The first major project during our first year in the Sculpture Department at Kansas City Art Institute was to collaboratively design and build portable structures that we collapse and travel across state to St. Louis to set up camp at the Marianist Retreat & Conference Center. The Marianist monk Brother Mel was an early artistic mentor to our instructor, Paul Sebben, which led to us building our Group Habitat Projects there in St. Louis.

Lia, Ricky, Juliana, Casey, and I created a steel frame structure wrapped in fabric that blended notions of inside and out with it’s two large wings that created a pseudo courtyard space and kinda looked like a giant hug. Three of us slept in the main tent while two slept in either wing. We were proud that our space was viable to house breakfast the next morning and the photo of all of us together provides a powerful hit of nostalgia

— Andy T