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Flying Leap Productions

Participatory, site-specific performances for kids and families around challenging topics

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Bring Migrant Teens and their 15-Foot-Tall Puppets to the Guggenheim this August!

The renowned borderlands puppetry project returns with a timely development workshop at the Guggenheim Museum.

 United States
  • $2,304 raised of $10,000 goal
  • 11 donations
  • -76548 minutes left
This is a Fiscally-Sponsored Project

Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas

About Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro:


On August 14-17, a group of international artists and migrant and 1st generation teens from across NYC will reimagine Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro, a vibrant binational giant puppet performance that explores the complexity of national identity and celebrates human connection over political and social division, in residence at the Guggenheim Museum Education Department. 

  • In 2017, five 15-foot-tall puppets made by teens growing up in the shadow of the US/Mexico border wall came together for the first iteration of this binational performance. 
  • In 2019, 60 teens from either side of the wall connected as pen pals and emerging puppeteers. 
  • In 2020, on the verge of our third major event, a new pilot program, and two massive new partnerships… the pandemic put us on pause.
  • NOW, in a changing social climate, we have the opportunity to reunite to celebrate our individual identities, our diverse and shared cultures, and to uplift and celebrate life in the borderlands.  The teens will join 6 artists from the US, Mexico, and Europe to reimagine and co-create this timely work, explore how the project’s themes resonate in today’s social and political climate – and build our first giant puppets in 4 years.

After our residency, we will spend 3 months planning our next borderlands event in Nogales Arizona, US and Nogales Sonora: a parade on both sides of the wall in downtown Nogales AZ/SON, led by a group of 15-foot tall puppets created by local teens. This binational borderlands art performance will be free to the public and family-friendly, and will collaboratively add infrastructure that supports artists and young people in Nogales’ thriving art scene as we build a better future together.

This isn’t just a performance: it’s a spectacle of cultures, a child- and teen-led art practice, and a chance to come together to celebrate all of the beauty of migration and life in the borderlands. 

We have already secured HALF our budget in donations and in-kind support. Now, we are raising $10,000 to complete our budget. These funds will fly our international artists to New York and pay the project’s six artists a fair living wage through September.

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Why this, why now? 

 
What began as a project to address the dangerous, escalated militarization in the borderlands due to Trump’s politically-motivated falsehoods and oppressive policy, has grown into a project which seeks not only to confront these systemic abuses, but to engage and foster connections between diverse groups of migrant and borderlands youth. Beyond the Wall || Más Alla del Muro empowers young participants and their families to own their culture, personhood, and individuality amidst the complexities and challenges of a rapidly changing North America. 

First person perspectives are often excluded from contemporary conversations around human migration and refugeeism, but artists and young people have honest, critical voices that can change the conversation. Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro amplifies those voices to invite discussion and radical listening through play and positivity. Too often, the borderlands only make the news outside the region when something negative or challenging happens. Through this community-centric project, we offer a space to come together, to celebrate, to listen, and to respond. 

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Past Press for Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro:


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How Funds Will Be Spent:


85% of funds raised on this platform will go directly to paying artists a living wage.

Our Pay Equity Standards
Flying Leap adheres to strict pay equity standards, which have been recognized by the industry. All of our artists and administrators are compensated at rates that: 
  1. Meet W.A.G.E. guidelines (https://wageforwork.com/)
  2. Meet/exceed comparable union/guild contract rates when available 
  3. Paying at minimum a living wage for each artist’s area based on the MIT living wage calculator (https://livingwage.mit.edu/)

Finance Overview 
  • The workshop and continued activities through September will cost $19,500. 
  • We have already secured $9500 in funds and in-kind support from The Guggenheim, Materials for the Arts, and past earned income. 
  • We are raising $10,000 to fund the project through September..
  • We have strong fiscal management experience: the producing members of our team have managed budgets up to $100k USD including indoor, outdoor, and touring performances in the US, UK, Mexico, and Europe.

Budget
Expenses: $19,500
  • $8500 – Paying Artists (6 artists for prep, planning, workshop, and follow up)
  • $2000 – Space (100% in kind from The Guggenheim)
  • $1800 – Paying Teen Participants (100% in kind from The Guggenheim)
  • $1600 – Travel (2 artists from MX, 1 artist from the Catskills)
  • $1600 – Photography and Videography (100% in kind from generous friends)
  • $1400 – Puppet Building Supplies (50% in kind from Materials for the Arts)
  • $1300 – Admin & Overhead (keeps us insured, legal, and well-managed)
  • $1300 – Contingency (solving last minute problems)

Funds Secured: $9,500
  • $6000 In-kind support
  • $3500 Earned income from past projects

Total to raise: $10,000

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Who We Are:


Flying Leap Productions produces thoughtful, participatory performance for families around complicated or difficult subject matter, for families to experience together. Our performances take place in the community, outside traditional theater spaces, and we make them in direct collaboration with our artists and our audience. With a core emphasis on accessibility and joy, our performances offer a foundation for discussion between children and their families.

We empower families to leap across perceived boundaries together and towards each other, into a more liberated world where kids have the agency to ask challenging questions and take action, and adults have the tools to navigate tough topics alongside them.

Flying Leap is a 2024-2025 recipient of the ART New York/Howard Gilman Foundation Small Theaters Fund, as well as grants from the New York City Artist Corps, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. 

