Shiree is a "World of Wearable Art" Finalist!

My name is Shiree Houf & I am a stay-at-home mom who freelances as a costume designer out of her basement in Pickerington, OH. When I was a little girl, my mom was never allowed to throw anything away b/c I could “make something”. For example: a cereal box & a scrap of fabric made delightful little slippers for my 1st grade self! I now make delightful things worn by performers & featured on many stages. At this moment I have a garment selected as a finalist on a global stage in the World of WearableArt Competition which takes place in Wellington, New Zealand. I need your help funding a trip there THIS September to see my piece, Captain King Midas onstage! It is only 2 months away & there are flights, hotels, show tickets, & workshops to cover! Let me tell you more!

To be incredibly frank, I am quite insecure in attempting to describe World of WearableArt (Please do visit their website: WOW.) However, at the risk of sounding trite but 1000% leaning into my love of things aptly named: it in fact wows. One thing I did not realize at first was that this is NOT a one-night event. It is a show that runs like a theatrical production in an ARENA! They even added a show to this year! Before I found out I was a finalist I let myself buy a New Zealand travel book (saying that if I did not get in this year then I would have it for a future year!). WOW is listed in the book: “A two-week run of spectacular garments (dresses or sculptures-it's a fine line) displayed in a spectacular show. Tickets are hot property; hotel beds anywhere near the city sell out weeks in advance.” That last part makes this gofundme more time sensitive than would be comfortable. Despite just finding out on July 7th, I have been planning this for quite some time! How long have I been planning? I'm glad you asked!

I have been planning in earnest to enter this spectacular show for 5+ years. I found it by starting a personal inspiration board on Pinterest (circa 2010) & noticed that the images were all coming from the same place: WOW. I couldn’t believe how big & how long this event has been around (it started in 1987). I was incredibly overwhelmed by the enormity of it. I honestly thought it was too big of a goal. I was in my head & just shoved it out. However, at Highball in 2019 (the year I did a 1Eyed1Horned Flying Purple People Eater), another designer mentioned it backstage & I geeked out sharing what the application process looked like. I had, afterall, been looking at it compulsively. That night two of my fellow artists told me I should just go for it & I started planning before my head hit the pillow. So why did it take so long?!

There were just a few global issues taking place in the following years that did not allow my plans to be actuated as soon as I would have liked, however, in the spring of 2022 I began creating my Captain King Midas with full intention to enter him into the Gold section at WOW. I got him nearly finished in time for him to be my main costume at Highball Halloween in October 2022 & finished him to submit my application by early March 2023. I found out a week later that I made it through international preselection & that I needed to ship him off to New Zealand. Thankfully WOW has sponsored shipping & I was able to freight all 5 boxes of him for a FRACTION of the REAL cost. If you were on fbook you may have seen what looked like a crazy impulsive day trip to Chicago for just a slice of pizza & to see the green river. In comparison to the wait to find out if I was a finalist that 11 hr drive was NOTHING. Almost 4 months later I got a very happy email telling me that I am a finalist & quite a bit more.

I keep crying in disbelief that I am one of about 120 designers from 22 countries who will have work onstage this year! I am very excited to meet this amazing group of people who specialize in “wearable art”. From what I can tell it is a great community to be a part of, & after only a dozen days of being in the finalist group I have already had invitations to visit some other artists' studios & one even donated to this fundraiser! World of WearableArt hosts days of designer events around opening/awards night to help foster connections/opportunities for designers! I think it is wonderful that they do this even though the prizes are certainly enough! Oh did I not talk about what I could win?!

The crazy lists of awards are another big chunk of why I thought this was just too lofty of a goal. There are 33 awards that span 6 categories (each with 1st, 2nd, & 3rd prizes), continental awards, overall awards (founder’s choice, people’s choice), & internship/artist in residency awards/opportunities. You can see more here: List of Awards. Again, the potential prizes are staggering in amounts (NZ $1,600- NZ $30,000) as well as truly once in a lifetime Wishlist experiences including an internship with Weta Workshop! Weta created for The Lord of the Rings & more recently for Wakanda Forever with Ruth E Carter (but SO MUCH MORE). Past award-winning garments have been featured in many ways but one that sticks out to me is that Lizzo wore one on the cover of Rolling Stone. This is certainly life changing but it is about much more than just me.

I truly believe my participation in this INTERNATIONAL event also affects our amazing arts community I am a part of here in Columbus, OH. Any designer workshops, experimentation with new techniques & technologies, & opportunities to build on professional portfolios will only positively influence & diversify the art I create in my community (theatrical organizations, dance companies, drag artists, and pageant contestants I work with). My youngest goes off to kindergarten this year (tbd half or whole day) & I will be looking to take on more projects than I have in some time. This fall or next I’ll be taking the dive into working-mom land. This HUGE opportunity feels like a wonderful way to launch into this new phase of parenting professionalism but there’s more.

On an even more personal note (that I’ve definitely already shared with those I’ve seen in person) opening night/awards night is on my late dad’s birthday (September 22nd he would have been 63). He was always encouraging me along my artistic path. Specifically, he antagonized me & said “why not you”. The last few years he was alive (he passed in 2008) I was mostly pursuing acting in college & would list off ALL the reasons I didn’t think I would get a part (design was clearly my better path) BUT my dad just always said to let them make that decision. In the theatre world rejection is not new & if you’ve done it enough you just accept it as part of the journey. I’m very thankful that he got this lesson in before he left this world. I am incredibly thankful that I let WOW make the decision and I am BEYOND THANKFUL for any help you all can provide to allow me to see this crazy big stretch of a goal perform onstage... on a GLOBAL stage.... WOW.