Art Galleries are Community Assets

Saturday, North Bank hosted the accomplished Seattle filmmaker Danielle Villegas for a viewing of her short film “Dos Almas” and a discussion of her creative process. The audience was a mix of member artists and folks from our community. The film, which was funded by Artist Trust and shown at film festivals around the country, was beautiful, thought-provoking, and poignant. It accomplished a task most art attempts, which is to be a clear and sounding voice for the artist creating it.  

Like most of the art talks North Bank hosts, the conversation with the artist expanded with the input of the audience, and a moment of connection and understanding happened. You never know where a conversation will go, but these ones tend to be enlightening.

Where else in the community are free art talks, thoughtful conversations, and contemporary art exhibited all the time save for our local galleries? Galleries and the programming they offer are precious community assets, like historic buildings, parks, and museums. In fact, many of the artists who show at local galleries will be collected by museums. I think of gallery space as the first public showing for work that could be timeless.

How does a community care for its assets? Fund them and patronize them. Local galleries need people to show up to events, purchase work that appeals to them, and donate when they can to fundraisers. North Bank is a 501 (c)(3) and all donations are tax deductible. Currently, we are especially in need since our rent is going up considerably. We have to find more resources to maintain the gallery and studio spaces, which offer quality arts and cultural experiences to our community year in and year out.

Funding from our online Indiegogo fundraiser will go towards offsetting the rent increase. Any funds raised beyond our immediate need for rent will be invested into creating more art space in our community. To donate please go to: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-art-space-for-north-bank-artists#/story

Art galleries are community assets. They create quality experiences, encourage community engagement, and offer a place for local artists to develop their unique vision and share it with an audience. Anyone who values a healthy, livable community can see the value in these contributions. Like any community asset, art galleries need support to survive and thrive. Like anything worth having, art galleries require care.