Tomorrow, with the closing of WHAT BERNICE SEES, we'll have finished our first full season in our 118th ave home. A full season, for us, aligns with the school year (because everyone deserves summers off!)
Summer gives us some time to retool, retouch and reconfigure. This summer will bring some major Bleeding Heart upgrades, both made possible by some beautiful generosity on behalf of Daniel van Heyst and King's University, where van Heyst teaches art. So first and foremost, thank you Daniel, and thank you King's.
Artwork by Hende, from OPEN WALLS 2015
Our summer makeover will enable us to show more work, and to show that work more professionally.
Upgrade one is lighting.
With loads of natural light coming through our front windows, we've gotten away with largely unfocused pendant lights. Mostly. Kind of. This spring we acquired a used track lighting system for free from King's. That's going up sometime over the summer, with more volunteer help. Track lighting will allow us to focus light directly on the pieces we are showing. You know, like a real gallery.
Upgrade two is a movable wall.
I was volunteering with Daniel van Heyst as winter was coming to a long-awaited close. It was a quiet shift so we got to talking and hatched a plan to build a large movable wall structure that would offer the gallery 20+ linear feet of additional wall space. We kept dreaming and devised an ingenious way for the unit to store chairs and other Bleeding Heart supplies. Then, over the past two weeks, we built it.
This Saturday, as soon as WHAT BERNICE SEES closes, we'll assemble the wall on site and get it ready for hanging in the fall. It's going to be amazing, and if we don't need it for a show it will tuck away perfectly into our large alcove.
We run lean, but even lean costs.
These upgrades won't cost us much, which is a huge blessing and I'm very grateful. We don't have any paid staff, but we still pay rent, at $1250 every month. We still pay phone bills and internet bills and more bills. And we still pay artists, which I'm very, very proud of.
It adds up, and while a lot of things are going great for the gallery today, we are currently outstripping our savings and need to increase our monthly support from people like you. If you believe in what we are doing and could support us with a monthly donation of $10 or more, please do. One-time donations help a bunch too.
Together, we are bringing art, faith, hope and love to our city. Thank you!