Space 55 Theatre became one of the 2019 recipients of Meow Wolf’s DIY Fund for small business art spaces and received $2,500 to be used at the theater’s disposal.
Due to the space’s new location on Grand Avenue across from the Fairgrounds, it plans to use the grant money to make up for revenue lost during the State Fair.
“Space 55 has been around for 13 years,” said Kathy Nakagawa, a board of directors member for the theater. “We proposed having funds available that would allow us to get through October and into November and do some different kinds of things in that month, despite not being able to earn revenue, we could still do small kinds of programming.”
Other art spaces like The Trunk Space and theHive.phoenix were also recipients of the grant.
Meow Wolf initiated the DIY Fund in 2016 after the Oakland DIY art space Ghost Ship burned down, killing 36 people.
“We had connections to a few of the folks who died in that fire. They actually helped build our exhibit in Santa Fe,” said Danika Padilla, the director of community development for Meow Wolf.
Meow Wolf then dedicated the fund to “assist and help ensure the safety and sustainability of similar venues around the world,” according to the fund’s website.
“The 2017 fund was the first year that we had the application open and we awarded $215,000 to 106 different spaces around the country,” Padilla said.
Padilla said Meow Wolf wanted to give back to DIY spaces in a nonconforming, nonprofit way.
“Meow Wolf was started back in 2008 as an art collective and DIY space with a group of friends creating together,” she said. “We want to give back to that community specifically and support those spaces in expanding and producing content, supporting the arts and different communities through our DIY Fund.”
Any existing art space can apply for grant money from the DIY Fund if they receive less than $50,000 a year. In the application, the art space describes their history and how they impact the people and community around them. The art space also specifies how much money they are asking for and what they plan to do with it.
“Space 55 had a really strong application,” said Padilla. “Their want to grow and expand really helped them stand out.”
The grant is set to be disbursed to the art spaces within the next few months. Nakagawa said they plan on saving the money for the next season.
“We have programming in place through the end of June and we’re looking at programming that will come in for next season,” she said. “We’ll be able to wait to use the funds for late summer into the fall.”
Contact the reporter at smedwar7@asu.edu.
Update: On April 10, this story was updated with the correct amount Space 55 received from Meow Wolf’s DIY Fund.
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
