Daniel Dancer, Oregon conceptual artist, became fascinated with sky art while traveling in South America in the 80's  and encountering the famous Nazca Lines of Peru. When he returned home, he began working with Kansas field artist, Stan Herd, who creates giant images on the Earth (like the one below) by using a tractor as a paint brush and crops for color. One day, Daniel decided to bring an entire elementary school out to perform as beads on the headband of a 25 acre Indian head. The result was stunning. A decade later, while visiting in Kansas, the parents of one of the "bead kids" told him that the experience was the most memorable thing their son did in school, that it taught him that things aren't always as they seem . . . that a Big Picture View of the world is really important!

450 children perform as beads on headband of  "The Native American,"
a 20 acre field image  by Stan Herd  photograph © Daniel Dancer 1989

     Dancer's decade long photography work with Stan became the material for a five-year touring show with Exhibits USA called Fields in Focus: Art For the Sky, and a book called Crop Art and Other Earth Works. Daniel's fascination with developing humanity's big picture vision led him to work with Lighthawk (the environmental air force) aerially documenting the human impacts upon the natural world. His interest guided him across the continent in the creation of varied found art works upon the Earth that made the most sense when viewed from above. Believing that "only from the sky can we truly understand our rightful fit in the world," Daniel's mission is to awaken what he calls, our "sky-sightedness" something he feels lies dormant within us all. To awaken this way of seeing the world he founded Art For the Sky in 2000.

     Daniel's work as a conceptual artist and educator has been shaped by his travels worldwide in search of styles of being that engender happiness and sustainability. After getting his MA degree in psychology at the University of Kansas, he left the academic world to raise llamas and pursue a career as an environmental photographer. His striking images of beauty and destruction have been published in hundreds of publications worldwide and viewed in galleries across America. It is precisely this interface between wild nature and devastation that most greatly informs his work and which led him to try to reach as many people as possible through sky art.

     Working with communities from Alaska to Australia to create art upon the Earth, Dancer has documented his work in various ways. An Exhibits USA tour called Sacred Ground-Sacred Sky: An Eco-Experience became their second most requested show in its five year tour across the country. This 32 picture educational exhibit is currently seeking a permanent home where it can be on public display. All of Dancer's work to date is documented in his book, DESPERATE PRAYERS: A Quest for Sense in a Senseless Time. A father of two, Daniel is adept at working with adults and children of all ages. Daniel is also a singer-songwriter whose music is featured on his first CD called Wild is the Way recorded with his band, Skysight. Dancer is the founder of Rowena Wilds, a 200 acre, eco-community near Hood River, Oregon where he lives in his Earth-sheltered home built of recycled and Earth friendly materials. (see short version of this bio).