Freedom Wings Project

Hi!

Thank you for stopping by to check out my gofundme. 

I am building free standing sculptures of wings and installing them along one of our bicycle pathways in Portland Oregon, other locations and other cities and countries potentially, (dream big, right?). I have completed two sets of wings, the first titled Freedom Wings, #freedomwings167. These wings are inspired by the Bald eagle's wings and the colors of the wings are designed to recognized and support all races, genders and identities. There is a second pair of matching wings for the little ones of our communities. The hash tag for the Freedom Wings Project is:

#freedomwings167

Welcome to the Freedom Wings Project!

The Freedom Wings Project is an art project using painting and sculpture to invite and spread joy and inspiration to our local and global community through personal interaction and social media.

Freedom Wings, the first installation, has eight foot tall wings and the children's set is three feet each. The wing sculpture idea came to me when I kept seeing friends on Facebook having their picture taken next to a wall with a mural on it of wings. Then I watched the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks and when I saw the closing scene of the woman who created wings, it stuck a note of inspiration in me. I decided that it would be fun to actually design and make the wings and have fun with the concept. This first set is up and dozens of people have already done selfies or photographed each other. Sometimes whole families or groups of bikers stop for a quick photo opportunity. I also added a cedar bird house and know a chickadee with move in soon, as my other bird houses are usually full. 

Each set of wings will be a different theme, from bird, insect, fish or imaginary wings. They are made of sign grade plywood, varnished three times and mounted on pressure treated posts in concrete and then embellished with cedar and other materials, even lights! Future wings will incorporate metals and found objects that can add historic, cultural or artistic value while maintaining a simple artistic message of unity. 

Each set of wings costs about $200 for the materials.. This campaign is designed to create future funding for many more sets of wings. Any additional funding will fund transportation and labor costs if that occurs. 

The materials presently used are very durable, yet I do have an interest in creating the wings out of metals, via sheet, cast, or blacksmithing. Stay tuned for those if they are made possible!

The second set of wings, butterfly, has now passed the design and painting stages and are ready for mounting and embellishment, they will be getting copper antenae that will be forged and blacksmithed by my son and I. They are entitled Joyful Wings and are dedicated to all of our school teachers who have worked and dedicated themselves to helping our children during the pandemic, prior and all the work they have yet to do. It is a small thank you to each and every one of them.

The next, and third set of wings will be dragon wings. Dragons are mystical creatures popular with kids of all ages. A dragon lays dormant and then leaves its lair to explore its world and beyond. Dragon Wings will celebrate what is powerful, inspiring and adventuresome in our communities The dragon wings will be dedicated to the human spirit and imagination. It will have a nearly 16 foot wing span! Our imaginations are our greatest asset empowering us to create new ideas and inventions in our diverse and challenging world.

The butterfly wings are nearly finished!

Future dedications will be to various community interests, global topics, nature and cultural interests always with inclusivity towards all inhabitants of our world, and that includes our animal and plant kingdoms.

The beginning of the dragon wings!

My goal is to install sets of wings over a 70 block area that is all bike path property dedicated by the city of Portland. The $5,000 would pay for the basic materials of around 25 of these installations. Any additional funds raised will support me as the artist and will help fund transportation and labor costs to install and create the sculptures.

Various wing installations will be dedicated to the human spirit and our imagination, to all our children who have faced the many challenges of the pandemic, to our fellow creatures, the bees!, in gratitude of all of their inspiring work, to all of our Fire Fighters who annually face the challenges of forest fires, to our furry friends, the Bumble bees who do the impossible, they fly! To all of our healthcare workers serving our communities, to each of us that reach out and support each other, to our fine feathered friends, the intelligent crows! to the amazing hummingbird! to the splendor and beauty of our oceans and the wildlife there in, to all of our artists; musicians, writers, painters etc., who inspire our communities. and lots of just feel good wings!

These a just a few ideas in play.

If you can, please share our Gofundme campaign and possibly get involved as a donor or influencer. in the last few months and beyond we have all faced many challenges and some still do. The core focus of the Freedom Wings Project is to spread joy and inspiration, something that we can always use.

With sincere thanks and gratitude,

Stefan