We wanted to show how coming together in ugly times can be a beautiful thing. So we gathered a diverse range of social activists who have made a positive impact. They all had inspiring stories, such as child activist Zianna Oliphant, Florida “basketball cop” Bobby White, transgender youth activist Jazz Jennings, Migrant Offshore Aid Station founder Christopher Catrambone, and Muslim American “Ask a Muslim” educator Mona Haydar. We asked them to create art representing their wish for the world.

Led by mural artist Joel Artista, and leveraging each of their unique perspectives, they used Microsoft devices to create a joint vision of peace, hope, and understanding to share with the world.

On November 14th, we asked our eight social activists to work together to create a digital mural. To share it with the world, we wanted to place it in a location that was made for sharing: one that was a beacon for photos and video. We also wanted it to be a place that naturally brought together people from all walks of life, from all over the world.

We found that place in Brooklyn Bridge Park. We projected the mural onto the glass structure surrounding Jane’s Carousel in front of the New York City skyline, with hundreds of locals and tourists sharing it with the world as a message of peace and harmony.

“The Art of Harmony,” a film documenting the mural’s making and unveiling, then launched in December – with a :60 airing on broadcast television, and a long-form film running in cinema and across paid and organic social channels.

Our Brooklyn art installation drove brand love up by +24% among campaign recognizers, with 144.4MM impressions around the world, making headlines everywhere from Forbes to The Huffington Post. It generated an enormous outpouring of support and sharing within Brooklyn’s diverse community of locals and visitors, around the world, and at Microsoft’s own Washington state headquarters – where employees across the company sent messages like “I don’t remember a time in my career at Microsoft when I’ve been more proud,” and “I love that we as a company stand for so much more than technology. Happy holidays.”