Help Us Acquire and Fix Up the Mississippi House
Who are we?
Ori Art Gallery is a community hub and art gallery that comes out of our community’s dreams for autonomy, agency, and to be resourced in a struggle in which we all have a stake. We were founded by Black and Trans creatives, activists and community members seeking to address issues of access and inclusion in the arts community.
Since Ori’s creation in 2018, with the help of our community we have led and/or hosted various events including:
Creative and Technical Workshops
Art Exhibits
Community-led Skillshares
Lectures and Seminars
Need
Following a fire this January in the house next door, the nonprofit that owns the land our gallery and said house is on, was in jeopardy of losing the entire lot due to extensive restoration costs. That also meant we would be in danger of losing the space we have built community in and around for over 5 years. However, with the support of our community, we’ve begun discussions with our landlord and are now poised to own our gallery outright plus the lot it’s on, house included.
Within the first year of Ori opening its doors, we had already outgrown our space. With this land, we would be able to expand beyond the square footage limitations of our original space and offer:
Outdoor Events
Low-income Housing
A room for Artists in Residence
Larger Art Productions and Exhibits
We have also seen first-hand how great the Portland artist community’s need for accessible housing is. We are eager to see what we can do with this land.
Dream into it with us…
Ask
We’re in discussion with lawyers to paper up the transfer and are preparing to also assume responsibility for much of the restoration process, its costs, and other expenses that come with homeownership.
We could use your help with:
In-kind donations of professional services
Monetary contributions to our GoFundMe or directly via CashApp to OriGallery.
Ori Art Gallery is an Oregon public benefit company and 501(c)3 organization.