Velaslavasay Panorama

Fund: $24,000

The Velaslavasay Panorama (VP) is the only institution in America creating contemporary immersive 360-degree painted panoramas. Located in the historic Union Theatre (1910) with a neon facade, 80-person theater, elaborate garden and exhibit space, the VP exists as a gesamtkunstwerk—a total work of art—expressed through painting, architecture, typography, and language to enhance the illusion of being in a faraway place and time. Beyond the panoramic installations, the VP is an artist-run organization that curates programs, exhibits, performances, workshops, films and illustrated lectures with a focus on marginalized art forms and artists whose personal backgrounds are nonconforming; art school dropouts, self-taught artists, “technical” artisans and those confined by the “folk” or “traditional art” moniker.