Will create giant astronaut boot to touch down on July 20 at 10:56 PM
Rochester, NY – On July 20, 1969, humans walked on another world for the first time. Fifty years later, on July 20, 2019, Rochester’s AirigamiTM (“the fine art of folding air”) will be part of Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “The Eagle Has Landed” Late-Night Celebration from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Internationally renowned for its incredible, inflatable installations, Airigami will create a 12-foot astronaut boot (based on Neil Armstrong’s actual boot) entirely out of latex balloons. It will then be lowered to the floor of the museum at approximately the same time that Armstrong’s foot touched the surface of the moon 50 years ago: 10:56 p.m.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this,” says Airigami Founder/Creative Director Larry Moss, a life-long space enthusiast who also built the world’s first space shuttle made entirely from balloons – 30,000 of them – in Houston in 2014. “Our boot-building will be on view to the public July 18 and 19 during museum hours as well.”
The free Celebration will feature a rebroadcast of the moon landing and first steps, along with a special countdown to the giant boot “touch down.” Trivia contests, Apollo 11-themed music, a Spacesuit Fashion Show, scavenger hunts, hands-on activities and demonstrations, and stargazing at the Phoebe Waterman Hass Public Observatory are also included. For more information, please visit: https://airandspace.si.edu/events/eagle-has-landed-late-night-celebration.
More about Airigami: Rochester artists and partners Larry Moss and Kelly Cheatle are full of hot air and visionary ideas. Internationally renowned for their incredible, inflatable installations, including a giant Acrocanthosaurus for the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the world’s first piloted balloon sculpture (Fantastic Flying Octopus), and seven Balloon Manors – later called Airigami Balloon Adventures – in Rochester, NY, the two are committed to community-building art experiences. Moss, who began his career as a NYC street performer, has earned two Guinness World’s Records for giant builds, as well as AP, CNN Headline, PBS and other international and national news coverage. Airigami has made multiple appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, Good Morning America, the Today show, and at the White House. Its artwork has been exhibited throughout North America and in more than 16 countries worldwide, including the U.S, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, the U.K., France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. Airigami is part of a collective of Rochester creative entrepreneurs – artists and “makers” who work in everything from metal to video to balloons – that inhabit a maker space in the downtown High Falls District called MADE ON STATE (510 State Street). For more information, please visit airigami.com.
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