Hello to all of you lovely people out there who have been following the crowdfunding campaign of Itínera Theater to raise money for our Cultural Eco-Center. We still have two weeks to go, and there are still donations coming in. So thank you again and again for sharing again and again every bit of news that comes up regarding it.
Today I would like to talk in a bit more in depth about the art (and more importantly their artists) that we are working together with, in order to express our gratitude to our donors for their support. If you are not sure what perks our campaign has to offer, please take a look at the campaign page. As you can see, visual arts makes up the bulk of it. And why not? After all, by its nature of being a theater, Itínera works together with a multitude of various types of artists, whether it be musicians, puppeteers, sculptors, painters, or dance performers. So we felt it more than appropriate to ask four international illustrators to create personalized images for us, which we would send out as donation perks. This way we could spread their fame as well, and prepare the way for future cooperation.
The Virtual Postcard by Juan Carlos Silva
Virtually every donor gets a virtual postcard. This includes all donations of €10 or more, even if the donation falls into another perk bracket. In other words, a €25 donation we reward with a printed card, a €500 donation with a full-size poster, but all of them get the virtual postcard as well. The illustrator Juan Carlos Silva is Mexican, and the raging bull image on our campaign page is one of his older pieces he created about a Formula-1 pilot. Feel free to check out his online presence. For the virtual postcard in our campaign we wanted to give him all the freedom an artist should appreciate, so we flooded him with various images about our project, and let him go to town. Out of all, he seemed to have liked the puppets most, as that is the center characteristic of his image.
Printed Postcards by Luis David Cáceres and Greg Konopski
Since it was clear that most donations would come from the €25 - €100 range, we wanted to give our donors a number of options here. We asked two illustrators to create three images each, which could be mixed and matched by our supporters. So for a donation of €25 the donor could choose one of six printed images. A donation of €50 we reward with the complete set of three postcards by one of the two artists, and for a €100 we'll send the generous donor all six cards. One of the two artists is called Luis David Cáceres, and is from Colombia. The images on the campaign page were taken from his instagram page, but here I want to show you two of the pieces he's made specifically for our campaign.
Within these trippy drawings of fantastic plants and weird musicians, you can see a bit of crazy construction and divine distillation. The overall feeling of the piece seems to fall right into the Itínera experience: the chaotic manifestation of exuberant creativity. The second picture may be even more spot on, though I'm not quite sure what to make of the goose-glove with its cute paper hat. But ... this lady is holding our rehearsal room in her hands! How could I not like it? The other illustrator is Greg Konopski from Poland. Though he is busy at work, he soon we will have his sketches or final images ready. Thanks Greg, our donors are waiting!!! Until then, take a look at his his previous work.
A Giant Poster by Adrian Bueno
Finally, for our big-time donors we have prepared a big-time perk: a gigantic poster, created by Ecuadorian illustrator Adrian Bueno. To get a feel for his style, take a look at his Instagram page or look at the elaborate image on our campaign page. But which is the image he's going to use for Itínera's campaign? Well, we can't say for certain ... still. Though he has given us a promising sketch. Just like that urban café poster, there's plenty of stuff going on already, and it's promising to be more. Of course, once it's finished, it will be all in color, and (hopefully) something you may want to hang on the wall. As for the size, it will measure 18x24 cm, which is like ... ENORMOUS!
Hey, that's exactly what it usually looks like under our kitchen tree! And those folks, they could easily be us! If not, some of our friends and visitors for certain. And there is our iconic building in the background! So already it is quite exciting. One thing I'm seriously curious about, however, is that pig-rabbit hybrid in the middle. Really, the more I look at it, the more I have to wonder... But we'll have to wait and see, I suppose.
Help Us On The Last Stretch!
So, have I managed to get you excited about our campaign (again, or maybe still)? Do you feel like helping us with one last push? Would you maybe even be interested in obtaining one of these awesome cards, or maybe even the big poster, or if funds are limited, maybe just the virtual card? In fact, even if you have not more than one €uro (or its equivalent) to spare, we would make sure to incorporate your name in a large mural on the property, as you can see in the most basic perk on the campaign page. (Though honestly, the bank transfer fees and all such additional expenses would probably make the €10 option more viable for everyone.)
But even if you can't afford to donate, not even one cent, there is a way you can help us, which in the end could be way more beneficial than a huge amount of money: By helping us spread the word about our theater project, showing all your friends our campaign video, and plastering your social media sites with our campaign, or even just sharing our Facebook and Instagram pages. There are still 13 days to go, and I believe in that time we can still make a huge difference.