Sunday, October 16, 2011

Kickstarter is a success!

Called to Walls is Funded!!!

We can't wait to hug every single one of you!

because of you Called to Walls has been successfully funded! This means so much to Amber and I! The mission and subject of this film are so near and dear to our hearts and our practices as people and artists. We have been working in good faith on this project for the past year and now your support will carry us into the next. We can't wait to share this film with you! thank you! The next step in the genesis of the film is to log and transcribe all of the beautiful footage and audio we've captured during our time in Tonkawa, Newton and Joplin. This will be a winter well spent! In the Spring we'll be heading to Arkansas and Texas, completing projects in both of these states that summer and beginning post-production in the winter of 2012. You can look forward continue to updates on the Called to Walls blogspot as we move forward.

Thanks for your support,

sincerely,

Amber Hansen & Nicholas Ward

Thursday, October 13, 2011

WOW! 34 new backers in 3 days!!!

Wow, what an outpouring, 34 new backers in 3 days!!!


Thank you so much for your commitment, Called to Walls is just $845 away from it's goal of $10,000, so very very close!


with just 3 more days to Kick this off we need to keep the momentum! Kickstarter is an all or nothing funding platform, so it's $10,000 or bust. If you have already pledged you can still help by spreading the word! tell your friends and family, anyone you may know that would like to have an opportunity to pledge. Every dollar counts!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/calledtowalls/called-to-walls


thank you for being such great supporters!

Amber & Nicholas

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Home Stretch


Dedication day

With our filming in Joplin completed, Amber and I have returned from the field. What a great opportunity and welcomed responsibility it was to conduct the Mural Project in Joplin during its time of healing. Our interactions and relationships formed during this project are marked by a significant moment in the history of this town. A culture of willful, spirited and resilient individuals, Joplin has likewise left a significant impression upon us. Thank you so very much.

Amber and Nicholas conversing about Nicholas's to-do list. Photo: Frankoski


Dedicated design team member Sherry Pettey


Although we are now home from the field, there is a heap of work still to be done. Nicholas will spend the winter transcribing all of the footage from Tonkawa, Newton and Joplin, we have grants to write, an editor and composer to identify and soon enough, we will be interviewing and identifying a town for the next Mural Project.



Bigger than life

It is because of folks like you that projects like this can exist, at a time when arts funding is seriously compromised and arts agencies all over our country are shaken and at times broken, platforms like Kickstarter and individuals like you provide the tools to make possible projects like Called to Walls. It is your support and your faith in our vision that will make this film possible.


Your support so far has been overwhelming and we thank you! With one week to go, we are so very close to our goal of $10,000. If you believe in this project and its mission, please put the word out to others who would like the opportunity to support Called to Walls. With our goal of $10,000 realized, Called to Walls will move forward into Arkansas and one step closer to post-production!

a game of patty-cake while waiting for the wall to dry from an early morning rain


thanks for standing by us!



Thursday, September 29, 2011

Kickstarter

with less than 3weeks left for our KICKSTARTING effort we need your support to keep this film going!! by supporting Called to Walls on Kickstarter you will be helping to fund the project into it's next site this spring, at this point that site looks to be the state of Arkansas!
by clicking on the link below you'll be directed our kickstarter page where you can view the film trailer and make a pledge!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/calledtowalls/called-to-walls

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Quick update!!!




PBS national newshour just posted a short but beautiful spot about the mural project. Mary Jo Brooks produced and narrated this wonderful snippet. Per PBS's request, Called to Walls supplied a portion of the footage utilized.

take a gander,

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/09/joplin-mural-tells-story-of-the-storm.html

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Half and half never looked so good!


Joplin Mural in it's current state after a rainy September morning

Thanks so much to all of you, not only are we now halfway through our Kickstarter campaign we just accelerated past the halfway point in our funding!!!! Cheers!!!!



News:

Taking a break from our daily painting and filming efforts in Joplin we made a much overdue visit to the birthplace of this project, Tonkawa, OK. Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the wonderful folks Amber, Dave and I have come to know and love. A great group of folks who surely make this town tick. We were only able to stay for a single day but it was great day! We had a gigantic and delicious home-cooked dinner that included homemade cowboy beans, cookies and a secret recipe smoked meat. We shared news and changes in our lives and presented the film trailer to all in attendance. The trailer was greatly received and everyone was more than pleased with the evening.


The wonderful Audrey Schmidt.

friend and project manager from the Tonkawa mural.

(this photo is the first ever double rainbow peak of excellence)




On our hiatus to Tonkawa we discovered a Superfund site,

part lunar landscape part post-apocolyptic minimalist rock garden,

this was quite the unusual town. Thats right, town! From what we could make

out, this very spot was once a regular neighborhood in the present-day ghost town of Picher,Ok.


We weren't the only out-of-towners on this trip, our jot into

Oklahoma found us commingling with a band of 2D

foreigners of the furthest extremity. The lovely Amber Hansen

can be found in the lower right and recent mural team MVP

Ashley Laird to your left.





After a year, the Tonkawa Mural still looks great!

panel two of five


We returned to Joplin just in time for Amber to perform her ritual task of

handing the moon to the sky. Once again all were

restful and sleeping easy under it's watchful glow.


Postcard invitation for the Joplin mural dediction


Our next hiatus takes place on the 28th of September. We'll be winding our way through Missouri and back into Kansas for a trip to Newton, KS, Where, if I remember correctly we were putting the finishing touches on our mural efforts at this very time last year. Newton here we come!