Moses and the boats

My cousin-in-law (not sure if that's a thing... the cousin of my husband?) is asking for donations to get him to Slovenia to continue a project started in upstate New York, building amazing art boats out of reclaimed materials. They were featured in the New York Times, so I'll treat you with some dazzling pictures and then maybe you'll consider frontin' Mosey some money. The letter and info to be found below.

By the by, Moses was with my husband Matt at the party where we met. Actually I started talking to Moses first... he's a cool guy... last seen by me at Maker Faire manning the Life-Size Mousetrap.

Hello,

It's Moses Grubb writing from San Francisco. I hope all is well with you. Here's some news.

Last year I made some major improvements in my life. I've

quit drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. I have entered into a

relationship with a woman I love deeply and become a stepfather to an incredible kid named Lucky. With love and family I quit drinking without AA. I am very happy and these changes have led to some exciting things.

Here are some pictures of me, Spy, and Lucky.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/actyvo/3331820267/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/themonster/2881944187/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/themonster/2882686736/in/photostream/

Last year I worked in New York on an art project

called "Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea" which the New York
times called "part floating artwork, part performance, part mobile
utopia." 50 friends consisting of artists, carpenters,
musicians, filmmakers, and seafarers built several boats out of scrap
and recycled junk. We then voyaged 180 miles on the Hudson River

performing a show with the boats as the stage ending in New York City
where we displayed them as part of a greater gallery show of the

artist SWOON at Deitch Projects. You can read more about the project
in this New York Times article and slideshow:

NY Times Article: http://tinyurl.com/5swnka
NY Times Slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/cmuos5

It was an amazing experience that really helped me grow in my craft
and as an artist. We also had a lot of fun and made the people smile.

With the skills I learned growing up in Austin,

I continue my career as a carpenter / builder in
San Francisco and Oakland. Here I started working with artists on

interactive sculpture and performance. Following the successes of last year, I was honored to be invited to participate in the "Swimming Cities of

Serenissima." Reassembling two boats from the Hudson and constructing

a new one on Slovenia's tiny coast near Croatia, we will navigate the

Adriatic Sea into Italy building art and developing a performance
along the way. We will arrive in Venice parading the canals and

sharing our art during la Biennale di Venezia, an annual,
international avant-garde and contemporary arts events. It's a dream.

I was ready to start this new adventure when, just days before leaving I got a surprise

additional bill at home of $3200. At the same time, I was forced to settle a shocking debt from

parking tickets. I postponed my trip. I took some odd jobs. We had a benefit in

which our friends showed amazing support, but we

still fell short. I need to raise $4000 in order to
participate in this project. I am asking everyone I know and even reaching out to
strangers in the hopes that we can put the money together. I know
times are tough, but anything you might be able to donate to our
efforts in this project would be an amazing gift.

You can donate over the Internet by doing the following

1. Go to Paypal: http://www.paypal.com
2. Create an account if you don't already have one (this won't take long)
3. Send donations to mosesandspy@gmail.com

Thanks for reading this and for all your support over the years.

With love,
Moses