MPWRD Collective 2023 Fundraiser

Founded on November 19, 2019, MPWRD Artists Collective Initially started as a dance collective later rebranding to accommodate multidisciplinary artists.

Brandin Josue Alvarez(Preferred: Agpalo “Ting'' Alongi Makinta), founder and artistic director of MPWRD Artists Collective was born and raised in the Bay Area, and in the 20+ years they have spent in the arts community they have never come across a space, dance studio or otherwise that truly dedicated space and a safe container for Black, Brown, and LGBTQI+ artists. While there are spaces like African American Arts and Culture Complex, PUSH Dance as well as a handful of other organizations that do provide space for specific communities listed above, there are still very few here in the bay area and the community is saturated with spaces that are predominantly White. Many of these spaces have a specific focus on dance, rather than a multidisciplinary focus. MPWRD Artists Collective fills a specific niche here in the Bay Area that most arts organizations do not, which is, a space that prioritizes Black, Brown, and LGBTQI+ artists, creating a space in which these communities can create and incubate work without the concern of funding. We not only function as a multidisciplinary arts incubation space but also as a space for classes and workshops ranging from dance classes to herbal medicine workshops. Unlike other spaces, we are inviting modernity while also welcoming and centering culture at the very heart of our work with many of our directors actively participating in indigenous/folk-inspired art and healer/practitioner work.

Our goals for this year are quite simple- to expand and continue to grow and bond with the community. In the last three years, we have run some amazing events like our monthly outdoor dance cyphers, which are run and hosted by our resident dance organization ArchiveDanceCo., as well as Archive donation dance classes, and MPWRD Adult Performance Company Open Rehearsals. We have many more plans and goals on the horizon, and while we will continue to rent and find usable space for our programs and events this year our attention has turned toward finding a permanent home for our artist community to come together. Through crowdfunding, donations, as well as the running of programmatic classes and workshops we are intent that if we can make this final push we will have achieved a major milestone in making this Collective a sustainable endeavor. This however is one great task so we are asking you all as a community to join the call. We thank you all so much in advance for your help on this journey.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me or Danielle Galvez our Executive Director

Agyamankami(Thank You Very Much),

Ting Makinta Danielle Galvez

Artistic Director Executive Director

(510)650-8226 [email redacted]

[email redacted]