A THREE-YEAR CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF BASE
Flourish with Base
Join like-minded folks who agree that Seattle should be—must be a place where artists can find not only space to make work, but also freedom to take risks.
Where experimentation thrives and equity informs a sustainable future. Where fertile ground for resonant, risky new art makes our community a national hub for creative innovation.
As the needs of artists keep increasing, so does the urgency of what we do.
Powered by a surge of three-year pledges, Flourish will grow Base’s capacity to meet the needs of a diverse and increasingly national creative community.
You can help make Seattle more viable for artists.
Boost creative output from our region and strengthen ties between our local arts scene and national dance/performance communities. Infuse hope and possibility into Seattle’s arts landscape and preserve the cultural caché that has been intrinsic to this city for so long.
Three Goals
Demand for the space, time and resources Base offers is nearly outpacing our ability to keep up—but by expanding the capacity of one lean nonprofit, Flourish will help an entire ecosystem thrive. From $5 monthly to $10,000 annually, the three-year pledges that drive this campaign support three urgent goals:
1) Fund more artist residencies.
Artists need space and time. With dedicated funding, Base can create more residency opportunities—it’s what we do best.
➡ Since 2016, Base has provided residencies to 27 artists, many of whom have gone on to take their work far beyond Seattle.
➡ This year, the Base Residency Program received more than 100 applications from artists in 14 states. Soaring demand for what we do shows our deepening connections in a national arts community.
2) Build our team.
Base is powered by dedicated part-time staff and years of volunteer labor from our co-founders and board. Flourish will boost staff and fund a director who can steward Base into the future.
➡ By compensating creative labor, Base is a leader in the field. Doing the same for our team of arts workers is a full-circle act of commitment to our foundational values.
➡ Laying the groundwork for a paid leadership role, Base’s co-founders currently serve as interim co-directors, helping map our next strategic plan and updating systems for finance and fundraising.
3) Pilot new initiatives.
To advance sustainably and impactfully, we must research and test new projects aimed at expanding the benefits Base provides and extending our national reach.
➡ Listening to the artists, curators, audiences and arts supporters of our community tells us that more critical dialogue, creative exchange and community-building would elevate Seattle’s cultural life.
➡ Base is poised for a larger role in this country’s dance and performance: By collaborating with organizations across the U.S., we can feed a national ecosystem of art making and help local and out-of-town artists make fruitful connections.
Flourish with Base because…
-
Base is the only nonprofit in Seattle committed to providing free and below-market space to dance and performing artists.
-
Work developed at Base has reached audiences in New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Toronto and many other communities.
-
Like-minded individuals can amplify the good Base does—and help reclaim Seattle’s livability and cultural caché in the process.
-
Base has a mandate to elevate creative risk-taking—which helps evolve culture, expand equity, connect communities, drive innovation and spark empathy.
It’s time to
Flourish.
Unite behind Base’s mission to put resources in the hands of artists. Galvanize to do outsize good for the community by helping Base grow. Flourish is powered by a diverse group of individuals joining together to preserve the art and experimentation that have long been central to Seattle’s soul. Help grow the abundance Base offers. Join Flourish today.
-
$10,000/year x three years
-
$5,000/year x three years
-
From $500 - $2,500/year x three years
-
Crowd-sourced tier made up of monthly gifts of $5 and up
Base in numbers
Last season alone, Base served 4,370 individuals—artists, collaborators, audiences and community members—through our programs and partnerships. That number was up from 2,229 the year before, signaling dramatic growth in our impact since the pandemic.
-
Our signature program:
Five artists/creative teams
23 total artists, including collaborators
Three curators
13 full-access weeks or 650 hours, valued at $29,250
$16,500 in artist and curator fees
Five free public Entry Points, attended by 250 audience members
-
Our low-cost self-production program for artists:
Six independent productions by local artists and companies
17 nights of performance with total combined attendance of 500+
-
Our revival of a beloved, low-tech performance series:
More than 20 artists showcased new work, also receiving marketing materials and a fee
240+ people attended six nights of performances
-
34 artists rehearsed at Base for a combined total of 525 low-cost hours
Savings of between $5-$15/hour for each artist
Ankita Sharma
dhoka/Betrayal/, the piece Ankita Sharma completed during their 2023-2024 Base Residency, will have its formal premiere in 2025 at JACK in Brooklyn, NY. For Ankita, the opportunity to dial in technical and design elements over a two-week period—and test risky ideas within a new artistic landscape—would have been next to impossible in their home environment of New York, where space is in such scarce supply and where their work is known among their creative peers.
— Ankita Sharma
Brooklyn, NY
2023-2024 Base Resident Artist
“My residency at Base allowed me to be my most daring, expansive creative self.”
Drama Tops
On the heels of Drama Tops’ 2024 Base Residency, the duo received a prestigious National Dance Project grant, which will support continued work on DADS, the project they developed at Base.
