Nebula Awards

Created for the Ride for Pride fundraising event, the Nebula Awards celebrate the power of individuals coming together in support of a shared purpose.

The sculptures were created from reclaimed fragments of glass originally used in beginner glassblowing classes. These colorful shards and remnants, once considered broken or no longer useful for their original purpose, were gathered and transformed through heat into new forms.

The process became a reflection of the event itself.

Like the glass fragments, each rider, volunteer, organizer, supporter, and donor contributed something unique. Individually, each effort mattered. Together, those efforts created something larger than any one person could accomplish alone.

The award collection evolved into three related forms:

Orbitals
Small sculptural fragments representing individual contributions and participation.

Constellations
Gatherings of distinct elements brought into relationship with one another.

Nebula Awards
Larger sculptural works inspired by astronomical nebulae, vast clouds of particles that become something greater than the sum of their parts.

The steel armatures supporting many of the sculptures carry their own history. Originally designed and laser cut in 2004, they have been reintroduced into the work more than two decades later, becoming part of a new story while retaining traces of the old.

In many ways, the project became a meditation on transformation.

Broken fragments became sculpture.

Older designs found new purpose.

Individual efforts became collective impact.

What was gathered became connected.

What was once overlooked became valued.

What was envisioned became possible.

Before the fire, they were fragments.

After the fire, they became something new.

Award sculptures created by Mark Groaning.