Well, as you can imagine, this past week has been very eventful and has been keeping me busy in the best of ways. My fundraiser kicked off last week and it has been a fun, exciting experience. Within the first week, I’ve already raised $1,085, sold out my all of my $50 perks and we still have two and a half weeks to go!

Putting together a fundraiser is a lot of work but definitely a labor of love. Prior to the official fundraiser kick-off, I was feverishly working on putting together my promotional video. Didn’t get much sleep that week but it was well worth it because the response has been very enthusiastic and I’m so pleased the video came out the way I envisioned it. I wanted to tell a story about my relationship wtih the city, kind of like reconnecting with a lost love.

What’s also been especially fantastic about this experience is just the amount of support I received. People have really stepped up to contribute, all of them eager to see my work in person but also to see me pursue my dream. Their generosity has moved to tears at times because in many cases, people that I barely knew or only met once (or in the case of a generous contributor who gave $55 all the way from the UK) were quick to help. One of my spin instructors contributed money right on the spot after spin class.  I could not have imagined that I would raise this much money in this short amount of time. At this rate, I should be able to meet my goal and hopefully beyond! The largest support has also come from fellow artists who are looking to do the same thing and feel inspired by my campaign.

Throughout last week, I created visual updates to keep people in the loop about how far we’ve come. It’s been a lot of fun making them!

There’s a lot more work to be done, but this labor of love has certainly lit a fire under me. Please stay tuned for more updates and if you’d like to contribute, please visit my campaign page!