“Base is such a valuable resource for artists in Seattle. Base has some of the most affordable rehearsal space in the city, and it's actually big enough to move in. It's such a struggle to have both enough time and money to create art, and the Base Residency gives you both!”
— Drama Tops
2023-2024 Base Resident Artists
Same As Sister
Same as Sister’s project, This is NOT a Remount, went from a 2021 Base Residency to its May 2022 world premiere as part of The Miserere Project at The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance in Toronto. The work was nominated for a Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Production (Dance Division).
During her 2018 Base Residency, Jade Solomon Curtis began developing Keeper of Sadness, an exploration of Black womanhood, grief and joy. The work has since had creative residencies at Slippage Lab at Northwestern University and Where Art Can Occur (WACO) in Los Angeles and has been featured at APAP 2024 and On the Boards’ and Black Collectivity’s To Gather, a festival of West Coast Black artists.
Jade Solomon Curtis
“Base has been invaluable in supporting my creative journey. Their commitment to providing a nurturing environment for artists allows for authentic exploration, risk-taking, and innovation in our work and is essential for creating. Overall, my experience at Base has been transformative, equipping me with the tools, insights, and community support necessary to advance my artistic journey and deepen my commitment to socially engaged dance practices.”
— Jade Solomon Curtis, Seattle
2018 Base Resident Artist
Curator/Creator, Radical Black Femme Project
Degenerate Art Ensemble
While at Base, 2021-2022 Resident Artists Degenerate Art Ensemble developed their work, Boy mother / faceless bloom. A collaboration with Colorado-based sculptor Senga Nengudi and New York-based musician and performer yuniya edi kwon, the work went on to premiere at Colorado College before presentations at New York Live Arts, Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and On The Boards.
Give today
⁎
Give today ⁎
In a city where cost-of-living continues to soar by the year, Base stands alone in our commitment to keep rehearsal and incubation space affordable for artists. The Base team thanks you for your support at this decisive moment of growth.
Base Team:
Dayna Hanson, Peggy Piacenza, Julia Sloane, Aaron Butler, Cat Urquhart and Sean Rosado
Base Board:
Jim Kent, Natalie Sandoval, John Robinson, Nikolai Lesnikov, Alice de Muizon and Sharon Park
Thank you
Video of Morgan Thorson’s Still Life, featuring Allie Hankins, Kristin Van Loon, Alyza DelPan Monley and Jordan MacIntosh-Hougham (2019 Base Occasional) by Jim Coleman. Photo of audience at 2023-2024 Base Resident Artist Amy O’Neal’s Entry Point by Erin O’Reilly. Photo of Nia-Amina Minor at 2023-2024 Base Resident Artists Naomi Macalalad Bragin’s and Milvia Pacheco’s Entry Point by Michelle Smith-Lewis. Photo of Hilary Brown-Istrefi in 2020-2021 Base Resident Artists Same as Sister’s Residency by Michelle Smith Lewis. Photo of Lorraine Lau, Tyisha Nedd and Jaclyn Mason in 2018 Base Resident Artist Petra Zanki’s Pleasant Place by Jazzy Photo. Photo of Lori Goldston, Katiana Gonçales Rangel and Jim Fletcher in Ama, the Diver (2024 Base Occasional) by Stephen Anunson. Photo of audience at 2023-2024 Base Resident Artist Akoiya Harris’s Entry Point by Chloe Collyer. Photo of NEVE at Open House for 2022-2023 Base Resident Artist/Curator NEVE and Rana San by Michelle Smith-Lewis. Photo of Alyza Delpan Monley, Allie Hankins in Morgan Thorson’s Still Life (2019 Base Occasional) by Michelle Smith-Lewis. Photo of Ankita Sharma and Eyner Roman in 2023-2024 Base Resident Artist Ankita Sharma’s dhoka/Betrayal/ by Jim Coleman. Photo of 2019-2020 Base Resident Artist Jenna Eady with Hanna Eady by Jim Coleman. Photo of Jamie Robinson, Kristina Hay and Hilary Brown-Istrefi in 2020-2021 Base Resident Artists Same as Sister’s Residency by Michelle Smith Lewis. Photos of Ankita Sharma and Eyner Roman by Jim Coleman. Photos of Drama Tops by Erin O’Reilly. Photos of Same as Sister’s This is NOT a Remount by John Lauener. Photos of Jade Solomon Curtis’s Keeper of Sadness at Where Art Can Occur by Matthew Parham. Photos of Degenerate Art Ensemble/Juni One-set’s Boy mother / faceless bloom by Bruce Clayton Tom. Video of 2023-2024 Base Resident Artist Amy O’Neal’s Again, There Is No Other, featuring Nia-Amina Minor and Amaria Stern by Luke Wigren. Photo of Hendri Walujo and Sruthi Desai in 2016 Base Resident Artist Jessica Jobaris’s A Great Hunger by Jens Wazel.