Syracuse University

Syracuse University alumna engages the world with Dream Rocket project

Sara Miller
(315) 443-9039

Jennifer Marsh G’08 is engaging tens of thousands of students, schools, teachers, Girl Scout troops and individuals from across the world in the Dream Rocket project, with the goal to challenge young generations to “Dare to Dream” through arts and education. Using themes such as health, community, conservation, science, technology and space, Marsh is organizing Dream Rocket participants from 100 countries and 50 states to create a 32,000-square-foot quilt that will completely wrap a 37-story, Saturn V moon rocket replica at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. 

The fabric transformation of the Saturn V replica, scheduled for May and June 2011, aims to be the world’s largest collaborative art and education project. Powerful both in message and scale, it will represent the challenges of the future, as expressed by students and individuals across the world who are creating the fabric panels. “The Saturn V, which carried man to the moon, is an inspiring and tangible reminder that when people from all over the world collaborate on an important mission, nothing is impossible,” says Marsh, who is now an assistant professor of sculpture at the University of Alabama. 

The Dream Rocket project has been entered into the Pepsi Refresh online contest to compete for $50,000, which Marsh says would go toward the sewing, engineering, construction, installation, and labor expenses needed to complete this global project. The Pepsi Refresh competition is based on public votes and runs through the month of July. To vote for the Dream Rocket project as part of the Pepsi Refresh competition, visit: http://www.refresheverything.com/thedreamrocket. Individuals can vote once each day throughout July. 

The Dream Rocket project is part of Marsh’s non-profit organization, International Fiber Collaborative (IFC), whose mission is to unite communities and individuals around the globe through art and education, contribute to social awareness and create unique and inspiring initiatives. In 2008, as a graduate student in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Marsh received national attention when she wrapped an abandoned gas station on E. Colvin St. in Syracuse with 3,400 fabric panels. The realized goal of the World Reclamation Art Project (WRAP) was to provide an opportunity for people who enjoy working with fiber arts to come together and express their concern about the world’s dependency on oil. Participants crocheted, knitted, stitched, patched and collaged three-foot square fiber panels that covered the gas station and powerfully expressed their concern about this topic. 

The Saturn V replica wrapping is scheduled to be displayed at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville during the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s “Dare to Dream” moon speech. “The Saturn V moon rocket is the ideal example of achieving a dream that seems impossible,” says Marsh. “Whether your dream is curing cancer, going to Mars or ending world hunger, the Saturn V is an inspiring visual reminder that any dream can come true. If we can work together to put a man on the moon, we can do anything.” 

For more information, visit the Dream Rocket website at http://www.thedreamrocket.com, or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dream-Rocket/114636921363?ref=ts.