Newswise — One of the world’s leading figures in collaborative public art, Professor Jennifer Marsh, announced a global collaborative art project using 8,000 panels to wrap around one of America’s 20th-century icons – the Saturn V Moon Rocket.
By May 2010, Marsh plans to have 8,000 panels, created by students and individuals from more than 100 countries, stitched together and installed as a 36,467-square-foot wrap on the huge vertical Saturn V rocket replica located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Saturn V was recently cited “One of America’s Seven Wonders” by ABC’s Good Morning America.
“Anyone can be involved,” says Marsh, who teaches public art at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Each of the panels will express a “dream theme,” representing the dreams of each of the contributing artists from around the world. Marsh’s corresponding website encourages participants to incorporate dream themes including health, energy, peace, technology, science, community, conservation, poverty and space.
A two-foot-square panel can be reserved for $100 by any group or individual. Sponsors can also reserve a panel for those who cannot afford the cost. “For example, this week I heard from a woman who wants to sponsor 10 panels for school children from Africa. Our website will help link the artists and the sponsors.”
“We want people all over the world to dream those audacious dreams, and to inspire them to make their dreams come true,” says Marsh, “The Dream Rocket will symbolize not only the dreams of individuals, but the power of global collaboration.
“The Saturn V Moon Rocket itself is the ideal example of achieving a dream that seems impossible,” said Marsh. “Whether your dream is curing cancer, going to Mars, or ending world hunger, the Saturn V is an inspiring visual reminder that any dream can come true. If we can work together to put a man on the moon, we can do anything.”
David Williams, president of The University of Alabama in Huntsville, praised Marsh for her vision on this project. “A crucial element of both art and technology is the importance that creativity plays in both disciplines for the benefit of society,” Dr. Williams said. “We applaud Professor Marsh’s initiative to bring together the dreams of a world through artistic elements and tie those inspirations to one of the most enterprising engineering projects in history.”
Marsh is also reaching out to non-profit organizations that embody the work of these dreams. Participants can learn about the dream themes by following the links on the site to organizations like Doctors without Borders, the American Red Cross, United Nations Volunteers, Coral Reef Alliance, Oceans of Opportunity, Unicef, Water Aid, World Vision, Action Against Hunger, Aids Action Coalition, US Space and Rocket Center, and NASA, among others.
The 37-story vertical Saturn V rocket is located at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and dominates the Huntsville skyline.
Huntsville is known as “The Rocket City,” a quiet Southern town that was transformed into America’s ”Birthplace of Space” and is now one of the nation’s leading high-technology centers. In June, Huntsville was named as “America’s Best City” by Kiplinger Magazine.
Huntsville expects thousands of visitors from around the world during the two months that the Dream Rocket will be on display in May and June 2010. A huge crowd is expected to witness the actual wrapping.
ABOUT THE DREAM ROCKET:The Dream Rocket is a part of the International Fiber Collaborative, a global initiative that gives people the opportunity to collaborate with other communities and countries worldwide on a single mission. Marsh has directed two previous collaborative art projects that have received worldwide attention, and is considered one of the leading figures in collaborative public art.
In April of this year, she directed the “Interdependence Tree,” a project that involved over 8,000 handmade leaves contributed from 39 U.S. states and 23 countries.
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