I decided to participate in WeTheBuilders‘ most recent project to make a large, distributed, crowd-sourced 3-D printed statue.
This latest project was a statue of Charon, the psychopomp Styx ferryman of Greek mythology, sculpted by Ryan Kittleson. This collaboratively-printed sculpture was displayed at Loveburn 2025, in Miami in February 2025 and is now back in Baltimore awaiting display in a more permanent home.
A full gallery of the assembly process and final display at the festival.
Participating in the crowd-sourced project was a great experience. I ended up printing 4 pieces for the Charon statue. They provide the .STLs (via a check-out mechanism), you provide the plastic, the printing, and shipping to them.
Some quick facts about the project:
- The final statue was about 5 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide, and 4 feet front-to-back.
- Approximately 40 individuals printed parts for this project.
- The sculpture was subdivided into 260 parts using Luban.
- Participants were encouraged to include a coin in the parts they printed, in the style of the ancient Greek tradition of burying the dead with a coin in their mouth to pay the ferryman’s toll across the river Styx.
Full credit where due: the WeTheBuilders team ran logistics, conceptualized the project and sculpture, received and assembled the parts, and transported the finished project from Baltimore to Miami and back.
I look forward to participating in future WeTheBuilders projects and would encourage you to look into participating as well. At the very least, consider a bookmark and visit the site occasionally for updates.
