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Texas Butterfly Print Project

Overview

Updated: Fall, 2011

“What is this special fascination all about? There are a number of reasons, I’m sure, but my strong feeling is that we need butterflies to remind us that

positive change is possible, that there is magic to life, and that we have to be mindful of our surroundings, because if we destroy nature, we destroy

ourselves. Butterflies awaken our spirits and open our hearts. They give us a sense of hope and the possibility of our own transformation and

evolution.”

Maraleen Manos Jones, The Spirit of Butterflies:

Myth, Magic and Art

Mission

The Texas Butterfly Print Project is a multiple-year, fine art print creation project designed to accomplish two primary objectives:

To produce 10 fine art prints by leading artists with a tie to Texas. The prints

will be available for sale on an individual basis and as a boxed set. Proceeds from the sale of the prints will support the reforestation of the North

American Butterfly Association’s National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas.

A limited run of 25 prints per artist will be produced for the boxed sets, and 10 single prints per each artist will be for sale on an individual basis. The

artist list is currently under development. Careful consideration is being given

to ensure a balance of artistic styles, gender, ethnicity, age, “Texas connection,” and other factors. Those accepting our invitation to participate

thus far include: Kate Breakey, Julie Speed and Vincent Valdez.

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Included with each boxed set of fine art prints will be a frontispiece

introduction provided by a highly regarded author and/or screenwriter. The box to contain the prints will be designed by Mike Hicks, and hence will be a

work of art itself, as will details of the interior of this specially created, unique container.

And equally if not more importantly, the Project will serve:

To build state-wide visibility for the North American Butterfly Association’s

National Butterfly Center through a professional touring exhibition of the

finished fine art prints, a video documenting the creation of the prints at

Flatbed Press in Austin (which will include dialogues with the artists, our author partner, Project organizers, and with Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg, President

of the North American Butterfly Association), tandem educational programs for K-12 students, and associated printed materials (produced in both English

and Spanish, wherever possible).

It is hoped that with increased visibility, a broad base of future sponsors from

across Texas will be developed for the park, and that people visiting the traveling exhibition (and young people participating in the educational

programs being developed), will learn about the park and the important role butterflies play in the natural world.

The Texas Butterfly Print Project is meant to be a program of the highest caliber,

both in terms of the finished fine art prints produced, as well as the artists who create them. Each aspect of the Project will follow suit. However, donors should be

assured that close financial oversight will be maintained. Any funding that is secured

beyond the scope of the Texas Butterfly Print Project budget will be awarded to the North American Butterfly Association.

North American Butterfly Association - National Butterfly Center http://www.naba.org/nababp/Index.html

The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas is the culmination of a decade of

planning for a facility devoted entirely to studying and appreciating wild butterflies. The Park is dedicated to education, conservation and scientific research.

The subtropical climate of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and its unique

diversity of butterflies attract visitors from around the world. Texas - and particularly South Texas - boasts more butterfly species than any other state in the

nation.

The Park involves not only educational programs for people of all ages, but very importantly, the re-vegetation of land along the Rio Grande River with a wide

variety of native plants in natural plant communities that have all but disappeared

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from the South Texas landscape. These native plants are attractive to the many

unique butterfly species that find their homes in South Texas. Re-vegetation has already begun. Financial support and some new construction has been provided by

such entities as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Park Service, Mission Economic Development

Corporation, The Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation, The Meadows Foundation, Houston Endowment Inc., The Brown Foundation, Inc. of

Houston, and the Magnolia Trust.

Butterfly Print Project Team

Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg, President, North American Butterfly Association, Morristown, New Jersey and National Butterfly Center, Mission, Texas

(www.naba.org)

Mark Smith and Katherine Brimberry, Co-owners, Flatbed Press, Austin, Texas (www.flatbedpress.com)

Mike Hicks, Hixosolo, Austin, Texas (www.hixo.com) Laurey Peat, Laurey Peat + Associates, Dallas, Texas

Project Board:

Carolyn M. Appleton, Corpus Christi, Texas

(http://home.earthlink.net/~cappleton) Shannon Wood Bush, Landowner and art patron, Refugio, Texas

Project Time Frame

~ WORK IN PROGRESS ~

Selection of artists (Mark Smith). Among the top choices are the following (invitations to participate are underway – those marked with an asertisk have agreed):

Art Guys John Alexander

David Bates Michael Ray Charles

Kate Breakey* James Drake

Melissa Miller Vincent Valdez*

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Julian Schnabel John Holt Smith

Ray Smith Julie Speed*

Selection of venues for the traveling exhibition, ending at the National Butterfly

Center in Mission, Texas.

