The collective performance’s rebuilding of New Orleans through “The Fundred Dollar Bill Project was seen by Chin as a collaborative action, where every contribution was valued and celebrated. Unconventional and politically engaged, Chin’s projects challenge the idea of the artist as the exclusive creative force behind an artwork. “The survival of my own ideas may not be as important as a condition I might create for others’ ideas to be realized,” says Chin, who often enlists entire neighborhoods or groups of students in creative partnerships. Through individual drawings, the voices of children and their families can be corporeally represented in a powerful call for a lead-free future.

This video was shot at George Jackson Academy in New York City, an independent middle school serving “bright boys from lower-income families” who participated in the project. Art teacher Gary Campbell worked with fourth- through eighth-graders at the school to create “Fundred Dollar Bills.” This school served as one of the collection centers for all bills created in New York State. Its students are featured discussing their involvement and thoughts on a then-destitute New Orleans.