UPDATE: Obviously the world has changed drastically since we launched this campaign. So we are changing the purpose of this fundraiser.

Thank you to all of the people who have donated so far, we managed to raise nearly £6,000 before everyone's priorities had to change. We are grateful that our match funder has agreed to donate the full £10,000 challenge grant regardless of making the match. Thank you.

We are going to keep this fundraiser live and will ring-fence all donations from now to supporting artists, small creative enterprises and those most vulnerable in our wider Wakefield community to get through this crisis. We will also open out The Art House's resources however we can. There is no doubt that The Art House will suffer financially later on in the year, but our priority now is to help people maintain their livelihoods, their health and their wellbeing. If you can donate to help us do this, please do.

Some of the things we've already done include:

1. Provided studio holders with a flexible rental policy that will help them to retain their studios despite the economic downturn , including cancelling rental payments for April and May.

2. Guaranteed full payment to all of the artists and technicians we have contracted for this year's artistic programme.

3. Guaranteed all staff their salaries for the next six months.

4. Guaranteed full payment to all freelancers who we had contracted to teach workshops and courses over the next six months (despite the fact that we have had to cancel those workshops and reimburse payments).

We will all come through this. Creativity is an indomitable force and always finds a way to bring beauty into the darkest of times. Like a small seedling that lodges itself into the most barren rock wall, we will hang in there and continue to flower. Stay safe and healthy.

Love, Sydney and all at The Art House

---

We've been challenged by a local donor to raise £10,000 by the 27th of March. If we can do it, the donor will match it with another £10,000. That would mean £20,000 in total!

This extraordinary opportunity has the potential to;

- Provide us with vital funding to help support our community engagement projects.

- Help us keep our studios affordable for local artists .

Your donation can help make this opportunity a reality.

Every donation matters, no matter how small or how large, because the challenge fund means that every £1 you give is actually worth £2 to us (and more if you let us claim gift aid!).

Every donor will be thanked by name on our new Patrons & Friends' wall, because The Art House is your house too.

Its easy to donate, so please give what you can today.

Why Should You Support Us?

Our community projects reached over 114,000 local people in 2019 and included the delivery of more than 8,000 hours of creative workshops.

All of our projects use art to engage and empower local people to increase their health and wellbeing, remove barriers to success, create community cohesion, and help realise our city's full economic and cultural potential.

Whether its larger events like Artwalk, Index Festival and All Saints Yard, or smaller weekly sessions for asylum seekers or people with dementia and their carers, this is the kind of creative work which has the power to change peoples lives.

Want to see some of it in action?

Our Studio of Sanctuary Programme brings together asylum seekers and refugees with the wider Wakefield population to work together creatively and learn about each other. We are also the first Studio of Sanctuary in the country, providing professional artists who are seeking asylum in the UK with the time, space and support they need to rebuild their portfolios, develop their practice and establish professional networks.

Our weekly Creative Ageing workshops give people with dementia and their carers an opportunity to enjoying living in the present and exploring creativity and imagination together.

Future Collective nurtures and supports young arts graduates to establish their career in Wakefield, retaining this vital local talent for the benefit of the city's growing creative industries.

Need more reasons to support us?

The Art House is making a huge difference in Wakefield. Not only to our community, but also to the talented professional artists and creatives who live and work here. Our fully accessible studios mean that disabled artists can work alongside non-disabled artists; contributing to a diverse artistic community.

Our commitment to accessibility and inclusion means that we also subsidise the cost of our studio fees, and even provide some spaces for free. This ensures that as many artists as possible can have a chance to put their creativity to work in Wakefield, regardless of socio-economic or financial barriers.

We need your help to keep our great work going. Although we do receive grants and other forms of funding, they don't cover the full costs for everything we deliver. That's where the £20,000 comes in. This will give us the extra money we need to keep going the extra distance we do.

Besides, how often does someone give you the chance to double your money? :-)

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sydney Thornbury and The Art House team x

P.S. Have an idea for how you can help us raise money to Match It By March? Why not create your own JustGiving Page and link it to ours?