Fundraiser for Bedtime Goose & more!

Xochi de la Luna
This year I am asking for donations to fund my multiple projects that I find important to building the community we all want to see. And some personal projects that I really believe in.


Mother Goose's Bedtime Stories and Vector 9


Mother Goose's Bedtime Stories is  a celebration of queer, trans and non-binary artists, with a focus on black, brown indigenous folks.  It is an arts incubator that works by creating small intentional moments of
multidisciplinary art showcases all curated to fit a grounding theme
set by myself, and once in a while  a special guest host/producer. These events are not pay to play, and I would never dream of them becoming
that way.

 Though this showcase has been successful and meaningful for over a
year, there are some clear changes needed to keep this opportunity
sustainable.  This fundraiser is kickstarting a development program I
am working on to include grants, fellowships and other revenue
generating processes for this project.


Vector 9 is a spin off show based off of the origins stories of Mother
Goose.  I started to focus more on showing people the merits of
comedy. I think comedy can speak to us in a way no other type of
performance can. Vector 9 is home to a more curated comedy show,
where we exemplify that comedy doesn't have to resort to making light of abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia. The show evolved to
include music, a local film showcase, an open mic, and live interviews.
This project is hosted by myself and Devohn Bland.


Essentially, I’d like to raise money to be able to pay artists.  Considering I am committed to accessible sliding scale pricing, door sales don't
usually cover half of this expenditure, This includes graphic artists,
photographers, and videographers. Having a fund would give me an
ability to dip into monies that otherwise come out of my own resources. It would also allow me to purchase props and rental equipment needed to make certain visions come to life. Among these artists, I hope to
get better at paying myself.  

Art can be a force for so much more than entertainment.


Two years ago shortly after I lost my job, I lost my physical green card
on the greenway in Minneapolis. I’ve been forced to do countless hours of frustrating legal work to get an application for a new green card. The replacement process has been long and arduous. My personal story is
not unrelated to the racism in our current and past governments. I am
Salvadorian and the United States has perpetuated the myth that we
are a danger and a threat. Since I am unable to hold a stable job I figured “why not take the stage as much as I can?” And I did. Within the past
couple of years I have tried comedy, movement, performance art,
theater, making music and curating or hosting shows to hopefully
empower folks.


I had never done much of anything with performance until I was put in my lowest place ever. I never thought I could. This society and industry makes us believe that you have to be a phenom or genius to do
anything. They feed us scarcity mentality to position us against each
other, so that capitalism will feed on us. As a result, my immigrant
parents never really believed that the arts could be a good thing for the family, so they didn't nurture that side of us. I do not blame them for this, I blame our dictators. That's why we must create art, because art is inherently political; especially if you are a black or brown person. And even more so if you are queer, and/or trans or non-binary.


That's why I think it's incredibly important to create and hopefully inspire others to do the same. Everyone is an artist and it just takes a little
bit of lifting each other up and the rest is doing it over and over.

I am where I am. I get the opportunities I do because I put myself out
there and work hard all the time. Art is my everyday job; I'm practically on call 24/7. Not only because I am in need of funds but I am riveted by artists in the Twin Cities. As a community member, I do free labor and
consulting on a weekly basis because I want everyone to flourish. We
all do better when we all do better.


I still struggle though. Sometimes I catch a break that will feed and
house me for a while, but a lot of the time I am relying in the kindness of community to continue on while I wait for the relief that is being able to hold a steady job. It's very humbling, and I feel very ashamed a lot. I was not raised to ask for monetary help. I was raised to figure it out
regardless of what needs to be done, but my family isn't in a place to
help me. I don't know what else to do other than ask you all, my beloved community, for help.


Even if you can only give a dollar, please consider donating! I will use
these funds to continue creating intersections of art and community
building.