Rainbow de Rio Mosaic Project

Hello! My name is Karen Knorowski, and I'm a local mosaic artist in Flagstaff, AZ. I'm very excited to be creating a large scale, public beautification project on North Thorpe Road near the Frances Short Pond called the "Rainbow de Rio Mosaic Project".  There are a series of 22 panels along the North Thorpe Road bridge that crosses over the Rio de Flag, and each panel will include a completed mosaic as a celebration of the biodiversity of our treasured local land and water.

The City of Flagstaff kicked off this project with a $2,500 grant, and the money was quickly spent on basic supplies including boxes of multiple colors of tile, mortar, and grout. The rest of the project is being funded in creative ways such as individual sponsorship of each panel, and through this "GoFundMe" campaign. 

The project is estimated to take approximately 500 hours to complete. That estimate includes planning, designing, obtaining materials, breaking and sorting the tiles, construction of the mosaic along with set up and clean up each time I work on the project, and maintenance of the final work for years to come which will include annual sealing of the grout and unexpected repairs that will undoubtedly present themselves along the way. Other hours not included in this estimate are various workshops held within the community that are directly related to this project, and the training of occasional volunteers who come and go.
 
If you choose to contribute to this project, the money will be spent on more supplies including items such as grout sealant, sponges, blue masking tape, gloves for grouting and sealing, and more grout and mortar. The money will also go towards a permanent plaque which will be mounted on the bridge providing the public with a brief description of the project. After that, the rest of the money from this campaign will help pay for labor. 

The positive feedback from the public has been incredibly supportive and inspiring to me, and I can't wait to see the entire project in its completed state! I'm aiming to finish each mosaic by the end of October 2016, and if there is any work left to do I will finish it in the late spring/early summer of 2017.  

If you have any questions regarding the Rainbow de Rio Mosaic Project please contact me via this website. Thank you for your interest in supporting this exciting, community beautificaiton project! 

Sincerely, 

Karen Knorowski