Author’s Project Acknowledgments

Goldfish art with a drawing, poem, painting, song, the grant project, with this resulting book:

Hi, I am Lisa B. Corfman, and I am an art educator and origami artist with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Endicott College and a post-baccalaureate certificate in marketing.  In my pursuit of sharing origami art with the community, I undertook a mixed media origami inspired project about an origami goldfish named Sam.  The story’s message was that we may be different, but a positive attitude is all we need to be happy.

The road to the story was long.  I picked up origami at college thanks Endicott Day in the Fall 2001.  There, gratitude is given to Professor Barbara Burgess-Maier, David Bader, Dan Sklar, Tali Silver, and Dean Mark Towner.  Thank you, also the Michael LaFosse, whose studio I visited on May 10, 2004, five days before I graduated.  The visit led me to practice origami professionally.  In 2005, I made a charcoal drawing of a green origami fish.  After drawing it, I realized it was a goldfish… silly, wrong color!  I immediately wrote the poem:

Green Origami

Goldfish

What’s the tie?

Green goldfish, no lie!

I developed my origami in many ways making, selling, teaching, and showcasing origami inspired art.  In 2013, I remade the drawing as an acrylic painting.  In 2016, musician Peter Fein encouraged, guided, and worked with me as we turned the idea into the Goldfish Song.  I received a small grant for the project in 2017!  The grant was from the Maynard Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Additional organizations that supported the Goldfish Art Project are Origami Place, OrigamiUSA, Boston Green Festival, Maynard ArtSpace, The Hearing Room, and BNN TV’s program “It’s All About Arts”.

As a team, I would lead a grand effort to make six mural illustrations of the song verses at the Mill in Maynard at the Commons there.  The murals are the illustrations in this book.  Mural contributors included:

  • I, Lisa B. Corfman, managed the project from conception to oversight, while aiding illustration, and bringing the whole team together.
  • Peter Fein handled some preliminary space preparation including prepping the wall surfaces with drywall and a white preliminary paint.
  • Laura Fredericks, a professional children’s book illustrator, designer, and art educator, and I created the original paper sketches. Laura’s concept development with the sketches and regular feedback brought insight and depth.
  • Mei-Lin Po was phenomenal. She transferred the paper sketches in charcoal to the outside walls with larger-than-life art on the hot summer days.  With a B.A. in liberal arts, and art training and experience, she tirelessly drew and painted beautifully for dozens of hours.  We were so lucky to have her help as our composition specialist as she brought a beautiful awe of delight to the illustrations.
  • Tamara Safford with a B.A. from MassArt and a lifetime of experiences was a mural illustrator, painting over 3 days with cheer.
  • Brenda Cirioni, a local Maynard professional artist and painter, helped with the mural painting.
  • Erik Hansen, a professional photographer in Maynard, MA, photographed the murals in high resolution for the public’s viewing online and in print.

Painted metal butterflies added more delight.  They were folded with sheets of copper with folders wearing first-aid gloves for cut-free safety.  These are the folders:

10 Anonymous, myself (Maynard, MA), Mary Alleca (Wailuku, HI), Daniel Cohen (Huntington, NY), Lorraine Costa (Hewlett, NY), Priscilla Cotter (Maynard, MA), Tommy & Mommy Darnow (Frisco, CO), David Einheber (Minneapolis, MN), Peter Fein (Stow, MA), Laura Fredericks (Maynard, MA), Ben Fritzson (Philadelphia, PA), Uttam Girandhi, dedicated to Maanya (Brooklyn, NY), Caelin Graber (Westford, MA), Tracy Harbaugh (Kingston, PA), Lisa Heffley (Maynard, MA), Claudia Hill (Cambridge, MA), Marc Kirschenbaum (NYC, NY), Viknesh Krishnan (Ann Arbor, MI), Emily Kushner (Berkeley Heights, NJ), Cliff Landesman (Brooklyn, NY), Carole McNamee (Sudbury, MA), Mei-Lin Po (Framingham, MA), Jacquie Rodgers (Maynard, MA), Jonathan R. (Brockton, MA), Fran Sharp (Maynard, MA), Gary Shay (Wailuku, HI), Kelly Tan (Los Altos, CA), Namile Uyemoto (CA), Carolyn Vesper, in memory of Robert Sutliff (Silver Spring, MD), Julie Weinstein (Sudbury, MA), Sophia Y. (Somerville, MA), Guoguo Y  (Winchester, MA, age 8), Drew (Jupiter, FL)

Metal oxidases, so we epoxied the copper butterflies with a nail polish finishing.  Butterfly painters included me, Catherine Murray, Amy Harrison, George Harrison, Phyllis Bloom, Jill Simon, Debbie Simon, and Lloyd Simon.

YouTube music videos recorded and were published.  Peter Fein and I co-authored a song version, Jaymes Leavitt wrote a jazz version, Caelin and Mark wrote a relaxing and upbeat version.  Many others are welcome!

Completed for a grand reception on August 26, 2018, it was time to share the installation project.  The grand reception was called Bubble Day. Bubble maker Long Le attracted visited from across the Assabet River.  Erik Hansen, photographer, captured key moments.

I created mini origami books.  A spiritual woman, Atara Schimmel, translated the song to Hebrew.  Here, in this tell-all book we share the story and its meaning.

I wish you joy and growth with the message of this book!