Find Your Wings: Middlebury, VT; lifting our town!
Donation protected
We are Kelly Hickey and Ashley Betton. We are entrepreneurs, friends, and above all, artists. Like so many artists worldwide, we felt the call to help our community reignite its joy during these challenging times.
We have created Find Your Wings, a year-long public art installation project that aims to unite artists and community members to celebrate and form new connections while lifting Middlebury’s town center towards economic revitalization.
Help us give this project flight!
Middlebury, Vermont, is a town and college community rich in creativity and resourcefulness. The theme 'wings' is chosen to inspire resiliency as we rise together and welcome new, inclusive ideas. This project is already underway, with several pieces of artwork scheduled for installation in the Summer of 2021.
We know we can rise above the hardships of this time in our history by celebrating our combined hopes and dreams through Find Your Wings. We need your help to make sure this project can reach its full potential.
What have we done so far?
We joined forces! The whole community must be represented in Find Your Wings, so we began strategizing with local leaders to be sure we can get as much of our community involved as possible.
We applied for grants! Find Your Wings is the proud recipient of the Vermont Community Foundation's Community Connections Spark Grant.
We sent out a Call to Artists! Paying artists is a vital component of Find Your Wings. Professional artists will receive a $1,000 commission to create outdoor sculptures with community collaboration elements to inspire broader connections and open possibilities for new pathways of sustainability.
We created programming! We've developed small, COVID-safe community activities with nearly every demographic of our town. During these events, community-created art will become part of the larger public outdoor sculptures and temporary pop-up installations around town.
*As public health allows for safe gatherings, we will incorporate appropriate larger-size community creation days.
NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We want to lift our local artists and make our community creation days accessible to everyone in our community. We have a long way to go to cover the costs of materials, permitting, and online activities. Your financial donations will help us make new and unique art installation activities accessible to all ages and abilities!
$10 will cover the cost of an activity kit for a homebound community member.
$25 will purchase supplies for community creation days.
$50 will cover the cost of permitting for art installations.
$100 builds accessible online activities created by a professional artist in our community.
$500 purchases art installation fabrication supplies (gallons of paint, plywood, landscaping maintenance).
$1000 Sponsor an artist who will create a year-long installation in Middlebury, Vermont!
Donate what you can. No amount is too small.
Share this link to your Facebook timeline. https://gofund.me/cbba7df0
Create the wing activities on our website and share them on social media!
Help us give Middlebury wings!
For more information about the FYW project, visit our website! findyourwingsvt.com
Facebook: Find Your Wings
Instagram: @findyourwingsvt
Check out this great article about Find Your Wings in the Addison Independent!
Check out this interview for Vermont local news!
Thank you for your contributions as we lift each other to new heights!
"Art is a form of healing and recovery and provides solace and therapy during times of stress. It helps safeguard mental and spiritual health and reduces barriers between people, cultures, and languages. Art has also been used to spark social change and increase awareness about destructive facets of economic development."
-Madanmohan Rao
We have created Find Your Wings, a year-long public art installation project that aims to unite artists and community members to celebrate and form new connections while lifting Middlebury’s town center towards economic revitalization.
Help us give this project flight!
Middlebury, Vermont, is a town and college community rich in creativity and resourcefulness. The theme 'wings' is chosen to inspire resiliency as we rise together and welcome new, inclusive ideas. This project is already underway, with several pieces of artwork scheduled for installation in the Summer of 2021.
We know we can rise above the hardships of this time in our history by celebrating our combined hopes and dreams through Find Your Wings. We need your help to make sure this project can reach its full potential.
What have we done so far?
We joined forces! The whole community must be represented in Find Your Wings, so we began strategizing with local leaders to be sure we can get as much of our community involved as possible.
We applied for grants! Find Your Wings is the proud recipient of the Vermont Community Foundation's Community Connections Spark Grant.
We sent out a Call to Artists! Paying artists is a vital component of Find Your Wings. Professional artists will receive a $1,000 commission to create outdoor sculptures with community collaboration elements to inspire broader connections and open possibilities for new pathways of sustainability.
We created programming! We've developed small, COVID-safe community activities with nearly every demographic of our town. During these events, community-created art will become part of the larger public outdoor sculptures and temporary pop-up installations around town.
*As public health allows for safe gatherings, we will incorporate appropriate larger-size community creation days.
NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We want to lift our local artists and make our community creation days accessible to everyone in our community. We have a long way to go to cover the costs of materials, permitting, and online activities. Your financial donations will help us make new and unique art installation activities accessible to all ages and abilities!
$10 will cover the cost of an activity kit for a homebound community member.
$25 will purchase supplies for community creation days.
$50 will cover the cost of permitting for art installations.
$100 builds accessible online activities created by a professional artist in our community.
$500 purchases art installation fabrication supplies (gallons of paint, plywood, landscaping maintenance).
$1000 Sponsor an artist who will create a year-long installation in Middlebury, Vermont!
Donate what you can. No amount is too small.
Share this link to your Facebook timeline. https://gofund.me/cbba7df0
Create the wing activities on our website and share them on social media!
Help us give Middlebury wings!
For more information about the FYW project, visit our website! findyourwingsvt.com
Facebook: Find Your Wings
Instagram: @findyourwingsvt
Check out this great article about Find Your Wings in the Addison Independent!
Check out this interview for Vermont local news!
Thank you for your contributions as we lift each other to new heights!
"Art is a form of healing and recovery and provides solace and therapy during times of stress. It helps safeguard mental and spiritual health and reduces barriers between people, cultures, and languages. Art has also been used to spark social change and increase awareness about destructive facets of economic development."
-Madanmohan Rao
Fundraising team (2)
Ashley Betton
Organizer
Middlebury, VT
Kelly Hickey
Team member
