Kickstarter

* If you are having problems backing, check update #9 for help! Thank you!

Ron Saunders (an artist) and Mackenzie Bristow (a linguist) have been accepted to the Raumars Artist Residency Program in Rauma, Finland from April to June, 2010. Now they have to figure out how to pay for it!

Raumars is a competitive program for artists or collaborative teams that include a social element with their work. Fortunately, as a team we often create installations that include social elements, like The Silent Way, an interactive software program that allows participants to paint with their voice or Repositioning Nostalgia, a collection of keepsakes from American immigrants installed in a Korean Folk Village with edited text. In addition to the residency fitting our goals, Mackenzie attended an art school as an exchange student when she was sixteen. Her ties to Finland are still very strong, and we are excited to see how Finland has changed since she was there.

For Rauma, we have created two interactive projects that will engage locals and reflect our common interests in art and language. In the first project , which will start in April, will work with recent immigrants, the second project, working with the Rauma Dialect speakes, will start in May. For our residency, we are interested in what stories people remember, old dialects, what objects people consider important and where and how they display these mementos. In short, this is an investigation of nostalgia, myth, and identity. We will work with Rauma dialect speakers, school-aged children, and immigrants living in Finland, to create a body of photographs, a series of drawings and collages, and a book that will have images of the art and images that document our interactive activities. We will also include an audio CD that has a selection of interviews from Rauma dialect speakers and immigrants living in Finland.

Your backing will enable us to:
> Create a fantastic art book detailing our experience with an audio CD
> Purchase materials for a set of drawings and collages inspired by our experience.
> Create international and cross-generational connections
> Give lectures at School of Art and Media Pori; Satakunta University; University of Turku
> Work with ProjectFinland, Elementary School Children, and Rauma Dialect Speakers

Thank you again for your support!
International backers outside of the US, please add:
- $5 to your pledge of $30 and up
- $8 to your pledge of $50 and up
- $20 to your pledge of $250 and up to cover shipping!I