Commitment to Social Justice
Building an arts practice is not easy. Artists and artisans bear the heaviest burden in the arts sector even in the best of times, and are often expected to be the most generous in both good and bad socioeconomic climates.
Even with these challenges, since 2020, Jenie Gao Studio has:
- Donated over $7,500 USD ($10,500 CAD) to different nonprofits, mutual aid efforts, and bail funds.
- Hired 25+ paid interns and apprentices, and dozens of independent contractors, prioritizing those who are local to each community JGS works in.
- Purchased artwork from fellow artists as often as possible (my flat file and walls are full).
- Used their platforms and arts advocacy writing to bring attention to inequity and challenges faced especially by BIPOC artists, queer artists, disabled artists, and working class artists.
- Pursued equitable, innovative solutions with collaborating artists, community stakeholders, and institutions.
Causes Jenie Gao Studio Has Donated To Include:
- Ain Dah Yung Center ($200 USD, receipts)
- Art for E-Sims for Gaza (art donation, $280 CAD)
- Bayview Foundation ($202 USD)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County (art donation, $90 USD)
- Cook It Forward (receipt, $500 USD)
- eSims for Gaza ($214.19 USD, receipts)
- Freedom Inc. (receipt, $1,500 USD) (receipt, $1,000 USD)
- Free the 350 Bail Fund (receipt, $1,500 USD)
- Ma's House & BIPOC Art Studio (art donation, $318.75 USD)
- Women's Medical Fund ($191.16 USD, receipts)
- YWCA Madison ($200 USD)
- Various individual GoFundMe campaigns, calls for mutual aid for healthcare expenses, family expenses, rent support, house fires, and more (≈$500+ USD)
Stay tuned for the next fundraising campaign!