Duluth artist’s painting included in moon time capsule

Duluth artist Kelly Schamberger is being honored with a prestigious international award, and her painting “Once Upon a Childhood” will be included in a moon time capsule.

“The feeling is indescribable, but it mostly feels surreal,” Schamberger tells us.

The International Art Renewal Center made the announcement just last week that an image of her work will be included in a Lunar Codex time capsule to be placed permanently on the moon, launched by SpaceX as part of a NASA-related mission scheduled for fall 2023.

“I’m very fascinated by space and the images that we’re getting from the telescopes. It’s the unknown, and it’s this beautiful, mystical, forever infinite thing. We know a lot about it, but there’s so much we don’t.” Part of the reason she entered the contest was her interested in being included in the space time capsule.

The oil panting of the model ship was inspired by her late uncle Wiiliam Rager. He passed away from kidney disease in 2020, during the beginning of pandemic. “It’s meant to represent my memories of childhood with him.”

When they went to clean out his home, Schamberger took the model ship that she remembered on the shelf in his Indiana home. She painted it along with a sky of fireflies from his land, and the tissue paper is a nod to the arts and crafts of childhood. “It was a beautiful way for me to work through losing him.”

Her work will also inspire an original couture outfit too. The design by Fashion Week San Diego will be modeled in a special New York fashion show at Sotheby’s NY International Auction House on July 22.

If you would like to see more of Schamberger’s work in person, her next solo exhibition of paintings is scheduled for January 14 through March 4 at Frameworks Gallery in Saint Paul. An opening reception with Schamberger will take place Saturday January 14 from 6-8pm.