"We stand in solidarity with creative communities and recognize these communities as critical components of a healthy society," wrote Meow Wolf reps on its website today.
The money is matching another donation of $20,000, given by Denver Arts & Venues. Meow Wolf's donation will go to a GoFundMe page, which has already raised over $13,000 through grassroots efforts alone (including a $2,000 MasterMind grant from Westword).
Meow Wolf continues:
In partnership with Denver’s Arts and Venues pledge of $20,000 to support DIY spaces in its own city, Meow Wolf is proud to announce $20,000 of matching funds specifically directed towards two of Denver’s most beloved DIY spaces, Rhinoceropolis and Glob as the spaces attempt to rebound from recent closings due to city code violations. These violations came under a more scrutinized microscope following the Ghostship tragedy that occurred in Oakland in December.
This donation from Meow Wolf is also in support of Amplify Arts, a newly-formed initiative to bring Denver’s artist community together to fight for support and opportunity. These funds will be directly distributed to support rent, utilities, architecture fees, and build out costs for the spaces to become code compliant.
Meow Wolf knows how difficult it is to operate an alternative venue that builds authentic creative community. There are so many pressures to homogenize, so many pressures to be absorbed into disconnected, cookie-cutter ways of living and existing. Artists are being driven out of cities by rapidly growing costs of rent and lack of creative economic opportunities. These communities are forced into difficult scenarios and faced with hurdles that compromise their existence. Not the least of these hurdles are both funding and general knowledge of rights and processes.
