In The NoCo

An unusual book of art is headed to the moon. This Colorado artist helped create it

By In The NoCo,

Published May 9, 2025 at 5:40 AM MDT

Ways To Subscribe

A tiny book is resting on the end of a finger. The book appears to be smaller than the fingernails. — Lakewood artist Evan Lorenzen assembled a tiny 80-page book of art and writing, no bigger than 1 cubic centimeter, to be sent to the moon. The book is called Moon Bound.

An artist in Lakewood who specializes in creating tiny books and illustrations received an unusual offer recently. An art gallery reached out to Evan Lorenzen and asked for his help in creating a book of original art – no bigger than your thumbnail – to be placed on the moon.

The Moon Gallery, based in Amsterdam, works to send cultural artifacts into space. They’ve shipped artwork to the International Space Station. Now they wanted to focus on the moon.

Evan worked with the Moon Gallery to compile a tiny, 80-page book filled with images and poetry by dozens of artists and writers.

They called the book Moon Bound. It’s set to be launched into space later this year. Evan spoke with Brad Turner about the challenge of making the tiny book and some of the highlights from artists who contributed to the projects.

A tiny book lays splayed out on a desktop next to various tools and measuring instruments. Two human fingers are in the corner of the image.

1 of 3 — Moon Bound Process_Evan Lorenzen_007.jpg

Evan Lorenzen

A tiny book sits on top of a pencil. There are dice in the background, which appear larger than the book. An outstretched finger point to the top of the book.

2 of 3 — Moon Bound Process_Evan Lorenzen_028.jpg

Evan Lorenzen

A tiny book is being measured by a caliper.

3 of 3 — Moon Bound Process_Evan Lorenzen_011.jpg

Evan Lorenzen

Tags

In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

See stories by In The NoCo

Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

See stories by Ariel Lavery

Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

See stories by Brad Turner