Who hasn't fantasized what it would be like to pop on a space suit and explore the farthest uncharted realms of the universe? Live out your childhood (or adult) dreams of boarding a space ship to Mars or the next undiscovered galaxy through a fun new arts project based in Spokane: Space Hero Mission.
The brainchild of recent Inland Northwest transplants and professional photographers Don and Julia Derosier, the ongoing project is one of the many featured endeavors at this Friday's Terrain 8 (read more about this year's event in the new issue of the Inlander).
A few weeks ago the couple launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund an upcoming Northwest tour of the replica Apollo 11 space suit and their artwork to let more people across the region have a chance to be photographed in it. The campaign closes early Saturday morning, with a final push for donations happening during Terrain.
The $3,000 campaign would fund travel expenses for the couple, who plan to wind throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana later this year, letting campaign backers who donate $100 or more pose for a session in the space suit. The Derosiers also plan to donate 10 percent of proceeds from the campaign to local refugee resettlement nonprofit, World Relief Spokane.
"The biggest reason we're doing [the Kickstarter] is to spread awareness and exposure. Even if we don't make it, we're going to try and and connect with people who donated and see if we could work something out," Don Derosier explains.
So far, the space suit has traveled with the couple on trips to Australia, Fiji and Hawaii.
"On our down time we like to do personal projects and this was something new and awesome. We love being creative and we find this is a great way to push our limits and to think of something that no one else has really done before," Derosier says. "We really like this particular space suit — it's iconic for American culture. It's the one people remember and that's why we chose it."
