Help me travel and write this summer!

Hi friends, family, and friends of family,

My name is Maddie and I love to story tell. I have always loved to write but, in December of 2023 during my winter break, I read “Everything I Know about Love,” By Dolly Alderton, which completely shifted the way I view writing and narrative. In the East Village, I sat in Mudspot Cafe daily, to finish her book. Simultaneously, I observed, mentally note taking, catching stories, regurgitating them, meeting people, and writing about it all.

Upon going back to school, I was able to reflect on what writing was really doing for me and how it’s integrated into my artist practice as a sophomore sculpture major at the Rhode Island School of Design. I have been heavily influenced by The Face magazine, from the 70s and 80s, and intrigued by the rawness of which they wrote stories and distributed the lives of others to large numbers of people. With this in mind, I found that I want to spend my summer traveling and writing. I want to share stories on a blog of the people I meet and the collective experiences I have with people around the world. This would also allow me to begin submitting to literary magazines online, to share my writing with a greater audience.

This summer project is aligned with the kind of work I have been doing and plan to continue to do. I have always been fascinated by people and after the passing of my dad, I believe that amplified. The importance and value I find in people, [I believe] I inherited from my dad. It has been an amazing process to experience studying people through an artistic lens, with the freedom of incorporating all different types of mediums. To be able to express my deep interest in the people I know but also the strangers that I’ll never speak to again, who so generously share their lives with me, is something I find passion in. With all of this being said… I need your support!

I am hoping to raise money to cover all essential expenses such as housing and travel costs, allowing me to focus solely on my writing and exploration.

Your contribution will not only support me in logistical endeavors but will also enable me to begin zeroing in on where I truly find passion. My end goal is to create a physical magazine with a throughline, in some way, of all the stories I’ve collected.

While traveling I also intend to connect to RISD alumni that reside in the places that I would be visiting and gain knowledge from them about the things I’m interested in and life after school. The places I’m interested in visiting are: Paris, Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Spain, Greece, and London.

Thank you in advance for your donations! I’ve never done anything like this and I am grateful for everyone that can donate, no matter how much, and even if you can’t, just your support! Everything and anything brings me one step closer to what I want to be doing and again, I couldn’t be more grateful. I love you all, those I know and those I don’t. Cheers!

Warmly,

Maddie