In 2009, the British Columbia government withdrew tens of millions of dollars from the charitable sector. The Helen Pitt Gallery was among the arts organizations that were hit particularly hard by this. At that time, it looked like we would not survive — we had closed the gallery, laid off staff, and cancelled programming — but we have managed to regroup and re-open. Now, we need your support to continue.
In April 2011, the Pitt re-opened as UNIT/PITT Projects, mainly because of the effort and sacrifices of a group of dedicated artists. We saved money by reducing non-programming expenses as much as we can: the most obvious example is our current space, which lacks plumbing and heat. In spite of everything, we have worked to bring a full and varied schedule to the public. During 2011, we have had one of our most prolific years, which included: innovative gallery exhibitions by emerging and established artists; a four-day festival of art rock and music by visual artists; a public action and performance cabaret celebrating unacknowledged labour history; an artists’ television project; five wide-ranging projects commissioned from emerging artists for Vancouver’s 125th anniversary; nine new publications; artists’ videos and other works shown nightly, at street level, in our front window; and UNIT/PITT Radio, broadcasting audio art and other noises.
UNIT/PITT needs your support to survive and prosper. The fastest, easiest and most meaningful way for you to show support would be to make a donation — even a small donation can have a big impact. Help us continue what we have started. Join us in building a sustainable future for one of the most critically engaged and adventurous artist-run centres in the country.
Please help us by making a donation through CanadaHelps.org. With your support, we’ll do amazing things; we’ll also show the people who would rather see us close that independent, experimental and socially critical art isn’t going away any time soon.
If you would like to donate money, but don’t want to do it online, contact us at info@helenpittgallery.org.
If you want to help, but can’t donate cash, there are several items we need — if you have any of these in reasonable working order, or repairable condition, please get in touch with us. We need:
- a small shop-vac
- portable electric heaters
- mini-DV video camera
- digital still camera
- data projector
- jigsaw
- desk lighting
- disc sander
Every bit of help, no matter how small, makes a difference.