Off-Broadway's wild project has launched a capital fundraising campaign to purchase its current home at 195 East 3rd St. in the East Village. The organization has an opportunity to purchase the building, but if it does not have the funds to sign a contract by February 2025, the venue will likely be sold to the highest market bidder, forcing the beloved performing arts space to close.
In 2023, wild project was awarded a $1 million grant from former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and a $250,000 grant from the LoCAP fund via NYS Senator Brian Kavanaugh’s office toward their #savewildproject campaign. They will need to raise an additional $1 million through a combination of federal, state, local, community and foundation resources to purchase the building.
The space includes an 89-seat ADA-compliant theatre and art gallery featuring solar panels, a rooftop garden, repurposed bamboo risers, LED lights, and biodegradable products.
"Since 2007 I’ve poured my heart and soul into wild project and the downtown theatre community,” Ana Mari de Quesada, producing artistic director of wild project, said in a statement. “In 2017 I partnered with Tom Escovar and we built our programs from the ground up with a mission to give free space to the many artists who need it. This space is special to the artists we serve and the entire community because they've made it special. The arts scene in New York City is very vulnerable right now but our goal is to call the community together to save wild project and secure our future and the future for the artists who call wild project home."
"Wild project, to me, seems especially important, because if it goes under it will affect so many people and the very essence and the very heart of the downtown performance scene,” added Alan Cumming, who serves as a wild project Advisory Board member. “It’s so beautiful and I’ve seen so many great performances there. It could not be more right on and it could not be a more beautiful place and, sadly, beautiful places are having trouble right now.”
Established in 2007, wild project is a nonprofit producer and venue which supports the diverse independent theatre, film, music, visual arts, and spoken-word artists of New York City.
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