The following is a note from our Founder, Claire Curley, that was included in the first issue of our Broad Room Zine.
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“Drop the race for the biggest building, biggest collection, biggest opening, biggest spectacle… all the symptoms of ego-driven patriarchal systems that have a choke hold on us. Race instead toward being the most generous to artists and to the causes that affect open society.”
-- Regine Basha, “As radical, as mother, as salad, as shelter: What should art institutions do now?”, Paper Monument
Welcome to the first issue of Broad Room’s Zine. I am so excited you are reading these words! This zine is the culmination of years of work and dreaming of publishing our own written work through Broad Room. We are also celebrating another important milestone this month, namely the six month anniversary of the Free Art Supply Closet. In that time we have provided over $7,000 in free art supplies, menstrual products, and access to equipment. We have given away supplies to over 100 local artists in that time. This program came directly from a survey of artists who requested funds through our Sacramento Covid-19 Artist Relief Fund, which ran from March to September 2020. The Free Art Supply Closet seeks to ensure that artists who have an idea aren’t held back by a lack of economic resources.
The Broad Room of 2021 looks a lot different than what I imagined in early 2020. The events of 2020 will likely have a long lasting impact on the trajectory of Broad Room well into the future. It is clear to us that artists in Sacramento need affordable studio space, that food and housing insecurity are two issues that impact the community we serve, and that opportunities for work that pay a living wage to artists are not the norm in our city. These are the issues we are working on and will continue to address in our programming moving forward. We look forward to new projects in the future, bringing the community together at our studio, and broadening our reach throughout the Sacramento area. We are glad to have you along for the adventure and can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.
In solidarity,
Claire Curley