Selection of author to write the frontispiece is underway. Among those being considered: Rick Bass; Oscar Casares, John Graves; Thomas McGuane; Larry

McMurtry; Sam Shepard; and Bill Wittliff.

Project budgeting is complete (Carolyn M. Appleton).

~ TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN MONTHS ~

Fundraising to underwrite the Project will begin once the final ten artists are

recruited, as well as the author of the frontispiece.

Printmaking scheduling and creation (Mark Smith, Katherine Brimberry), videotaping of printmaking process, creation of educational programs (NABA

staff), creation of printed materials (Mike Hicks).

During this time frame, a limited number of leading donors will be invited to witness portions of the print creation process, if desired.

Final production of printed materials and didactic labels to accompany the

traveling exhibition (as images of all finished prints will be required for completion).

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~ REMAINING WORK ~

Project details are completed and fine-tuned, so that traveling exhibition can be comfortably launched and media attention is well planned and secured.

Opening of the exhibition will occur at the “host” museum selected by the

Project partners. The Texas Butterfly Print Project will tour to venues in cities across Texas, with an emphasis on fine art museums with a

contemporary art focus (Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Marfa, El Paso, Mission are under consideration).

Final exhibition venue will be Mission, Texas, home of the National Butterfly

Center being funded through the Project.

Project Budget Estimate

The Texas Butterfly Print Project is anticipated to require funding at the level of $520,000 to $550,000 range, spread over a two- to three-year time span. The sale of

the fine art print boxed sets and individual prints are anticipated to match this amount in the end. Auxiliary sales of brochures, t-shirts and other items to be

produced in tandem with the touring exhibition will go to support the National

Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas.

Included in the budget are such items as the cost of providing artist honoraria

(including honorarium for our well-known author to write the frontispiece), artist travel expenses to and from Flatbed Press, professional graphic design and printing

for the boxed set design, video production, brochure and related printed pieces (Mike

Hicks of Hixosolo), the cost of a professional public relations firm to provide consistent promotion of the Project for the duration of the print creation time frame

and exhibition tour (Laurey Peat + Associates of Dallas), Flatbed press printing production fees, framing costs, exhibition travel costs, insurance fees, and the like.

In-kind contributions of butterfly and park information are being provided the

Project partners, and with luck, our budget may be slightly decreased in the end. However, our budgeting process attempts to include all possible costs to ensure we

are adequately and fully “covered.”

Charitable donations to support the Project will be sought from individuals, foundations, families and corporations. Annual reports will be provided to donors

who award grants to the Texas Butterfly Print Project. Sponsors at significant levels

will also be invited watch the printmaking process on site as they wish and are able

to do so. Sponsor names will be included in the exhibition brochure and related printed informational pieces as well.

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How the Project Was Born Carolyn M. Appleton developed the concept of the Texas Butterfly Print Project in

conversations with her long-time friend and colleague, Mark Smith of Flatbed Press. She and Mark then brought a team of like-minded friends together to help organize

and implement the Project. Carolyn is an honorary lifetime member of the North American Butterfly Association in recognition of her volunteer fundraising service

over the past several years.

For More Information

Please contact the following for more information: Flatbed Press:

Mark Smith and Katherine Brimberry, Co-owners, Flatbed Press, 2830 East

MLK Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78702 (512-477-9328) – www.flatbedpress.com

Sponsorships and Grants:

Carolyn M. Appleton, 401 Santos Street, No. 5405, San Antonio, Texas 78210 (210-913-5055) – http://home.earthlink.net/~cappleton/

The photograph of a Mexican bluewing butterfly shown on page 1 is by Jeffrey Glassberg.