As we approach the end of another year I want to thank you once again for your ongoing support of Co-Lab Projects and Austin's community of artists. Without your attendance and feedback, our programs would lack the critical discussion we so desperately need as an organization, individuals, and collective community, a community that feels more crucial than ever–one that supports artistic freedom and strives to bring people together. Thanks to each of you for contributing in whichever way you do, it truly takes all of us to create these unique cultural moments in a city that is changing all around us.

This, without a doubt, has been one of the stranger years in our ten-year history; operating without a space presented significant challenges to continue bringing you unique programs and stay visible in a time of transition. However, these challenges allowed us the opportunity to experiment in fields with which we were less familiar, such as working with guest curator Sean Ripple to produce an experimental opera at Stateside Theater and working with Austin Film Society, Texas State Galleries, and hyperreal film club to present a feminist Australian political revenge film. We’re extremely proud of these programs and honored to have worked with these artists, collaborators, and institutions. Personally, I think these programs demonstrate our flexibility, tenacity, and dedication–even when our circumstances prove challenging and uncertain.

Without a space to call home since shuttering DEMO last December, we have had time to reflect, catch up on overdue tasks, and make plans for a more sustainable future. After multiple rental negotiations, we came to the conclusion that acquiring our own property would be the best long-term solution for our growing organization. So, after a fastidious search, we found and acquired the perfect site that's within our price range and close to other beloved arts complexes in East Austin. Our next big challenge is to develop a studio complex, gallery, and outdoor performance venue on this .62 acre plot of land on Glissman Road. Once completed, this complex is poised to be the only nonprofit owned, artist-run, studio complex in Austin. As a nonprofit owned property and development, we will be free from the burdens of property taxes and rising rent, allowing us to stabilize costs for artist studios and our programs.

Over the next year, we will be designing, permitting, and working with the City of Austin’s newly amended Chapter 380 incentives to mitigate development costs and acquire loan capital needed to build this facility. We will also be launching a series of campaigns to raise funds necessary for the realization of this massive project. During these fundraising and construction periods, we will be operating a modest gallery space in Building 1 of the brand new Springdale General complex. We anticipate that surrounding ourselves with other creatives, nonprofits, and startups should offer new and interesting opportunities to expand our audience base, circle of collectors, and organizational donors. The coming year is going to be an extremely exciting and challenging one, as we collect resources and funds in order to begin construction. We hope to provide a sustainable future for this community, and with your continued financial support of these efforts, this future becomes more and more certain.

Since what seemed like the peak of the space crisis earlier this year, artists and organizations have been finding creative ways to reinvent themselves and open new venues. Seeing new galleries such as DORF and Fancy Fancy emerge and organizations such as MASS Gallery and ICOSA find new spaces in which to operate gives us hope, inspiration, and the knowledge that our arts community will continue to find ways to thrive.

Let's continue to work together toward a sustainable future for the arts. We need each other—now more than ever. Until then, the Co-Lab team raises a glass to new chapters and wishes you a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Sean Gaulager
Executive Director and Curator

End of Year Letter