Hundreds of community volunteers took part in the launch of the Fantastic Flying Octopus.

“I build communities out of balloons.”
–Larry Moss, Airgami founder/director

Bringing people together to build Airigami creations can have life-changing results – as ‘overblown’ as that may sound.  Hundreds of community volunteers are needed to work alongside a team of international artists in order to complete the air-filled installations in less than a week.

“When they step back and say, ‘Wow – I helped to create this amazing project!’, it can start them thinking about other seemingly-impossible things that can be accomplished when people work together,” says Larry.

Many of our projects have also donated thousands of dollars to charities.  Several of our participating artists have gone on to create similar projects in their own cities and countries around the world.  Volunteers have become intrigued with the art form enough to pursue studying it, and if they don’t, they’ve derived satisfaction from learning new skills, using their creativity, working as a team and contributing to something larger than themselves.

Here’s a true story submitted to us by a 2009 Balloon Manor visitor:

“(My friend) brought ‘Danny’ with her because he is a troubled little boy.  He is nine years old and last year, his twin sister was killed.  He won’t talk about it at all, but school officials believe he saw it happen.  His Mom is in prison and he stays with his Aunt, who – school officials have just discovered – has been depriving him of food.  ‘Danny’ is having problems in school, but…is ‘art smart’ and art means a lot to him.  When you were creating a balloon sculpture…he got up the nerve to talk to you and you took the time to answer a couple of his questions.  Later, we went through Balloon Manor, which he loved! I don’t think you have any idea what an impact those few minutes had for him.  In taking the time to pay a little attention to this boy, you have become the greatest hero in his life.”

This may not be a typical example of how Airigami can make a difference, but just look at the faces of people involved with our projects and you’ll see that we are experts at building communities out of balloons!