Art That Meets People Where They Are
The Artwork
The Box is equal parts public art installation and public health tool. Ryan designed and built it by hand. Dr. Maggie Carpenter, founder of Go Doc Go, a Hudson Valley-based NGO that has spent over a decade preventing cervical cancer in low and middle-income countries, brought the medical expertise. Together they made something that didn't exist before: a space where art removes the barrier between a person and their own health. The social interaction around it is part of the work itself.
How It Began
Maggie had read that cervical cancer rates were rising in the United States. She mentioned to Ryan that self-swabbing for HPV is simple and accessible, that there should be a way to bring it directly to people. Ryan said he would build something. And so it happened.
That's how the two of them work. A doctor with a public health problem and an artist who sees possibility in everything, including a freestanding booth in the middle of a public space.
How it Works
The Box travels to festivals, institutions, and public spaces. A team of doctors and nurses is on site to welcome you, answer questions, and walk you through the process. You step inside, swab, and pass the sample to the medical team. Results come by phone. If your result is positive and you don't have a doctor, the team doesn't just hand you a number. They guide you through what comes next.
Traditional cervical cancer screening requires a Pap smear, a doctor's visit, and a pelvic exam. HPV testing is now an established alternative for individuals between 30 and 65, and studies have confirmed that self-collected samples are as effective as those taken by a provider. The Box makes that possible anywhere, for anyone.
Who We Serve
When we first brought The Box into the community, the assumption was that it would reach people with barriers to healthcare: the uninsured, the undocumented, people afraid of the system. What they found was more complicated and more human than that. The first person to test positive was a lawyer and single mother who simply hadn't made time for herself to go to the doctor.
The Box serves anyone between 30 and 65 who hasn't had a Pap smear in the past three years. It serves people without insurance and people with every advantage who still fall through the gaps, because life gets in the way, because appointments don't get made, because we are all better at taking care of everyone else first.
No exam. No appointment. No waiting room. Just a simple step that could change everything.
Where It Has Been
The Box has traveled to street festivals in Brooklyn, to Park Slope, to O Positive Festival in Kingston, and to O Positive at Mass MoCA, one of the country's most respected contemporary art institutions. Each stop brought the work into a new community, reaching people who might never walk into a clinic.
What's Next
The Box is part of a larger body of public art work that Ryan has been developing alongside his studio practice, work that moves through communities, invites participation, and insists that art belongs everywhere, not just on gallery walls. From public health to public safety to international collaboration, the projects are different but the instinct is the same: show up, make something real, and leave the community better for it.
The Box is ready to travel again. Conversations are underway with public health partners about what the next chapter looks like, bringing the work to new communities, new institutions, and new audiences.
If you want to be part of that, as a host, a partner, or a supporter, we want to hear from you.
Let's Work Together
