The Idea
Local artist and arts advocate Jim Draper, has recently undertaken a new project via Kickstarter, which will be showcased at The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in the Spring of 2013. The final project will be a digital publication that acts as a virtual counterpart to an exhibition here at the museum called Feast of Flowers, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first European contact with Florida. The exhibit will include large format paintings and prints, a lecture series, museum classes and programs, and the digital publication. The inclusion of the digital publication not only allows for a more dynamic experience within the Museum, but allows audiences worldwide – including educators and students – to have access to and enjoy the rich culture and history related through the exhibition.
The Content
The digital publication will include images, narrative-style writing, philosophy, and critique by artist Jim Draper, as well as essays by artists, ecologists, biologists, philosophers, historians, writers and others who will contribute to Draper’s unanswered, dynamic questions of this fragile state.
“My goal is to alert as many users/viewers as possible to the tenuous relationship between man and his finite environment, and to suggest the need for stewardship of it.” –Jim Draper
Embracing this new era of publishing and presenting this in digital form bolsters one of the fundamental elements of this project— sustainability.
Call to Action
Please support this project through Kickstarter.
Kickstarter, as you may or may not know, is an all-or-nothing funding source. There is a s a set number of days to raise all the funds for their project, or else it is cancelled from the site. In this case, the fundraising window is February, 1st to the 29th. However, if this goal of $10,000 is not funded by the deadline, no money changes hands and the book will not be funded.
If we exceed the goal (and we really hope we do!), there will be more opportunities to explore this digital framework and experiment with the narrative capabilities of tablet computing, such as the iPad. Exceeding the goal may also allow us to print editions of this book for those who would like them!
If you have any questions about this project, or trouble with donating, please don’t hesitate to e-mail my assistant Staci at staci.bushea@gmail.com
