Wild Project Launches Fundraising Campaign To Purchase Building

wild project has launched #savewildproject, a capital fundraising campaign to purchase the building at 195 East 3rd Street in the East Village. Currently one of the only eco-friendly theater venues in NYC, wild project boasts an 89-seat ADA-compliant theater and art gallery featuring solar panels, a rooftop garden, repurposed bamboo risers, LED lights and biodegradable products. Purchasing the building will solidify wild project's home permanently in the heart of the East Village and ensure that their commitment to New York's artists remains for many years to come. The organization has a unique opportunity to purchase the space, but if wild project does not come up with the funds to sign a contract by February 2025, the space will go on the market and will likely be sold to the highest bidder, forcing another beloved downtown performing arts space to close.

Last year, wild project was awarded a $1,000,000 grant from former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and a $250,000 grant from the LoCAP fund via NYS Senator Brian Kavanaugh's office, helping to propel the campaign forward. They need to raise an additional $1,000,000 through federal, state, local, community and foundation resources in order to take out a low-cost mortgage on the $5,000,000 building. The purchase of the building also includes the air rights, making the potential for a future performing arts center a strong possibility. The urgency of the campaign is real, and they will need everyone's help to meet this goal. Please visit https://thewildproject.org/root-us-in-the-les/ for more information on ways you can help #savewildproject.

"wild project is one of those downtown treasure spaces that has provided a jump off for so many incredible performers in NYC over the last decade+", said Randi Berry, Executive Director of IndieSpace. "This home within the indie theater community deserves a forever presence. An incredible opportunity is in front of us. We have the chance to secure, permanently, one of the few true indie venues left in downtown Manhattan, just down the street from the recently lost Connelly Theater. We can't let this vital, beautiful, warm theater be another lost space on a list of closed venues."

Over the past twenty years, many small venues have been sold, forced to close, or just couldn't keep up with the rising cost of rent, forever changing the landscape we once knew. Many of our favorite downtown art spaces have been lost, including most recently the Connelly Theater on East 4th Street. New York has always been a place where new artists could develop their work and thrive in a supportive environment. Through the changes, turmoil and resiliency in the city, the Covid-19 shutdown, and the ongoing process of recovery, wild project has remained committed to ensuring that NYC remains a city where emerging, independent, underrepresented, downtown artists have a home - to work, develop, play, show their work, and launch careers.

"Since 2007 I've poured my heart and soul into wild project and the downtown theater community," said Ana Mari de Quesada, Producing Artistic Director of wild project. " In 2017 I partnered with Tom Escovar and we built our programs from the ground up with a mission to give free space to the many artists who need it. This space is special to the artists we serve and the entire community because they've made it special. The arts scene in New York City is very vulnerable right now but our goal is to call the community together to save wild project and secure our future and the future for the artists who call wild project home."

Since 2007, wild project has welcomed more than 55,000 patrons to its theater and supported more than 12,000 artists. Through their Wild Culture, Sound Stage, and MainStage programs wild project has provided LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC artists with theater access, outreach, and artistic compensation. They offer the venue for free or affordable rates to companies who employ 1,200-1,500 theater makers. Led by Ana Mari de Quesada, a Hispanic woman and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, wild project is one 1 of only 6 performance venues led by a woman of color, and the only venue that's mission is to serve BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists.

"wild project, to me, seems especially important, because if it goes under it will affect so many people and the very essence and the very heart of the downtown performance scene," said Alan Cumming, wild project Advisory Board Member. "It's so beautiful and I've seen so many Great Performances there. It could not be more right on and it could not be a more beautiful place and, sadly, beautiful places are having trouble right now."

wild project is a nonprofit producer and venue which supports the diverse independent theater, film, music, visual arts, and spoken-word artists of New York City. Since 2007, wild project has presented and produced theater that enriches, educates, and unifies its East Village community in an environmentally responsible green space. Located on E. 3rd St. in Manhattan, wild project curates resident companies in its 89-seat theater and devotes specific initiatives toward LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC projects and the work of local East Village artists, to ensure nonprofit theater sustains its roots in the community. wild project places the utmost importance on engendering a climate that supports the artists and cultivates artists who commit to artistic excellence, enrich the community and promote social equity.