Red Salmon Arts, casa de Resistencia Books Is Entering a New Chapter
Red Salmon Arts is a Latinx/Chicanx/Native American based cultural arts organization and community center with a history of working within indigenous communities of Austin since 1983. RSA was founded by poet raúlrsalinas and is dedicated to the development of emerging writers and the promotion of literature with a commitment to social justice.
This summer our rent was doubled forcing us to relocate to a new home in the Montopolis/Riverside neighborhood. We launched a crowdfunding campaign and applied for and were accepted to the Austin Impact Accelerator, a 3-month intensive program focused on affordability and workforce development. These two endeavors are allowing us to undertake a much needed period to focus on the organization’s transformation for the future.
Despite our success in supporting the community for the past three decades, we have faced financial setbacks since the beginning. Much of this is due to the challenges of living in a capitalist society. As an organization we focus on community and our mission over profit. Many times focusing on fundraising has compromised many people and organizations. It is an important concept called the non-profit industrial complex.
Recently, many feminists of color have broken new ground in their critical discussions on the exploitation of labor from femmes and women of color. This has been a concept that has also hit home especially during this current relocation.
At RSA, the caretakers, which have been mainly marginalized people (women, queer folks, formerly incarcerated, working poor), struggle with overworking themselves to maintain the legacy of this long-time institution. While it is a passion for many to be supporting this unique community space, it is troubling when self-care and personal well being suffer.
We were aware before the rent hike that we should work towards more financial stability and we were brainstorming, but this incident, which caused us to scramble to raise funds, was a wake-up call.
Luckily we found a new home thanks to the support of volunteers and community partners. But this situation does have us hoping for a more secure future. We want an organization that can properly support and compensate its small staff and contracted artists so that we can have an emotionally and financially healthy community that will care for this organization and our founder’s legacy.
We are exploring many options currently and are speaking to mentors we admire that are working in radical grassroots organizing. We are hopeful we will find some great solutions. Please send us your blessings and any leads or advice you may have. Esta casa es su casa!
If you would like to support us during this transition please consider making a donation at fundrazr.com/redsalmonarts.
