Building Paper Mountain and Sky Project!
Donation protected
Help me build this mountain by March 15th 2019!

THE STORY
January 1st 2019 was the first day at my new job as a professional artist. I’ve been working as an artist for about 20 years, but I’ve been cramming the work in every nook and cranny of my days, fitting it in between multiple day jobs and a family. At the end of 2018, I said goodbye to a career of almost 15 years to start working full time as an artist.
So why would I embark on this journey of making over 1000 paper birds to build a mountain? While I have worked in installation, video, sound, and other media, I’m primarily a painter. Paintings can be bought and hung on a wall. This makes sense, right? A 30x10x13 foot mountain of paper cranes though….
I’m making Paper Mountain for several reasons. My work is about the human experience in the outdoors. With paintings, our experience as viewers is limited to the two dimensions of painting. I wanted to make something much bigger for people, an immersive experience that would be evocative of what it’s like to be in the presence of a mountain.
This project is also a big challenge for me: conceptually, logistically, and technically. Paper Mountain is a declaration to myself and to everyone else that I am still able to make challenging and not necessarily commercial work, while still supporting myself and my family through the sale of my artwork.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? GLAD YOU ASKED!
I am raising $15,000 to make this project happen by March 15th, when the exhibit opens at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art in Charlotte, NC. The funds for this project will go toward the paper and materials to hang the cranes (heavy gauge wire to hang the mountain, fishing line, lead weights for each bird, etc…), scaffolding rentals for the installation, truck rental for the delivery of the exhibit materials to the gallery, a video projector for the sky images, and the time spent working on this project.
Everyone who contributes will have their name listed on the gallery wall and the project page.
Please help by sharing this project with your friends and family through emails and Facebook (and any other Social Media!). This will go a long way to help raise awareness and the funds to make this project possible!

THE PROJECT
I am building a mountain of paper cranes at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art in Charlotte, NC. This installation has two parts, a paper mountain and a video projection of skies. For the Paper Mountain, I am folding over 1,000 paper cranes that will be suspended from the ceiling. The flock of birds will form a mountain in the Elder Gallery space. The area of the mountain will be thirty feet long, ten feet wide, and thirteen feet at its highest point.
The second part of this exhibit is the Sky Project. For this, I am crowdsourcing photos of the sky from all over the world, and projecting them on one of the gallery walls. The sky images will form a large grid that will continually change. This project is a reaction to the outdoor experience as filtered through our phones. We take photos of everywhere we go and everything we do and share them on social platforms such as Instagram. Many people’s experience of the outdoors is entirely based on what is Instagrammable. How do we continue to have unmediated experiences in nature with the constant distraction of telephones in our lives?
WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT?
Art helps build community connectedness. It gives people the opportunity to dream and to experience joy.
Paper Mountain and Sky Project explore the intersection of the outdoor experience and art. I believe that in an increasingly digital world, it is vital to go outside. My hope is that this installation will encourage people to commune with nature and experience the world directly.
Through exploration and conversation, art can help create empathy. As an artist, I am fortunate to be part of this discussion. By supporting this project, you will be too.
THANK YOU so much for taking the time to learn about this project. I'm excited to bring this project to life and to share it with the world.
This project cannot happen without you.
To learn more about my work, visit my site.

THE STORY
January 1st 2019 was the first day at my new job as a professional artist. I’ve been working as an artist for about 20 years, but I’ve been cramming the work in every nook and cranny of my days, fitting it in between multiple day jobs and a family. At the end of 2018, I said goodbye to a career of almost 15 years to start working full time as an artist.
So why would I embark on this journey of making over 1000 paper birds to build a mountain? While I have worked in installation, video, sound, and other media, I’m primarily a painter. Paintings can be bought and hung on a wall. This makes sense, right? A 30x10x13 foot mountain of paper cranes though….
I’m making Paper Mountain for several reasons. My work is about the human experience in the outdoors. With paintings, our experience as viewers is limited to the two dimensions of painting. I wanted to make something much bigger for people, an immersive experience that would be evocative of what it’s like to be in the presence of a mountain.
This project is also a big challenge for me: conceptually, logistically, and technically. Paper Mountain is a declaration to myself and to everyone else that I am still able to make challenging and not necessarily commercial work, while still supporting myself and my family through the sale of my artwork.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? GLAD YOU ASKED!
I am raising $15,000 to make this project happen by March 15th, when the exhibit opens at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art in Charlotte, NC. The funds for this project will go toward the paper and materials to hang the cranes (heavy gauge wire to hang the mountain, fishing line, lead weights for each bird, etc…), scaffolding rentals for the installation, truck rental for the delivery of the exhibit materials to the gallery, a video projector for the sky images, and the time spent working on this project.
Everyone who contributes will have their name listed on the gallery wall and the project page.
Please help by sharing this project with your friends and family through emails and Facebook (and any other Social Media!). This will go a long way to help raise awareness and the funds to make this project possible!
THE PROJECT
I am building a mountain of paper cranes at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art in Charlotte, NC. This installation has two parts, a paper mountain and a video projection of skies. For the Paper Mountain, I am folding over 1,000 paper cranes that will be suspended from the ceiling. The flock of birds will form a mountain in the Elder Gallery space. The area of the mountain will be thirty feet long, ten feet wide, and thirteen feet at its highest point.
The second part of this exhibit is the Sky Project. For this, I am crowdsourcing photos of the sky from all over the world, and projecting them on one of the gallery walls. The sky images will form a large grid that will continually change. This project is a reaction to the outdoor experience as filtered through our phones. We take photos of everywhere we go and everything we do and share them on social platforms such as Instagram. Many people’s experience of the outdoors is entirely based on what is Instagrammable. How do we continue to have unmediated experiences in nature with the constant distraction of telephones in our lives?
WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT?
Art helps build community connectedness. It gives people the opportunity to dream and to experience joy.
Paper Mountain and Sky Project explore the intersection of the outdoor experience and art. I believe that in an increasingly digital world, it is vital to go outside. My hope is that this installation will encourage people to commune with nature and experience the world directly.
Through exploration and conversation, art can help create empathy. As an artist, I am fortunate to be part of this discussion. By supporting this project, you will be too.
THANK YOU so much for taking the time to learn about this project. I'm excited to bring this project to life and to share it with the world.
This project cannot happen without you.
To learn more about my work, visit my site.
Organizer
Jessica Singerman
Organizer
Winston-Salem, NC
