March 3, 2021 / Eye on the Collective
Fundraising initiative with
Jana Büttner
A look inside a fundraising initiative by Jana Büttner, former Principal Instructor at The Florence Academy of Art, to create the figure sculpture “Trapped” and to cast it in bronze.
Jana Büttner, "Trapped", 3/4 life size, Bronze, 2021
When figurative sculptor Jana Büttner was a Graduate in Residence at The Florence Academy of Art, she started a Kickstarter campaign to fund an ambitious project.
Dreaming of completing a sculpture she named “Trapped,” Jana began to work on the piece, a crouched figure balancing on her toes with an outreached hand pressed against an invisible wall. The complex meaning behind the composition, as Jana states, is to show the “internal walls that we as humans are constantly putting up for ourselves. We are frequently fighting against something which is just in our minds. This can often feel as though we’re drowning, pushing against a glass trying to escape.”
“It can often feel as though we’re drowning, pushing against the glass, and the limits we’ve placed on ourselves. It would be so easy to just stand up and escape, to take a deep breath, but most of the time we can’t see what would be the most obvious solution for our struggles.”
Here is the original video about the campaign for “Trapped” including a detailed look into Jana’s inspiration behind the piece.
Originally asking for €4,500 in order to fund the model fees to continue working from life on the project and cover the material cost to cast this work, the campaign has been immensely successful with over €6,000 given at the time of this writing! About the inspiration for the campaign Jana says “when I started my sculpture I had a very clear vision of the project I wanted to do but unfortunately a very small budget. So, when people mentioned fundraising to me, I started looking into it and I really especially liked the concept that the person who is raising the funds also could give back rewards to the people who support them.”
Preparatory study
for “Trapped”
With the help of over 60 backers from around the world, Jana was able to cast the piece in bronze, a far cry from the initial goal of collecting enough to finish the clay model and cast it in resin.
Jana at work on
her sculpture
Jana at work on her sculpture
When asked about her experience with the Kickstarter campaign, Büttner said that it was “incredible.” She says that she was overwhelmed with seeing the feedback and response to the project and loved how many small and big contributions alike came together to fund it.
“When I am looking back on it, I can say that this project gave a big push to my career as an artist and it’s all thanks to the community of people surrounding me! In the end one person was even willing to fund a bronze version of this work, I still can’t really put in words how grateful I am for that.”
Resin and Bronze reductions of “Trapped”
The rewards for various tiered pledges on Kickstarter reached the patrons last summer. Another positive aspect of the campaign for Jana was seeing pictures of the small reproductions and fragments of the sculpture given as rewards in their new homes after being happily received by the backers.
When asked if she would consider doing another fundraising initiative like this Jana responded with a strong affirmative, and she is already planning on a new project to be unveiled soon.
We are all looking forward to seeing what she does next!
More about Jana
Jana Büttner (b. Austria, 1997) is a German-Czech Sculptor and a graduate of and Principal Instructor at The Florence Academy of Art.
Jana began her studies of Fine Art as a child at the Musisches Gymnasium, in Salzburg in 2008. At the age of 14, she transferred to the HTL Hallein School of Practical Arts to pursue her passion for sculpting. The emphasis of the school is to teach students to hone their skills in a variety of mediums. There, Jana learned to carve in marble and wood, work with metal, and model in clay. She graduated from HTL Hallein School as a sculptor in 2016.
In the summer of 2015, Jana worked in the Gallery Schloss Wiespach, in Hallein. There, artists from all over the world are granted studio spaces to work in for one month. Jana found herself working with prominent sculptors like Gregoz Gwiazda, Debasish Bera and Eudald de Juana Gorriz. Jana assisted de Juana Gorriz, an instructor at The Florence Academy of Art, in casting his figurative work. Working with de Juana Gorriz confirmed Jana’s love of working with clay to render the figure and encouraged her to apply to The Florence Academy of Art.
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