Bringing HOME the Joy

Hi, my name is Rachel Maryam Smith, and I need your help to manifest a new and cozy, magic living space. I hope it will be a HOME for myself and my daughter and a place where I can base camp and continue to bring joy to the people around me the best way I can—with my bubbles and my song! I need your help to set up this loving home base in a one or two bedroom space in the Santa Cruz Mountains or on the edge of Santa Cruz near the University of California Santa Cruz campus. I live part-time with my daughter who I adore and I want to create a space that is positive and generative for her and myself. 

 

May 13th marked the 63rd week of my Sunset Bubbles project. With it I focused on bringing joy to Santa Cruz. Many people have shared their joyful experiences with me in response to this project. I would like to continue to offer it the project once in my new home. I am working on two additional projects. The first is an invitation to do a 2023 two-person exhibition of my work, and the other is my dissertation proposal which asks questions about gendered visuality. I am considering two California programs at this time and meeting with mentors who supported me through my Art/HAVC BA at UC Santa Cruz and Art Studio MFA at UC Davis.

After UC Davis declared me a Master of Art in 2020 I completed a one-year apprenticeship in the Santa Cruz home studio of a high-level international artist whose work was foundational to the eco-art movement beginning in the 1970s. I was reluctant to return to Santa Cruz due to the cost of living but it is where my heart is and near my child and I began to reestablish in this beautiful mountain and ocean area. I learned massive amounts working with the artist between the art, academic, and ecology worlds but, I was devastated by three back to back events. In Summer 2021 I was violently attacked in my living space, by winter I was hospitalized, and then I had to leave both my job and my living space in one challenging fell swoop.

Through my art practice I am attempting to generate the resources for a beautiful home for myself and my daughter and I am just beginning to scratch the surface. I am increasingly invited to contribute to arts and public events to spread the joy through my bubbling and through my song. This includes performances with some of my most respected friends and mentors. There is so much magic in the air but I still need to ground and base so that I can continue to expand in areas that bring others joy as well as myself. So, please help with my fundraising goal to help find and secure a home so I can build a foundation to stay in the area and continue to develop my work in a safe and beautiful space for myself and my child. Thank you for your support.