Can chasing a horizon reveal to us its unending nature? In what sense are our bodies linked to this perpetuity? Our journey towards this answer begins with a boat. Artists Jillian Soto and Sara Black will be relocating a retired twenty-eight foot wooden boat from the shores of Lake Erie in Vermilion, Ohio south to the village of Chesterhill, Ohio. This inaugural project entitled Voyagers begins a series of “chapters” in an episodic multi-year physical journey of artist and project collectively entitled, Thy Sea is Great Our Boats are Small.

Based on the structural and metaphorical container of a hymnal book by the same name, published in 1922, Thy Sea is Great Our Boats are Small, engages current investigations of temporal architecture, place, and the social platform in contemporary art through a series of project-chapters sited throughout the American Midwest and West.

This first chapter, Voyagers, will involve the conversion of the boat’s hull into a large-scale sculptural form and unique living quarters for future artist-guests visiting Haven Tree Farm, which hosts Harold Arts Residency. The sculpture will then be installed amongst the towering trees at the farm.

Your sponsorship will go towards funding the practical steps necessary to make this collaborative project a success, such as: food and accommodations for a project crew of eight, consultation with structural engineers, professional crane rental for movement of the 5,000 pound boat hull, and building materials. Voyagers will then become part of a larger network of site-related projects, invited via the Hub & Tack program of the Placemakers Foundation. Both the Placemakers Foundation and Harold Arts reside at Haven Tree Farm and will contribute to the development of art and culture of Chesterhill and the surrounding Morgan County within southeastern, Ohio.