Support sustainable arts in Mokelumne Hill!

This fundraiser is ongoing to support programming at a brand new 501(c)(3) nonprofit art center with a focus on sustainability in historic Gold Country, California.

The initial fundraiser was intended to cover start-up costs and has helped immensely, but we still have a long way to go! We continue to need support for rent and utilities and to allow us to build up an art supply closet and various art equipment so those who come to the center can leave with brand-new artwork and, even more importantly, the skills and knowledge to continue to create sustainable, eco-friendly art!

We also need support to launch California's first eco-friendly darkroom so we can start teaching analog (film, cameraless) photography and darkroom skills with a plant-based, eco-friendly, and low-toxic approach!

We also need support to launch a website, create marketing materials, create income-generating events for artists, and be able to provide free art activities to the community regularly.

Thank you for your support and for sharing this fundraiser with your friends and family to continue the mission!

About Prospects

With a focus on sustainable — safe, affordable, and eco-friendly— art practices, the space serves as a multi-functional workspace where artists can learn, practice, and create as well as a community hub that offers education on sustainable art practices and access to a safe workspace that will include separate workstations for a variety of arts and a plant-based experimental photographic darkroom. It is also an art gallery, with gallery rails installed on two 15-ft walls and additional space for 3D works, installations, and more.

Prospects Eco Art Center launched in fall of 2022 at the intersection of Center and Main Streets (former Hippie Closet) in Mokelumne Hill, a quaint and charming foothill town that was once home to thousands of migrant workers and was a bustling city during the gold rush. The building that houses Prospects at 8359 E. Center St. is a Greek-revival stone building made of locally quarried rhyolite stones and has survived two of the town’s major fires since its inception in 1854.

Prospects’ founder and Executive Director Marie-Elena Schembri is a resident of Mokelumne Hill, reporter for the local newspaper Calaveras Enterprise, and has a background in fine art, gallery management, teaching, nonprofit volunteering, and sustainable darkroom photography.

Our Board of Directors consists of a President (Schembri), Treasurer (singer/songwriter and Mokelumne Hill resident Brad Hoshaw), and Secretary (Erika Schweikert-arts supporter, mother, massage therapist) and we are looking to add more board members from the surrounding community who have an interest in protecting the environment, finding new creative and sustainable approaches to art-making, community enrichment, arts education, and grassroots organizing. We currently meet on the third Sunday of the month at 5 p.m. PST. If you'd like to get involved please email us or find us on social media @prospectsecoarts