Public Annex

Elbow Room is an arts organization focused on providing material support, artist representation, mentorship, and space to work and be together for artists experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Portland, OR. We prioritize neurodiversity, collaboration, community engagement, and the specific interests, needs, and goals of the artists we work with. Elbow Room just rented a new art studio and gallery space, and we are in need of community support to raise funds to furnish, outfit, and build-out the space!

The project began in 2020 as an initiative to support local artists and maintain community after many local day programs were forced to close due to pandemic circumstances. Elbow Room currently hosts community-based art programming as well as virtual classes and workshops five days a week. Up to this point, our community programming has been made possible thanks to the generous support of various community partners that have opened their doors to us.

Elbow Room is in a state of growth and metamorphosis. In April, we inherited 501c3 non-profit status thanks to the incredible input, legacy, and generosity of the community that created Public Annex. From 2016 to 2021, Public Annex worked to provide accessible urban farming and arts programming, focused on including artists and farmers with IDD. Elbow Room has assembled a new Board of Directors and plans to continue Public Annex's legacy and mission. We are in the process of changing the incorporated name from Public Annex to Elbow Room, which is why this fundraiser is officially donating to Public Annex because that is the current name associated with the federal tax ID number.

Thanks to a generous general operating grant from an anonymous donor, we have secured a 3-year lease on a 2,100 ft2 space in the Gardeners and Ranchers Building at 318 SE Main St!

Our aim is to create and maintain a flexible art resource space to best support artists in the IDD community, as well as the providers and organizations that support them. This is where we need your help! We are launching this community fundraiser with the goal of raising a $20,000 budget to furnish and build-out the Elbow Room Art Studio and Gallery.

Funds will be used to gather work tables and desks, chairs, shelving and storage solutions for art supplies, and technology for digital art and administrative work. We will enhance our studio capacity and supply inventory to support artists in textiles, sculpture/ceramics, music, digital media, and painting and drawing. We hope to invest in equipment to support the production and release of literary and musical projects by artists in our community.

In addition to the art studio, our new space will also contain a gallery and archive. We intend to do minor renovations to create rolling walls, archive storage solutions, and gallery display furniture. Our gallery budget will include lighting and photography equipment to document finished artwork and exhibition installations professionally.

If we can reach our community fundraising goal, we will be able to outfit our studio and gallery and begin hosting daily Elbow Room art studio hours in September, and to open our first gallery exhibition to coincide with Halloween! We are so grateful to the community that has shown up to support us for the past two years, and we cannot wait to celebrate our new space with you!

*Our fundraiser video was created by Endale Abraham, Robin Hansen, Andy Louie, & Joel Stotesbery, who are all members of Elbow Room and Video Tones, a collaborative digital media collective.