Collective to connect with students for the project.

“My aim is to introduce young individuals to conceptual, participatory and process-based art through direct engagement and collaboration,” Ryuno wrote in an email. “Simultaneously, I want to provide a space and opportunity for them to reflect on themselves and their communities and express themselves authentically.”

The public installation last Sunday was the students' second project within Speak Not So Easy and signifies the culmination of a year-and-a-half-long collaboration as the Speak Not So Easy team. 

Visit playfullground.com.