Starry Night Balloon Dress
Nate the Great and Balloons by Pineapple are teaming up to create a couture balloon dress, this time based loosely on Van Gogh's Starry Night. Come watch the build of the dress during the day on Saturday, or see it in a fashion show on Sunday.
Makers
Stacy "Pineapple" Wheeler
Stacy Wheeler was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and has been nomadic since graduating high school. Her Maker tendencies all involve weaving and textile projects--friendship bracelets, embroidery, silk screening, costume design and counted cross stitch. After apprenticing under Nate the Great to learn balloon twisting, she began taking on larger balloon projects and debuted her first balloon dress at the national Twist & Shout balloon convention in Kissimee, Florida. She has a particular passion for fashion, which she combines with her love of balloons to create designer balloon dresses.
Nate the Great (Culpepper)
Nate the Great has been twisting balloons for sixteen years. He specializes in small personalized balloon sculptures, but he has also designed custom pieces for state universities and participated in large balloon build projects (like a 10 foot x 10 foot Millennium Falcon) with other nationally renowned balloon artists. Most recently, he was selected to teach his original balloon sculptures at Twist & Shout, the largest balloon twisting convention in the United States. His proudest moment of 2016 was building a jumbo unicorn costume for his daughter, which she wore to her high school for Halloween.