Hey Backers! Well time sure does fly when you’re having fun! It’s been 8 weeks since my last update and I wanted to check in and let you know where things are at with the “America At The Seams” project and where things are headed.
The recent tragedies in our country underscores my vision for this project and why I’m so passionate about it. If you watch the news or scroll through your social media news feeds, it feels like our country is literally falling apart at the seams. Republican vs Democrat, Rich vs Poor, White vs Black, Religion vs Religion, and the list goes on. To call our nation the “United States of America” almost has become an oxymoron; there doesn’t seem to be anything united about us.
And yet…there is.
One of the powerful things about baseball is how it has the power to transcend sports – to bring people together regardless of political status, economic class, race or religion. And this is the message that will ring throughout the 50 stories in 50 states told through my “America At The Seams” artwork project and subsequent book. That one of the reasons baseball will always be called “America’s Pastime” is because it is one of the things that truly unites us as an American people.
A few updates on where things are at with the project below:
I’ve signed on with Throne Publishing Group to assist with the coffee table book with a tentative release date of Opening Day 2017. The book will show vivid pictures of all 50 states individually juxtaposed next to the 50 personal stories of where the baseballs came from to create the artwork. This is HUGE for me because Throne provides a project management backbone, along with editorial, graphic design, copy layout services to help this book become a reality. They’ve represented authors featured in USA Today, Newsweek, Entrepreneur magazine and Inc. 500, as well as have an extensive distribution network to help get the book on retail shelves across the country. SO pumped about this!
The project website is up and running as promised in my Kickstarter Stretch Goal. Check out www.americaattheseams.com for project updates and ways to stay connected.
10% of state original artwork is complete (CA, KY, MI, NY, SD) and will be sent off for high resolution scanning and design enhancements for the book images. This is moving slower than I would have liked, but I wanted to first get everything lined up with Throne before pushing forward with state story lines. At some point soon, I will begin mounting the states onto the 6 foot wide reclaimed wood backing, but still identifying a way to do it precisely so that all the states fit together seamlessly.
I’m currently in discussions with a local video production company about their involvement with producing 2-5 minute videos of certain state storylines and gauging costs. They do have some very exciting connections nationally that could potentially catapult this project into a “50 in 50” TV series if the right people believed in this project. Stay tuned on this one…..
Project t-shirts have all been mailed and out the door. If your project rewards included a shirt and you haven’t received one, please message me.
For those of you waiting on “America’s Game” original artwork rewards and custom artwork rewards, they are next on my radar and will be shipped staggered through the next several months.
Thanks again for backing & believing in me. But more importantly, believing in baseball.