About this project

This summer, the spectacular and astonishing Redmoon Theater is holding their first ever summer camp for 8 to11 year old kids, and although the price for two weeks of this extraordinary camp is a reasonable $500, we are spectacularly broke.

Xenia is so perfectly suited for Redmoon, whose eye-popping sets, puppets, masks, original music and talented performers have enthralled her – and our whole family – many times.

The kid has made art and toys out of whatever's at hand since she gained the motor skills to grab. She's also a natural intuitive of both physical comedy and dry wit. She watches clips of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd on Youtube, and we've lost count of how many times she's seen Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, which she recites lines from to amuse and entertain her family. She will also, unbidden, bust out scenes from Big Night, The Impostors, and many Marx Brothers movies.

Ross Martens, a friend of the family and fellow artist, once mused that Xenia may be the world's youngest conceptual artist, and although we would never place such a lofty title upon our own child, we cannot deny that there is something remarkable about a girl who, at six years old, hearing that class pictures were coming up soon, decided to art direct her image with the aid of nothing but purple cream eye shadow and a grim expression.

She was going for a look that was "punk" and originally wanted to wear spiked bracelets to accompany her faux black eye, but decided that morning on something more subtle. It confounded many but delighted us.

The cost of camp is $500, and Xenia’s been given a partial scholarship of $100, so we need to raise the balance, plus transportation. And true to form, she would like to use her creativity to make that happen.

The first nine people who donate $20 will receive an original limited edition, hand-pulled screen print, which she collaborated with artist and friend Shawn Stucky to create.

For a donation of $50, you will receive an original hand-made stuffed animal. These examples were designed and crafted by the (hopefully!) happy camper herself.

The Puppy Bat is named Albert. No two of her creations are alike, excepting their insane charm, of course. Yours will be an absolute one-of-a-kind.

For a donation of $100, Xenia’s dad will send you an original piece of art, something maybe around 5” x 7”, maybe resembling something like this.

The first person who feels compelled to donate $200 – and we’re not holding our breath, recession and all – will receive as a gift for your contribution this swell vintage train case which Xenia’s dad drew all over. It’s neat.

We as a family feel connected to so many amazing artists and simply great people. We consider ourselves a part of a community, and we try to enrich that community as often and in any way that we can. We hope this Kickstarter project to help us send our daughter to Redmoon Theater’s summer camp will expand our community and help us connect to even more wonderful people.

If we exceed our project goal, all donations will go to a "culture fund" to continue exposing our kids to the arts and sciences, and we'll share our good fortune by becoming patrons and benefactors such as yourselves.

Redmoon’s tag line, by the way: Engineering wonder.

We’re down with that.