500 youth to form SUNGLYPH:
A Gigantic Living Painting of a Gorge Petroglyph
When: April 26, 9:30 AM
Where: Mosier School Ballfield
Contact: Mosier School, 478-3321, Artist: Daniel Dancer, 541-806-3020
On Wednesday, April 26th, at 9:30 AM, 500 youth and teachers from the Mosier Community School will take the shape of a gigantic deer petroglyph from the Gorge. In front of the school, participants will become “human drops of paint” in an image that will only make sense from the sky. Awakening one's "skysight", the ability to use one's imagination to see the elusive Big Picture, is one of the main goals of this fascinating art form that dates back 3000 years to the Nazca Lines of Peru. This event is the culmination of a 3 day Art For the Sky residency led by Oregon conceptual artist, author and educator, Daniel Dancer. The residency was paid for with a grant from the Columbia Art Center.
For the last two decades Dancer has conducted Art For the Sky residencies in 43 states and 8 countries with the goal of creating living paintings made of children on all 50 states. Images of his collaborative work with schools can be viewed in the “sky gallery” on his webstie: www.artforthesky.com. The deer petroglyph sports a sun design on its body giving a name to the image of, SunGlyph in on honor of Mosier School's array of solar collectors which power a portion of the school. The body of the deer will be formed by participants wearing brown organic cotton t-shirts with the design upon them. The sun and the large rack of antlers will be formed with clothing donated by the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul thrift shops in The Dalles. Dancer will photograph the huge design from the top of a fire truck platform as well as working with a drone operator to film the image from directly above.
The varied teachings of Art For the Sky help participants awaken their “sky sight”, a manner of viewing the world that grants greater access to creative thinking and problem solving. Through working together in the creation of these beautiful, living paintings, participants experience the power of collaboration and their interconnection with one another. And like the many animals and endangered species Dancer has helped other schools to create, SunGlyph is a gift from participants from Earth to Sky in thanks for all the blessings of life on this beautiful planet.
“Crossing all cultural boundaries, a picture speaks 1000 words, and the images of Art For the Sky turn those words into prayers for wildlife, the environment and our collective future.” Gloria Flora, Executive Director, Sustainable Obtainable Solutions