Gallery 263, Inc

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Gallery 263 (a nonprofit art gallery in Cambridge, MA), and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

As many of you know, I am an avid cyclist — I have pressured many of you to join me on all sorts of bike rides throughout the years. However, today, I am coming to you with a different ask. I am fundraising for Gallery 263, a nonprofit creative space committed to advancing contemporary art. The gallery is entrepreneurial in nature and always looking to expand ways to assist artists and support the creative community. From curated shows to solo exhibitions to life drawing to yoga, Gallery 263 is always trying to enrich and propel. As a nonprofit, aside from a small submission fee, Gallery 263 asks nothing of the artists, while providing a launchpad for them to grow and succeed. It is so important to me that organizations like Gallery 263 continue to exist. There are just not many nonprofit art galleries left. (On a personal note, Gallery 263 is also where Rtangent (the startup I founded during the pandemic to support digital exhibits for culture institutions) got its start so I am eternally grateful for its existent.)

So how does this tie into riding bikes? Well, as an impetus toward my personal goal of raising $5000 (a fraction of the $40,000 the gallery has committed to raising this fall), I am finally committing to riding from Cambridge all the way to Ptown. That’s 130 miles. This has been on my bucket list for many years. It feels like every summer I say something along the lines of “this is the year, I’m going to bike to Ptown.” Well, this is it. This fundraiser will be the accountability buddy I need toward finally achieving my personal goal. I’m targeting the weekend of Sept. 23rd, 2023 pending weather. And now that I’ve said it out loud to the universe, I could really use your help keeping me honest! It’s a big a ride! The longest distance I have ridden is 100 miles.

Reaching the $40,000 goal will fund the Gallery’s fantastic 3-person staff for six months! This includes programming, supporting artists, and opening up bandwidth to tackle growing pains. Quite frankly, Gallery 263 is a grassroots organization and has narrowly skated by for far too long. At the same time, the gallery has become increasingly impactful and renowned in the community. Artists exhibition shows are frequently featured on the Boston Globe, Boston Art Review, and other contemporaries and artists go on to bigger opportunities after exhibiting at Gallery 263. There is pressure to maintain quality and support artists. This is a good problem!! But this tight budgeting and pressure is unnecessarily stressful for the staff and doesn’t leave room to put in place a framework for sustainability. And that’s really the crux of the gallery’s long term survival: developing strategies for sustainability.

Reaching both goals are important to me and I hope you can contribute in any way that you can. I know inflation is real and it’s tough out there. But it’s equally tough for a nonprofit art gallery. So if you can give, in any capacity, really, any, it is appreciated!

Please read more about the Gallery and what they do here. You can also keep track of our progress towards $40,000 here.