THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT: PHASE THREE

3000 Butterflies — A GLOBAL GIFTING INITIATIVE

My name is Callen Schaub. I’m an artist who believes in color as a form of connection.

Last year, I began something called The Butterfly Project — a radical gifting initiative in which I paint and mail handmade metal butterflies to people around the world at no cost. Each butterfly is unique. Each is named by its recipient. None are for sale.

ORIGIN STORY

The project began with a 4’ x 4’ spin painting I created in the back of a rental car — parked on the side of a highway during my 100-day “Live at 5” stream. That painting was bought by a man in Germany. A year later, he passed away unexpectedly. His 7-year-old daughter reached out, remembered the painting, and asked if I could create a butterfly to place on his grave.

Grief met color. Loss met creation. And The Butterfly Project took flight.

What started as one became two.

Two became fifty.

Fifty became two hundred.

Each butterfly was hand-painted, resin-coated, labeled, documented, and mailed around the world. I self-funded those first 200 butterflies because it felt like the right thing to do.

Now, the project wants to grow beyond what I can carry alone.

WHY I’M FUNDRAISING

The Butterfly Project is, at its core, a practice of gifting. The butterflies are not sold, earned, or exchanged for money. They are gifts — freely given as gestures of connection, remembrance, healing, and color.

The purpose of this fundraiser is not to sell butterflies. It exists for a separate reason: to help cover the material costs so that this gifting practice can continue to scale.

Those costs include:

• Laser-cutting the metal butterflies

• Paint, pigment, and resin

• Envelopes, labels, and Velcro tabs

• Worldwide postage and packaging

• Filming and documentation

My own labor, administration, logistics, and coordination are donated in kind. Some collaborators volunteer their time; others are paid fairly. No donations are used for profit — only to cover hard costs.

ABOUT PARTICIPATION

Donating to this fundraiser does not mean you will receive a butterfly. Receiving a butterfly does not require donating. These two activities are independent of each other.

If you choose to donate, you are supporting the conditions that allow gifting to continue — not purchasing or securing a butterfly.

If you choose not to donate, you are still welcome to receive, witness, or participate in the project in other ways.

COST TRANSPARENCY

For those interested in scale and efficiency: during the first 200 butterflies, hard costs averaged approximately $16.50 CAD per butterfly for materials, finishing, and global shipping. This is not a price or a suggestion — only transparency for those who like to understand the logistics.

There is no required or suggested donation amount. People support in different ways: financially, creatively, emotionally, logistically. All forms of support are optional and valued.

THE INTENTION

This project has always been about the joy of giving — the art of gifting. Some people give time, some give labor, some give skills, some give funds. Every form of participation is voluntary. Every form of involvement is enough.

If you donate, you help create space for more gifting. If you simply witness or receive, you are already part of the migration.