Spacesuit Art Project
Our Space for Art story began with the awesomeness of the Spacesuit Art Project. We're thankful to one of our founding directors, Ian Cion, who back in 2015 approached our dear friend Gordon Andrews at the NASA Johnson Space Center with the idea for an art spacesuit ~ to be created as part of his work with the children in the Arts in Medicine Program he founded and managed at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston, TX.
What began with one artist and the children undergoing pediatric cancer treatment in one hospital has beautifully brought together a planetary Space for Art community ~ that now, through the Space for Art Foundation, includes children in hospitals, refugee centers, orphanages, & schools from all around the world (our Artonauts); as well as many artists, astronauts, cosmonauts, space professionals like THE spacesuit company ILC Dover, & health experts and organizations who continue with us on this mission of Space, Art, & Healing. 🚀🎨🌎💖
Hope & Ian
To date, the Space for Art Foundation has brought to life eight art spacesuits. (Four that have traveled to & from the International Space Station (ISS)). Art Spacesuits ~ Hope, Courage, Unity, Victory, Dreamer, Exploration, Beyond & Infinity ~ are all named to capture the strength & vision of the children from around the planet who helped create them.
We are fortunate to have the continued partnership with spacesuit company ILC Dover Astrospace and Foundation UNITY
​
Our latest spacesuit art creations are Beyond & Infinity.
​
While we can never promise a trip to space, we are of course hopeful that someday we will see Beyond & Infinity in space too!
Dreamer onboard the ISS with members of the Expedition 65 crew ~ Mark Vande Hei (NASA), Pyotr Dubrov (RSA), Megan McArthur (NASA), Oleg Novitsky (RSA) & Thomas Pesquet (ESA).
Beyond is the ambassador for Spaceship Earth - sharing a message of the connection between personal & planetary health, and as a beautiful reminder that we live on a planetary spaceship & that we are all Earthlings.
All of the artwork for Beyond was collected during the 2 years of COVID pandemic ~ a time when every child on Earth was dealing with a stressful time of isolation and concern for their health and well-being. We are thankful to our network of Earthlings who helped us reach out around the world to engage with so many incredible Artonauts. ILC Dover (THE spacesuit company) quilted together over 800 pieces of artwork from children in hospitals, refugee centers, orphanages, & schools in all 192 countries on the planet.
#planet #earthlings #thinblueline #crewnotpassengers
​​
Beyond made its debut at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland (Nov 2021).
(In partnership with ActionAid International & UNICEF)
Pictures of Infinity to come...
Art Spacesuits Unity and Hope and young artist strolling on "Mars"
Reid & Nicole meeting with a young artist at the University of TX MD Anderson Pediatric Cancer Center in Houston
Hamoud reunited with his painting & meets Exploration in Paris!
Art Spacesuits Unity and Hope and young artist strolling on "Mars"