Project Artists

  • Susanna Brock (she/her) – a Swedish, New York-based theater artist, director, and educator with 10+ years experience in community engagement and curriculum development at schools and arts institutions across NYC. 
  • Ana Cantorán Viramontes (she/her) – a Mexican, New York-based theater maker, puppeteer, and teaching artist with experience working in schools, theaters, and arts institutions in NYC and internationally.
  • Jacksubeli Gonzalez (she/her) – a borderlands native, an accomplished community youth and arts organizer and, a member of the Nogales MX cultural council. Mexican Ministry of Culture recognition for leadership in community development.
  • Jess Kaufman (she/her, Catskills, NY) – a family theater artist, educator and producer with experience managing $100k+ budgets in international settings. New York Foundation for the Arts 2020 Emerging Arts Leader.
  • Oscar Lancaster (he/him) – an artist, art educator, puppeteer, and classroom teacher born and raised in Nogales MX, with strong connections to local youth and to youth-serving cultural institutions. 
  • Logan gabrielle Schulman (they/them) – an interdisciplinary director, producer, educator, social practice artist, and puppeteer. Drama League Directors Project, Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum Social Practice Institute Inaugural Resident Artist, 2020 Kilroys List.
  • The project was co-founded by Jess Kaufman and Ana Díaz Barriga (she/her) a Mexican puppeteer and scholar currently finishing a PhD in puppetry and empathy at Northwestern University.

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FAQs


Q: Is my contribution tax-deductible?
A: Yes! All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law in the U.S., minus the value of any rewards you select. The exact tax-deductible amount of your gift will be clearly stated during the checkout process.

Q: I have a foundation, charitable trust, or like to donate by check. Can I?
A: Yes! Please contact us and we will send you the details. If you represent a foundation or charitable trust, contact us for instructions and tax ID. (Jess Kaufman, Artistic Director – jess@flying-leap.com)
 
Q: What fundraising platform is this? What's Fractured Atlas?
A: Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit arts organization that serves as our fiscal sponsor. They make our donations tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law and offer many other useful services like visa processing. We give them a small percentage of what we raise (already included in our admin and overhead budget) and use that money to help other artists. Read more about Fractured Atlas here.

Other questions? Email us at info@flying-leap.com



Rewards

Featured

Flying's Leap's First Ever Merch!

Donate $150.00 or more

Amount over $8.00 is tax-deductible.

Be one of the first 50 people to get a Flying Leap ball cap. You’ll be able to say you’re OG Flying Leap fam.
Ships in late August.
2 / 50 claimed

Social Media Shout-out

Donate $25.00 or more

Amount is fully tax-deductible.

We’ll show you our gratitude online in a public post, and include you in our Weekly Donor Roundup!
2 claimed

Beyond the Wall Stickers

Donate $50.00 or more

Amount over $8.00 is tax-deductible.

A set of 4 custom stickers designed by our artists, available in English and Spanish. 
Ships in August.
0 claimed

Subscription to the Borderland Chronicle

Donate $75.00 or more

Amount over $6.00 is tax-deductible.

Catch up on the most important perspectives on life and politics in the borderlands with a 1 month subscription to the Border Chronicle. Breaking news, interviews, and deep dives from local journalists and activists. 
0 claimed

Borderlands Snack Box!

Donate $100.00 or more

Amount over $15.00 is tax-deductible.

A custom snack box curated by our Nogales artists! 5 snacks shipped right to your door. 
Ships in early September.
0 / 25 claimed

NYC Puppet Experience with Backstage Tour

Donate $250.00 or more

Amount over $60.00 is tax-deductible.

2 tickets to Bessie’s Big Shot at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park, followed by a backstage tour, AND a marionette monster from NYC puppetry company Silly Puppets.
Suitable for all ages!
Available in late August or September.
1 / 8 claimed

Day Date at the Guggenheim

Donate $500.00 or more

Amount over $75.00 is tax-deductible.

2 tickets to the Guggenheim Museum on a date of your choice, and a set of gifts to reflect on your visit, including a Guggenheim notebook and pen, and a Flying Leap mug.
Available starting mid-August.
0 / 6 claimed

Guggenheim VIP Experience

Donate $1,000.00 or more

Amount over $150.00 is tax-deductible.

A pair of tickets to the Guggenheim Museum on a date of your choice with a 1:1 guided tour of the exhibitions with Guggenheim Teaching Artist/Beyond the Wall artist Logan Schulman, and a set of tools for reflecting: a Guggenheim notebook, pen, and a mug with some tea to meditate on your visit.
Available in late August or September.
1 / 4 claimed

Guggenheim VIP Experience AND Dinner with the Artists!

Donate $2,500.00 or more

Amount over $250.00 is tax-deductible.

The Guggenheim VIP experience, plus you and a guest will join members of our international group of artists at an intimate dinner on the Upper East Side.
0 / 3 claimed

ALL IN!

Donate $4,000.00 or more

Amount over $475.00 is tax-deductible.

One of every reward on the list! 
- Public thanks
- Sticker set
- Flying Leap hat
- Borderlands Snack Box
- Borderlands Gift Set
- NYC Puppet Experience
- Guggenheim Gift Set and VIP Experience
- Dinner with the Artists
0 / 2 claimed