TakeHome BIPOC Arts House Fundraiser (Previously Studio 622)

Funds raised through this page will go directly towards supporting:

• The TakeHome BIPOC Arts House Art Space Coordinator Staff Position.

• Rental and renovation costs for TakeHome BIPOC Arts House.

• Furniture and equipment costs at TakeHome BIPOC Arts House.

• Dedicated work station for the new administrative assistant for TakeHome BIPOC Arts House.

• The creation of a new production fund to support programming at TakeHome BIPOC Arts House.

As of January 15, 2021, we have raised over $8000 towards our fundraising goal. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for your generous contributions!!  Our goal is to reach $15,000.

Any amount of support is greatly appreciated!!!

**Please note: We are a non-profit organization but we are not a registered charity so we cannot issue tax receipts. **

Hello Everyone!

Thank you very much for your donation to the Studio 622 BIPOC Artist-Run Centre initiative! Over the last few months we’ve been busy organizing and making plans for our new space. Today, we’re happy to share with you some very exciting news, as well as some background information for those who have yet to hear about the space.

Our project started in July 2020, when visual artist Divya Mehra brought to CARFAC Manitoba’s attention the lack of BIPOC-centred visual art spaces in the city. She proposed establishing a new BIPOC-centred ARC within Artspace, where many of Winnipeg’s ARCs and artist studios currently exist. In August 2020, visual artists and cultural practitioners Annie Beach, Hassaan Ashraf, and Brenden Gali joined the conversation and a committee was formed to help shape the project. Together we worked to establish a framework for the new ARC, in addition to identifying the need for a new coordinator position at CARFAC that could work directly with the new space.

In late August, we launched a fundraising campaign to support the new artist-run centre and a new position at CARFAC Manitoba. To date, with your generous contributions and belief in our project, we have raised almost $8000. This funding allowed us to open the doors to the space, and hire poet Sappfyre Mcleod as the official coordinator. Thank you so much!

Things have continued to take shape and we were recently awarded funding to support our project by the Manitoba Arts Council. We also have with a new name for the space: TakeHome BIPOC Arts House! In addition we have a dedicated team working on the ARC made up of Annie Beach, Hassaan Ashraf, Brenden Gali, and Sappfyre Mcleod as TakeHome project coordinator.

TakeHome is proud to be an ARC dedicated to the development of BIPOC artists. In the sharing of our resources, both as a gallery and as a studio, we plan to host various creative productions and community programming for BIPOC artists in Winnipeg.

So much love has gone into crafting a space for safety, growth, sharing and healing in our communities. It is a privilege to be able to service BIPOC in a way that cherishes the sense of community that is found in the space.

TakeHome BIPOC Arts House will be the official name of the project and all fundraising updates and communications in the future.

Our project marks the beginning of a move toward a new organizational model and management practices that make space for, give power to, and centre BIPOC cultural practitioners. TakeHome BIPOC Arts House will provide fundamental support and development for cultural practitioners through exhibition space, education, and critical community dialogue. This space is founded out of our collective effort and the need for a BIPOC centred space. Thank you for your continued support of our work!

Sincerely,

Hassaan Ashraf, Annie Beach, Brenden Gali, Sappfyre Mcleod, Divya Mehra, Alison Davis, Elise Dawson, Julianna Zwierciadlowska-Rhymer, and Sarah Fuller

Cc: CARFAC Manitoba Board of Directors: Katherine Boyer, Joanne Roberts, Chukwudubem Ukaigwe and Avery Ascher

Contact:

Sappfyre Mcleod (She/Her), Administrative Coordinator

Manitoba Arts Council Funding for TakeHome BIPOC Arts House and Community Consultations

We are pleased to announce that we have received funding from the Manitoba Arts Council' s Support-Strengthen Program to lead a series of Community Consultations on the direction of the TakeHome BIPOC Arts House.

We have also received the Manitoba Arts Council's Share: Artists in Community Program to fund TakeHome BIPOC Arts House first exhibition as well as financial support for the BIPOC Art Space Coordinator Position.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council for these initiatives.