Kolaj Institute is about to take a big step and we need your help to do it.
BACKGROUND
We started Kolaj Institute in 2019 to support artists, curators, and writers who seek to study, document, & disseminate ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. Last year, we moved from a fiscally sponsored project to an independent 501c3 Non-profit organization registered in the State of Louisiana, USA. We've been operating out of a studio at The School on Japonica Street in New Orleans. We are now ready to move to a proper home.
KOLAJ INSTITUTE MOVES INTO THE HEALING CENTER
On January 1st, Kolaj Institute will move into a 1200 square foot space in the New Orleans Healing Center on the corner of St. Claude and St. Roch Avenues. The space will serve as an exhibition gallery, residency center, artist studio, library and archive.
What is the New Orleans Healing Center?
"Much more than just a physical building or large meeting facility, the New Orleans Healing Center is a pioneering social/civic enterprise that provides a sustainable framework and guidance for individuals and communities to help each other, and above all, themselves...Its purpose and operating principles are based on United Nations guidelines for sustainability. Consequently, it is uniquely structured to be able to simultaneously help, heal, and empower individuals and surrounding neighborhoods at the economic, social, environmental, physical/mental, and spiritual levels...New Orleans Healing Center is a hub of diverse individuals and groups, who are all focused on the positive well-being of the community"
How will this move serve Kolaj Institute's mission?
Kolaj Institute operates a number of initiatives meant to bring together community, investigate critical issues, and raise collage’s standing in the art world. The move into the New Orleans Healing Center will support this work in a number of ways:
Exhibitions & Diffusion of Artwork
The public gallery will present exhibitions and connect Kolaj Institute and the artists we work with to the vibrant Bywater arts corridor that runs along St. Claude Avenue. We will produce 8-10 exhibitions a year and participate in Second Saturday, the neighborhood's monthly art walk, putting the collage art, books and exhibitions in front of New Orleanians and visitors.
Being part of the broader New Orleans Healing Center community will provide more opportunities for exhibitions during Kolaj Fest New Orleans (12-16 June 2024) and an expanded Collage Art Market in the Great Hall.
Residencies
The space will include a fully fitted bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen that will allow us to provide housing for artists who come to New Orleans to develop their practice and make artwork. The gallery and studio spaces, and other spaces in the New Orleans Healing Center, will provide workspaces for groups of artists who come to Kolaj institute for residencies, workshops, and artist labs.
Archive, Library, & Collections
The space will host a library of collage books and our growing archive of material that documents the International Collage Community. These resources will be available for study so that visiting art historians can research this 21st century art movement.
Organizational Development
With this space, Kolaj Institute will be able to hire a Managing Director who can lead the growing organization. They will be tasked with pursuing grants that allow the organization to offer more financial aid, pay faculty and writers better, and support working artists. They will also coordinate the organization's residencies, workshops, and artist labs.
The International Collage Community is not a place, it is an idea. We are in every country in the world, networking and collaborating across international boundaries. This 21st century art movement deserves documentation, recognition, and celebration. Kolaj Institute's new home will help us do that work.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
We need to raise $10,000 by January 30th, 2024. These funds will pay for the move and proper furnishings for the space. Your donation of $50, $100, $1000, or any amount will help make a home for Kolaj Institute and the International Collage Community.
Can we count on your support today?
You can also help us by spreading the word. If you had a great time at Kolaj Fest New Orleans, met some fellow artists at a World Collage Day event, grew your practice after participating in a residency, lab, or workshop, let your fellow collage artists know about this timely and important fundraising campaign.