There are plenty of fresh ideas at the Bleeding Heart Art Space these days. Lots of vision. New faces looking through the windows and coming inside. New programs and proposals with several directions we could head.
At the same time, I’ve started a job at St.Faith’s Anglican Church, our parent organization right across 118th Ave.
My job involves Bleeding Heart, but it spreads across all of the spaces St.Faith’s has to offer the community. An awe-inspiring Sanctuary that can seat well over 200 for a concert. A community hall complete with a full kitchen, ready for parties and performances; support groups and workshops; galas and art shows. My job at St.Faith’s is to open these spaces to the community around us. To watch these spaces transform into vibrant hubs of art, community, and social justice. To make these spaces more hospitable, and to see them animated.
All of this is exciting, but add it to the new ideas at Bleeding Heart and it can be overwhelming without some unifying purpose.
Thankfully, we have that purpose. Running through all of our efforts, new and old, is a passion for making spaces.
We are making space for those who currently have a vision, but no space to watch it take shape. Space for those who are seeking meaning–maybe even searching for a relationship with God–but don’t feel welcome inside of a church on Sunday morning. Space for a young artist looking to share her work. Space for reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples whose Treaty 6 land our gallery and St.Faith’s church inhabit.
We’ll be making spaces for so many endeavors in the next several months. Here are some highlights;
A drumming group meets in the gallery on Tuesday nights at 7, led by the fine folks at Rebel Music Academy. You can show up, grab a drum and join the circle (beginners are welcome.)
We are beginning to hold small concerts in the Bleeding Heart Art Space, through a partnership with local (like, in our neighbourhood) label Mangled Tapes. The first will take place October 21.
We are opening 56 drawers to Edmonton artists to sell two-dimensional works in our permanent ‘Bleeding Heart Art Shop.' Interested?
We are opening our walls again for the community–the entire city in fact. You can find out about this new round of OPEN WALLS here.
We are feeding the hungry in our community by volunteering at regular community meals that St.Faith’s has been serving for years.
We are building on the legacy of last year’s Ni Wapataenan (We See) public art installation, with a new project centered around the healing power of shared stories, sometime in June.
We are developing a weekend retreat to take us into summer–an intimate space for artists of faith to develop their craft and explore the ways it weaves together with their Christian faith. Stay tuned.
Gallery submissions for the 2017-18 season are currently open, and you can apply to share your work in a solo or group show here.
We are holding an event in the coming weeks to invite new people into leadership at the Bleeding Heart Art Space
The world is a big, beautiful place and there should be spaces for everyone. We can create some of those spaces at Bleeding Heart.
The spaces we create are art spaces, sacred spaces, and community spaces. There are plenty of challenges involved.
Not everyone wants to be in all of these spaces. That’s okay, and we need to make sure it stays okay, while everyone feels welcome.
Every effort to make space costs us something.
It may be time, or it may be money and most likely it is both. We can offer our space because we have a physical space to provide, but our gallery space costs us $1350 each month. If we give that space away for free to everyone, we will have no way to sustain ourselves and continue to offer space. I am working out ways to charge rental fees while still keeping our space open for those who cannot afford those costs. It’s no easy balance, and I’ve already slipped from the wire. I’m so grateful to have a strong safety. That’s you. Our community.
You can help us make these spaces.
We need you because that list up there is as big as it is exciting. Please volunteer your time or give your money (we provide tax receipts.) Give in the ways you can give, and if you have something to offer that I haven’t even asked for, let’s talk.
Everything you and I give helps us make spaces for those who are ready to fly if they can just stretch out their wings.