Hi, my name is Aaron Heideman.  I’m an artist competing at Artprize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the largest art prize competition in the world.  My piece is called The Man in a Van Project, and I’m traveling the country collecting stories from people whose lives have been affected by the recession.  Participants will be allowed to write their stories on a large roll of Tyvek paper, and I will be selecting certain stories to be written on the van itself.  Once I get to Artprize, the entire project will be the collected art piece.  It’s truly an American collaboration!

While on the road, I plan to hit 37 cities in 20 states, and finish in Grand Rapids on September 15, 2009.  I’ve mapped out a specific route to reach all the hardest hit areas of the country, in order to get a wide variety of interesting stories.

Of course, all of this costs money, and I won’t be able to finish the project unless I sell some T-shirts.  If you’ve been affected by the recession, it would be a little ironic if I asked you to buy a T-shirt.  But if you believe in what I’m doing and you can afford it, please do so.  It will help insure that I don’t get stranded in Death Valley or some place hot!

Any profits that don’t go toward project expenses will be donated to charities throughout the country, and actually, I’m hoping to raise quite a bit of money for charity.  I don’t know what else to say at the moment.  I haven’t slept in 37 hours, and I’m sure this section will be edited after I get some sleep.