ABC No Rio is Counting on You!
As the year draws to a close we have news to report on our building project. Towards the end of 2021, the city's Department of Buildings approved revised plans for our proposed new building. The project is currently out to bid, which we hope will mean construction can start in 2023.
For the past several years we've chased escalating construction costs, putting the project just out of reach. But despite this challenge, our commitment remains strong. We've designed a building specific to our programs and operations and that doubles the size of our gallery and performance space, allowing for larger and more ambitious workshops, exhibitions and public events. Designed to meet the rigorous Passive House standard for energy efficiency, the building will be significantly more efficient than the state energy code requires. The project also includes water conservation and storm-water management: low-flow plumbing fixtures, rainwater collection, and an 1100 sq.ft. green roof.
By early 2023 we'll either know how much more we'll have to raise or if we can proceed with our existing funding.
We know that times continue to be tough for many, but we hope we can count on your continued support as 2022 comes to a close. And, in anticipation of the coming year, one of our regular supporters is once again offering a two-to-one match for the first $2,023 that comes in.
Even without our beloved 156 Rivington Street location, we've been busy. After almost two years of virtual programming, we resumed collaborating with other venues for "in Exile" exhibitions:
We began 2022 with an exhibition at the Clemente, To Have and To Hold, which considered the irreplaceable touchstones and remnants of the past that our loved ones held dear.
Over 40 artists participated in Cats & Dogs at Chashama's 23rd Street location. As two of the most noted foes in the animal kingdom, the exhibition viewed this animal conflict as analogous to current divisions within our society.
Hosted by the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space and C-Squat, Grave New World centered on processes of death, destruction, decay, and dystopia. The show reflected feelings about the current political and social climate, hopes and fears about the future, and the literal death and destruction we are experiencing in our societies and in our natural world.
During the long hot summer, we invited various artists and arts collectives to participate in Summer School: Art, Education & Radical Resistance. Presented at Painting Space 122, the collaborative exhibition focused on the artist's role as activist, art as a community organizing tool, teaching as the sharing of resistant knowledge, and ways in which support for shared values drives alternative politics and ideas through the arts.
We're happy to report that the ABC No Rio Printshop in Exile continues to provide in-person operations, and the Zine Library is again regularly open to the public at the Clemente, on Suffolk Street.
Our current cohort of Zine Library volunteers are now proceeding with an immense task: migrating the catalogue of ABC No Rio's collection of zines from a Filemaker database of approximately 13,000 records to the online platform Collective Access. The work requires a great deal of "clean-up," and then the subsequent migration of the dataset to Collective Access. We expect to have a "beta" version on-line within six months. The on-line catalog will increase awareness among scholars, students, researchers and the general public of the vital and tremendous materials our library includes.
We would not have gotten this far without your support. We hope we can count on you as we move into 2023. And remember, if you give now, your donation will be tripled.
Donate $300 or more to receive and a copy of the rare and long out-of-print book ABC No Rio Dinero: The Story of a Lower East Side Art Gallery, edited by Marc Miller and ABC No Rio co-founder Alan Moore; cover art by Joseph Nechvatal. (http://abcnorio.org/abcnoriodinero)
Like arts organizations across the world, ABC No Rio faced a tough time during the pandemic and recent economic challenges. But we have a few things on our side: we're small, we're nimble, and we're scrappy - it doesn't take millions of dollars to keep us afloat. Above all, we have our community: a collective of volunteers and active supporters, including you, who carry us forward.
We hope that you'll be among the first to give and that we can count on your generous tax-deductible contribution to ABC No Rio as the year comes to a close. Your support remains important to us.
And remember - if your employer has a matching gift program, you can double your contribution.
Secure on-line contributions by credit card can be made to ABC No Rio through PayPal. Please make your donation today.
Gifts by check or money order should be made payable to ABC No Rio and sent to our ABC No Rio in Exile address:
ABC No Rio
107 Suffolk Street, #305
New York, NY 10002
From all of us at ABC No Rio: We wish you all the best as the year comes to a close!
ABC No Rio is a 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions to ABC No Rio are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Consult your tax advisor with any tax-related queries.
