Hi, I am Michael Thron, a Philadelphia-based sculptor with an MFA in Studio Art. I currently work as an art assistant, fabricator, art handler, and general maker, as I travel all around the mid-Atlantic and northeast for work.

2022 was a good yet difficult year. There was a lot of change for me. I lost a lot of time due to the Covid-19 virus and moved around from Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Though I had some great opportunities this past year, working with many artists to help make their work, and a couple of opportunities to exhibit the ripples of the pandemic still hit me hard.

After this stressful year, 2023 is turning around and I’ve been granted an exceptional opportunity. I was accepted to the prestigious Vermont Studio Center for a 4-week visual art residency in April. They have kindly provided some financial assistance (about 60%), but I still cannot afford the remaining charge to attend, and I hope you can help.

Through this program, I hope to push my artistic boundaries, build relationships with other artists, and build community. Because of the unexpected opportunities to learn new methods and philosophies from others, art residencies are exceptional. This, in my opinion, makes the resulting artwork a tool for exploring self-evolution. The body of work I intend to create will provide me with a fantastic opportunity to advance my ideas and develop larger pieces and installations that address our climate.

During this residency, I plan to create a body of work focused on climate change and how the earth has entered into a new epoch, characterized by humanity’s modification of the earth’s environmental system, through focusing on the rising seas/temperatures, resource scarcity, and climate-change-fueled migration. I want to create and fabricate architectural emulations of society; spending my time focusing on what happens when a material and form create a dialogue about our effect on the world.

In addition to this crowdsourcing, I have been applying for grants and working additional jobs to pay the balance before the Feb 23 2023 deadline.

The funds raised here ($6500) would go directly to paying the residency fee (including studio access, mentoring, visiting artist lectures, and room and board) which is $5500. (The additional money is for this platform's 3% fee, travel, rent back home, and maybe a little left over for materials.)

Even if you are unable to contribute financially, words of support are always appreciated.

Thank you!

You can check out my previous work here and learn a little more about me here.

www.michaelthron.com

Thank you for your support!