A few of the Catrinas at Joe Vinny and Bronson’s Cafe in El Paso during the Cyber Party.
The artist’s studio is in Las Cruces, his home is in El Paso, but thousands of dollars to support his dream of bringing elegant skeletons to life are coming in from near and far thanks to digital networking and the social fundraising site Kickstarter.com
For eighteen months artist Wayne Hilton has sewn, beaded, glued and shaped the 15 exquisitely elaborate figurines at the heart of the Hermosos Huesos (Beautiful Bones) Project. Made of recycled materials, the Catrinas are a contemporary interpretation of the iconic image of “La Calavera Catrina” by Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, who created more than 20,000 graphics, woodcuts and illustrations during his lifetime, yet died penniless in 1913. Posada’s works are most frequently seen in Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebrations.
“There is a metaphoric relationship between giving new life to somewhat ‘dead’ materials, and the fact that the core inspiration of the work comes from a celebration of the dead,” Hilton said. He is hoping his work will “transcend borders – using creativity and cultural reference as a platform to foster relationships between the U.S. and Mexico.”
La Novia de Invierno (The Winter Bride)
His vision is to build a uniquely ornate environment and cases for each of the figurines and make the entire installation available for display at cultural and educational institutions and museums. The beauty and artistry of the figures – and one completed environment for “La Novia de Invierno” (The Winter Bride) – are already making an impression. The Mexican Consulate is planning to host the premier of the Hermosos Huesos exhibit and include the work as part of its cultural affairs calendar in 2012.
“In this area, people really resonate with the cultural aspect of the project,” Hilton says. Yet even those not familiar with border culture are captivated by the Catrinas. “For people that don’t have the cultural reference, the level of detail in the work is amazing to them.”
But Hilton, not wishing to follow Posada on the artist’s path to poverty, needs financial support to complete the project in time for it’s unveiling for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in November 2013 – one hundred years after Posada’s death. The entire project expense estimate is $45,000. That includes $15,000 for a laser cutter for the intricate detailing on the environments. The bulk of the costs are for materials and supplies as well as expenses for producing the book that is being developed as part of the project.
Enter Kickstarter.com, the social media fundraising website where artists, musicians, inventors and other visionaries post their projects and hope like-minded individuals find them worth backing. Kickstarter backers can pledge as little as a dollar, although most pledge more in order to receive rewards promised by the project owner. For example, people who back Hilton’s project for $45 will be rewarded with a Hermosos Huesos T-shirt. Supporters at a rate of $100 receive a commemorative print and other rewards. The more a backer pledges, the greater the rewards.
However, Kickstarter backers are not charged and no rewards are given if the project does not meet its overall funding goal. The project receives no money at all from Kickstarter unless it meets or exceeds its goal.
With just a few days left in his campaign and more than 50 percent funded with more than $22,000 pledged, Hilton is making a big final push to get the word out.
“I am looking at this like those amazing marathon runners, or those Tour de France cyclists. You have that steady, progressive effort for the majority of the race, then that full-out effort to get yourself across the finish line,” Hilton says in an update on his Kickstarter page.
Catrinas in Washinton D.C.
Hilton has been steadily networking both online and face-to-face to spread the word about the Hermosos Huesos project . He has traveled throughout the Southwest and even to Washington D.C. where he took several Catrinas on a photo shoot at national landmarks. A Facebook page – www.Facebook.com/CatrinaToLife – updates supporters with the latest photos and news. He is on Twitter as @TheWayneHilton and chronicling the journey on instagr.am under #hermososhuesos.
On Wednesday Hilton and several friends joined together for Cyber Party headquartered at Joe Vinny and Bronson’s Bohemian Café in central El Paso where laptops, tablets and smart phones were fired up and focused on updating rings of social networks to attract more backers and raise hundreds of dollars in a few hours. Participants chimed in from Boston and Mexico City as more backers were added to the tally board throughout the evening.
(Several more events are planned for the final days of the campaign. See the list at the bottom of this post.)
As he races to meet the goal by deadline, Hilton spoke with Digitalegre Blog about what he learned from his first Kickstarter campaign and what he would do differently if he could go back to the start of his project.
Wayne Hilton
“I would’ve tried to give myself a little more time to set up the social networking platforms and the networking platforms,” Hilton says. “But “I really didn’t feel like I had the time.”
Hilton set the Kickstarter schedule based on the timing he needed to get the funding and complete the entire installation before November 2013. After the project launch, El Paso-based social media strategy company Digitalegre signed on to help Hilton promote it through digital channels.
Another important key to the project, Hilton says, was figuring out the right kind of rewards to attract backers. He focused on ideas for “things that are worth having. Things that maintain the integrity of the project and things that are produce-able.”
Currently, Hermosos Huesos is one of only a handful of Kickstarter.com projects in the El Paso/Las Cruces area and it is the only one with major support. In an interesting coincidence, the only other local project to have be more than 30 percent funded is also influenced by border culture and death imagery. The Las Cruces band named Alma y La Tierra Muerta is seeking $4,500 for recording and producing a vinyl album.
You can search for projects by location at ThingsWeStart.com.
Hermosos Huesos events:
Friday, 11/30 – Showing and presentation at the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, UTEP, 6-8pm.
Saturday, 12/1 “State of the Arts” radio interview on KTEP, 11:30am radio 88.5…or livestream at KTEP.org.
Sunday, 12/2 POP Gallery Santa Fe, 2-5pm, reception and artist’s remarks, last public showing of the HERMOSOS HUESOS Project for 2012.
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