Two-Year Operating Support Grant

We increased our membership in the past two years, which we did through promotion and a Membership Drive. We were able to better track our members through the use of a new database which we devised this year (and although we didn't use purchased software; the initiative to do so in an organized manner was still inspired by the grant). We also instituted a system of membership benefits created by the collective, in order to maintain contact with our donors, to establish goodwill and the willingness to continue giving. We can attest to the effectiveness of our system based on the number of membership renewals (30% renewal rate; 26 new members since October 2017). It was also our goal to provide tactile quarterly and yearly newsletter "zines" to our contributing members for updates and opportunities for involvement in upcoming group shows, which we instituted this year during our Annual Membership Drive. With the purchase of a vinyl machine with funds from the operating grant, we were also able to create a public display of our members and donors in the space of the gallery, as a way to prominently acknowledge the members gained through this drive and also to encourage further connection with and support by our members. Another goal was to stabilize the gallery through operating funds. With the support of the ARAC Grant, we have been able to continue our exhibition and venue agenda, which included: 12 exhibitions (including two solo exhibitions and 3 exhibitions that included international artists), a pop-up art sale for emerging artists, a venue for book and poetry readings (including the Spirit Lake Poetry series), a venue for various musical performances as well as participating in the Homegrown Music Festival each year, a site for CSS students to create a collaborative community mural, and a site for hosting community events with organizations such as the Feminist Action Collective, Trans Plus, Duluth for Clean Water, Gender Justice, and the HOTDISH Militia.