Caitlin Mary Margarett's Germany Expedition

My name is Caitlin Mary Margarett, and I am an artist working at the intersection of craft and performance. I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in December of 2018 with a BFA in performance art and a BA in art history, and I am currently a resident artist at the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

For the last three years, I have been making large scale ceramic installations in the service of performance, utilizing ceramic tile, ceramic vessels, and raw clays. My focus has been on developing a conversation around the sacred, drawing from religious motifs of varying eras, beliefs, and countries. My artwork is a process that involves extensive planning, drafting, research, training of other performers for pieces that require multiple bodies, and months of preparation for durational performance. Sometimes works emerge after a few weeks, but my most recent series involved works that required up to a whole year to build. 

This last year has been an extremely busy one, and my first year fully out in the professional art field. Numerous things transpired over this last year: I had my first solo show at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; I was published in Emergency Index V. 8, a performance index that is released every year; I had a total of ten exhibitions, solo and group; and two seperate live performances. Some of these opportunities were organized by myself, but many of these opportunities were orchestrated by others who generously brought me into their fold. I was invited to participate in a performance / ceramics cohort at the 2019 NCECA, in a show called “Wet: Performing Utopia-Z,” organized by Marvel A Rex. This last October, I was invited to be a part of the Queeramics Symposium held at Louisiana State, organized by Ian Park, where I was both in the gallery show with a video work, and performed live as a separate event. 

Earlier this year, I was invited by an MFA candidate at Kunstakademie Munster to perform with a group of womxn, slated for late summer of 2020. At the same time that this invite arrived, I had decided that I would be applying for grad school, hoping to begin in fall of 2020. Additionally, this invite landed in my lap during a period in which I wanted to broaden the scope of my work. Previously, my artwork has dealt with questions of the self, systems of suffering and flourishing, and the sacred. I have been working to expand that window of questioning, bringing in concerns and desires regarding environmental activism and how those questions folded into feminism. Further, I have been working to develop a visual language for personal agency in the face of larger existential issues- such as our climate crisis.

This invite to perform in Germany left me a bit breathless, and after the whirlwind this year has been of moving from exhibition to exhibition, I realized that I am capable of so much more than I could have ever hoped. This invite inspired a performance art tour and research expedition, wherein I will be performing and exhibiting in multiple locations in Germany while gathering information and doing research into both contemporary art and historic artifacts that I previously would not have had access to- all of which surround and entwine environmental and social concerns. It is my hope that this venture becomes the groundwork for my new pieces in grad school.         


This is how much I am asking for:

I am hoping to raise about $5,500 for this trip, so that I can extend my stay to a full three weeks.

The main costs of this trip lay in the following:

Airfare, transportation once in Germany, hostels and food, museum fees, gallery / representation fees, material costs, and shipping fees. At the same time that this is happening, I must be able to afford everyday life costs, which are ever present and real, no matter how far one travels- rent, student loan payments, car insurance, etc. 

The general breakdown is as follows, which are rough estimates-

My airplane ticket is my first big purchase, and will need to happen in January- $800-$1200

Transportation (UBahn, taxis, etc)- $200

Hostels / AirBNB (for 2-3 weeks)- $850-$1000

Food (for 2-3 weeks)- $450

Representation fees (the charges for utilizing gallery spaces / getting promoted by said galleries)- $650

Museums / gallery tickets (for multiple days of researching and visiting)- $200

Material costs for work produced while there (everything from materials for installation, to hard drive to document the work, to memory cards for my camera, and costs of transporting materials once I am in Germany, and so forth) - $925

International Shipping (I will need to get some supplies to Germany via mail...and then get them back!!)- $500

Life expenses (I still have to pay rent, pay my student loan bill, car insurance, etc)- $500


And also, within all of this, I have to convert most of these funds into Euros! Which, as we all know, can sometimes really bite.


I am currently applying to grants left and right, and hunting down additional opportunities to help fund my stay in Germany. I am currently developing plans for events and performances to help raise funds for this very ambitious expedition, and working on a round of sales of my current work to fund my tour. It is a big sum of money to fundraise, but any little bit you can spare to help me with this tour, run of exhibitions, and research is so deeply appreciated.