project leader
Suzanne K
location
130 Elm St.
(Bridgeport CT)
latest update rss
No updates yet.

the project

Although City Lights gallery remains closed due to the health restrictions caused by Covid19, the artists and staff are busy, contributing and serving the community through art with the resources and abilities they have. We realize that there are many needs and hardships to contend with during this extraordinary time. Many have lost a source of income, arts sales, paid performance and teaching opportunities have been canceled. Our health and food security are at risk, for all especially those struggling with poverty. This is also the case for artists and creatives who work though the gig-economy. This group of small business owners are just now able to apply for a form of unemployment relief. Meaning that they have gone without most, if not all of their income since mid-March. This matching funding campaign will support work opportunities for artists and creatives in the form of engaging online arts and education programs to enliven learning for Bridgeport students who are being taught remotely.

The National Endowment of the Arts reports "A student from a low-socioeconomic (SES- socioeconomic status) background with a high-arts educational experience significantly outperformed peers from a low-arts, low-SES background, closing (and in some cases eliminating) the gap that often appears between low-SES students.

This link to a  News 12 story will help you learn about us  and the situation.
http://connecticut.news12.com/story/42070748/city-lights-bridgeport-art-trail-seeks-donations-or-bids-during-pandemic

This project is a response to the needs of artists and creatives who have lost most, if not all, of their income due to the State-wide shutdown due to the pandemic crisis. It is projected that the type of social gathering that arts events create will most likely be restricted until some time in 2021. This means an extended loss of work for artists. Programs will provide arts enrichment for the students who are learning remotely and work opportunities for artists and creatives. Many artists are freely offering their creativity and talent online. They deserve to be professionally compensated and have food on their table like anyone else.  
 

Those who are in a position to do so, please include the arts, artists, and arts organizations on your list of needs to support. The essence of humanity is found in the arts. It is the touchstone, the repository, and the beacon of the history of humankind, reflecting cultural diversity and connectivity. The arts spur us to think, feel, act, change, heal, invent and learn about ourselves and others.

See a sampling of the quality of City Lights/Bridgeport Art Trail outreach:  

https://www.citylightsgallery.org/community-outreach/

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9d2nq0wj4zlomqo/AAB8IDa0X_ymqtHCAziGTwVja?dl=0

 

the steps

Through the height of social distancing we were required to be physically distant but continued to have a need to be socially/culturally connected. As you know, we are all turned to the arts to comfort and engage us.

The outreach programs that City Lights has conducted with artists for the Bridgeport schools will be transitioned to online format. Content will be adapted to be relevant to classroom curriculum and the situation of Covid19 that the students, family and friends are contending with. Transferable skills like

These programs are among the programs being planned and piloted as we raise funds that will enable us to really ramp up the momentum once the financial support is received.

COVID19 CHRONICLES
Programs will include a student-led creative writing on line journalism project, called the Covid19 Chronicles. Youth are empowered to gain insight from elders and peers by chronicling the disruption of daily activities, innovations/hardships of social distancing and the economic impact from the shutdown, gaining insight from elders and peers. Through this multi-generational project, together they create a living history document and song. Copies will be gifted to the Bridgeport Public library, who has requested that community members keep journals and donate them. Students learn and practice interview and writing skills, and illustration and photography for stories. Students will gain transferable skills for work, school and interpersonal relations like collaboration, following directions, public speaking and problem solving.

 
BRIDGEPORT COMES TOGETHER THROUGH COVID-19
Another project in formulation is a direct development from other successful in-school programs.
Students will learn about music and songwriting and the benefits of collaboration and express their thoughts and feelings by writing an original song.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9d2nq0wj4zlomqo/AAB8IDa0X_ymqtHCAziGTwVja?dl=0

Other projects in formulation will connect art, history and cultural arts exploring cultural diversity and finding the commonalities.

Here is a link to the outreach programs  https://www.citylightsgallery.org/community-outreach/

why we're doing it

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”  Benjamin Franklin

Although one priority of this project is to support the essential needs of artists as gig-workers who have lost income. The longest lasting outcome is to motivate and engage youth who are learning remotely and encourage them to become lifelong learners and acquire transferable skills to work, school, and life in general.

Spring is our City Lights fundraising season. In April City Lights marked its 16th yr. our annual fundraiser was cancelled along other sponsorships for events that attracted public gathering. The flow of funding for most non-profit arts organizations like City Lights/Bridgeport Art Trail is uncertain due needs and economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 shutdown. At this time, it is more difficult for arts organizations to raise funds for outreach programs. For years, these outreach programs benefit both students and the teaching artists.

The new way of reaching our audience through online platforms is just starting to become a behavior that funding sources understand as a platform to support to provide arts accessibility. This is amplified by the tendency for donors to prioritize the arts as a non-essential need yet, most people are turning to the arts for respite, comfort, diversion, enrichment and to stay socially connected. 

This new normal of arts accessibility requires all involved to learn new technology and accept this method to connect with arts audiences. The matching funding program will increase the momentum and enable partners to create a multi-disciplinary portfolio of online arts enrichment programs. That can be shared with schools and the public and enable stability for the artists and City Lights.

budget

Disbursed budget:

$5,000 Teaching Artists/Musicians $200 per session or $35 @ hour for research

$2500 Video Production/Technical support/video creation/video documentation assisting with online platforms, software

$3000 Graphic/Web Design Creating PowerPoint teaching tools, creating and managing microsite for online program

$1060.90 Art supplies/Rental/sound equipment etc.

$11,560.90




TOTAL RAISED = $11,740.00 $11,740.00
ioby Platform Fee waived $35.00
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $179.10 $178.05
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $11,560.90 $11,526.95

Original budget:

$10,000   Teaching Artists/Musicians   $10,000  $200 per session or $35 @ hour for research

$7,000    Video Production/Technical support/video creation/video documentation assisting with online platforms, software

$5000     Graphic/Web Design Creating PowerPoint teaching tools, creating and managing microsite for online program

$3,000    Art supplies/Rental/sound equipment etc.



PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $25,000
ioby Platform Fee waived
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%)
(Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)
$381
TOTAL TO RAISE = $25,381
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.  

 

 

 

updates

Sorry, but this project doesn't have any updates yet.

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Nina L.
  • Courtney G.
  • Anonymous
  • Lori H.
  • Jeff G.
  • Phil K
  • Bill D.
  • Greater Bridgeport St Patrick's Day Parade
  • John Brannelly & David Ivanko
  • Anonymous
  • Thomas E.
  • Elizabeth H.
  • Downtown Window Installation project, supporting arts enrichment for youth
  • Kit and Geri, Happy Birthday Dan
  • Steven Gerber
  • CL donations through FB
  • Camelia L.
  • Ann Franzen
  • Brad and Naomi
  • City Lights Board Member
  • CL board member