Kickstarter

     This painting is deeply personal to me as is the vision for the entire project. Before the project found a venue I knew I wanted it to be in a space that would benefit the viewers from being "lost" in the world of the little boy in the painting gazing up in wonder at the butterflies around him. The child in the painting (my oldest son) is full of hope and wonder, and the butterflies represent a sense of calm. 

       Butterfly Rain project grew from a painting I created for a competition. I could see that it still needed something, I just did not know what it was. then, I woke up in the night with a vision of creating 2d and 3d butterflies in metal, glass, wood, beads, ceramic, paint - a variety of materials that would hang from the ceiling and attach to the walls around the painting eventually filling the room with butterflies. The idea was to create more than just an art piece, but an environment in which the viewer would have the experience of being part of the painting. Since then I have been searching for a venue with an environment that could really benefit from the experience I want to create. A couple months ago I was approached by Sandy Veneman, co-owner of the Chartreuse Muse Gallery -she told me about the Family Justice Center, what they were about and what they wanted. Specifically, she was interested in my butterfly painting which opened the conversation of what my idea was. Sandy discussed the idea with some of the staff at the Justice Center and they loved it.Now that I have a venue I want to obtain the funding I need to complete my project.

 The minium amount for the installation is $25,000.00 which pays for butterfly paintings, sculptures, murals,butterfly poetry and short stories created by myself and the artists I will commission to create butterfly art - Corey West(painting and mixed media), Kathleen Wolf(painting, murals), Sandy Veneman(painting, ceramic sculpture),Dana Morton (ceramic sculpture), BZ Smith (storytelling/poetry), Geoff Wynne (digital media), Richard and Kathleen Imlach(ceramic and repurposed metal sculpture), Calder Lowe (poet/editor), Mary Iserman at www.mycanvasprintingshop.com  (prints for the rewards), Dave Iserman (watercolor), and Ellen Rohne(mixed media sculpture). All of these artists are being paid for their talents and contributions to my vision from miniature paintings to larger than life sculptures to butterfly stories and poetry on the wall. I want to give the art to the family justice center because it completes my vision, but because of the cost involved in creating and installing I cannot do this without outside funding.

I am open to the idea of expanding the project and making it larger and eventually filling the entire building of the justice center (which will be an entirely new project), but for now the amount I am searching for will complete the original vision I have in mind. Because my vision is also a "progessive" project - there will be more to do- the family justice center will host fundraisers to add to my vision and make it a facility wide project.

as always, I am happy to answer any questions about myself, my art, this project or questions about the facility hosting this installation. all of my contact information with email and phone numbers are available on my website. I welcome any questions that you may have. thank you so much.