Help Bronx Clay Raise Start Up Costs
Donation protected
Bronx Clay is a Bronx based Ceramic Cooperative, co-founded by Vanna Valdez and Alexander Reynoso, two ceramics artists from NYC. Our mission is to bring Ceramic Art education to Black and Brown communities in the South Bronx and beyond. We aim to do this by providing public workshops within the community and ultimately opening a ceramic studio in The Bronx. We strive to make classes accessible by offering bilingual classes, sliding scale payment options, and free community workshops. We are committed to creating a safe space where our community can come to explore their creativity.
Why do we need this in the Bronx?
Arts funding is always on the chopping block. This is especially so in the South Bronx, the poorest district in the United States. Here, there are schools that don’t even have an art program or art teacher. Many students aren’t given the opportunity to experience different forms of creating art, let alone ceramics. As a result these students often don’t pursue careers in the arts, even when they may have a talent for it. This impacts us all, leaving a void of diverse perspectives and fresh, new ideas.
We believe that art is essential and everyone should have access to it.
How you can help:
Your donations will help us to expand our reach by allowing us to produce more workshops within the community and support our efforts to open a studio in The Bronx. Here are just a few ways that your donation can make a difference:
$14 will help us to buy a pack of tools for a student
$16 will help us buy a bottle of decorative underglaze
$30 will help us to buy a bag of clay
$50 will help us subsidized our sliding scale model
$100 will help us to pay for kiln services
$1,000 will help us in purchasing equipment
Please consider donating and sharing this fundraiser. Our future artists need you.
More about our founders:
Alex is a queer artist of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage native to Harlem . He received his associates in Fine Art in Ceramics in 2020 from Kingsborough Community College and has been a fiber artist for 11 years under his personal brand, AlexCreates. As a community organizer and educator, he finds joy and purpose in sharing his skills with others.
Vanna is a first generation Dominican American and a proud Bronx native. She earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Syracuse University in 2009. Her most recent project was “Molding our Community,” funded by the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2019 which produced a popular summer series of free open air ceramic workshops throughout The Bronx.
Why do we need this in the Bronx?
Arts funding is always on the chopping block. This is especially so in the South Bronx, the poorest district in the United States. Here, there are schools that don’t even have an art program or art teacher. Many students aren’t given the opportunity to experience different forms of creating art, let alone ceramics. As a result these students often don’t pursue careers in the arts, even when they may have a talent for it. This impacts us all, leaving a void of diverse perspectives and fresh, new ideas.
We believe that art is essential and everyone should have access to it.
How you can help:
Your donations will help us to expand our reach by allowing us to produce more workshops within the community and support our efforts to open a studio in The Bronx. Here are just a few ways that your donation can make a difference:
$14 will help us to buy a pack of tools for a student
$16 will help us buy a bottle of decorative underglaze
$30 will help us to buy a bag of clay
$50 will help us subsidized our sliding scale model
$100 will help us to pay for kiln services
$1,000 will help us in purchasing equipment
Please consider donating and sharing this fundraiser. Our future artists need you.
More about our founders:
Alex is a queer artist of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage native to Harlem . He received his associates in Fine Art in Ceramics in 2020 from Kingsborough Community College and has been a fiber artist for 11 years under his personal brand, AlexCreates. As a community organizer and educator, he finds joy and purpose in sharing his skills with others.
Vanna is a first generation Dominican American and a proud Bronx native. She earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Syracuse University in 2009. Her most recent project was “Molding our Community,” funded by the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2019 which produced a popular summer series of free open air ceramic workshops throughout The Bronx.
Organizer
Vanna Valdez
Organizer
New York, NY
