Hello! My name is Tim Berry and I am an art student in my senior year at the University of Maine at Farmington. The senior project I am planning is complicated and I need all the help I can get to make it a success. Below is a description of my project (and the ideas behind it) as I have planned it. PLEASE DONATE! Also, feel free to leave any comments you have regarding my project (good, bad, or indifferent)

This project will be a culmination of the ideas and artistic processes that I have been developing/researching over the course of the school year. My plan is to walk the entire state of Maine dressed in drag as a fundraiser for various United Way charities in the state. This project is intended as a serious artistic investigation into Maine culture and how it relates to something typically outside of itself (like a drag queen) trying to do something good within/for it.  Maine is my home state and it is a part of me, but I don’t think enough is being done here to support diversity. By presenting people who might be offended by this project with the paradox of  do-gooder drag queen, I’m hoping to make them think hard about what prejudices they hold onto and why. I have no doubt that I’ll be presenting some people with a very complex package. What does one do when they have to choose between donating to a worthy charity or holding onto the idea that drag queens are immoral?

            The dress I’m constructing contains a mix of gender themes. It’s bright pink and impractically shaped (like a lot of feminine clothing) but it is also constructed out of waterproof material that breaks down to work as winter camping gear.  By having a stereotypically feminine costume work with a stereotypically masculine endeavor, I’m hoping to make people think about what gender really means and how it works as a social construction.

-My plan is to start walking on Thursday February 12^th  and end my march around February 26^th.

-I’ll be starting from the USM campus and walking to the UMF campus via Rt. 4 the entire way. This will take approximately 3 days. (I’ll be arriving at UMF sometime on Sunday the 15^th)

-From the UMF campus I’ll continue onto UMaine Orono via Rt. 2 the entire way. This will take another 4 days approximately. (I’ll be arriving at UMaine Orono on Thursday the 19^th)

-From UMaine Orono I will continue onto the UM Presque Isle Campus via Rt. 2, and then via Rt. 1 once I reach Houlton.  This will take approximately 6 days (I’ll be arriving at UMPI on Thursday the 26^th)

-Please note -These are all approximate dates, as this project will indeed have variables affecting it.

-I want to make connections with people I might not typically come in contact with and I want to challenge their thinking.  One way I plan to do this is by knocking on doors when it comes time to camp out for the night. (Yes, I’m planning on some winter camping) By making myself vulnerable to them, I’m hoping that even a prejudiced person might feel sympathy for me and let me camp out on their lawn for the night