FAQs
CELEBRATION 2019 | photo by Alanna Floreck
Click here to view our Mission & Vision
How do you pronounce your name?
It's pronounced “Celebrate Eightfourfive”. You can also call us "Celebrate" for short.
What is "845"?
It's the area code for the mid to lower-Hudson Valley, where we live and facilitate our events. Click here to read our land acknowledgment.
What exactly do you do and where are you based?
Events we’ve hosted in person and virtually include:
- Arts exhibitions (group and solo)
- Public performances
- Protests
- Open mics
- Vendor markets
- Community days that center art, music, and wellness
- Networking mixers, dance parties, and more
- Resource distribution and sharing
We are also part of coalitions across the region that are led by and advocate for the well-being of those most impacted by harmful systems, and we prioritize showing up to support local efforts and causes. View our coalitions page here.
We have hosted and/or collaborated on in-person programming in: Balmville, Beacon, Hudson, Kingston, Middletown, Modena, Nanuet, Newburgh, New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Rosendale, Saugerties, Washingtonville, & Woodstock and look forward to future programming throughout the Hudson Valley region. We've also hosted many virtual events, as access is a top priority. It is our dream to show up in every crevice of this Valley.
We intentionally do not have a venue of our own, as we do not wish to own space or land and are not in a financial place to do so. We prioritize collaborating with existing spaces across the region - preferably those that are owned by or run by marginalized, working class folx who share our values or are willing to work together. Transportation within the Hudson Valley is not always affordable or accessible and popping up helps us reach our entire community without being bound to one place. We work with venues that support our community, who recognize their impact and responsibility, and help sustain safe community for all.
Are you a non-profit / gallery / collective?
Hell no. We're just a group of homegrown locals using our resources, networks, skills, and privileges to create opportunities and moments of joy. We do not receive formal funding and are resourced through our community. There is enough, and we all have something to offer. We aim to hold space for connection via the arts and for celebration in a sustainable, conscious, and community-centered way. We are a vessel, a container, a resource, an amplifier. We are amorphous, ever changing, ever bending, ever growing.
What do you mean when you say "marginalized, low/no income, and working-class" creatives and why do you center them?
To marginalize someone is to relegate them to a powerless position within a society or group. A society that labels certain people as outside "the norm" based on their ability, gender identity, income, etc. marginalizes those people, edging them out. Such persons are typically systematically excluded from full participation and consequently lack the self-efficacy to improve their life situation, especially within a capitalist, patriarchal society.
Artists who hold marginalized identities may also be able to uphold systems of oppression within the arts, and so we choose to center those who are low income or working class and those do not hold the as many relative privileges. Example: a woman (marginalized identity) artist who is white (privilege) and is a landlord (privilege) would be less centered than a chronically ill (marginalized identity) person of color (marginalized identity).
We hope that more fine artists in our region will opt into breaking down barriers so that our local arts scene can be truly accessible. We hope that privileged folks will opt in to leveling the playing field and trust that there is enough for everybody.
"I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else.' If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." - Toni Morrison
We believe that while the populations we attract have many differences between them, many of us are similarly disadvantaged in the local creative arena. We also recognize that some folks who hold one marginalized identity may also hold many privileges, and we encourage people to self-assess as we strive for true equity. We believe that creating space for us all to come together and/or work together can have many benefits, including a chance to educate one another about both our unique and shared experiences via our creative work and also provide space for us to organize and mobilize against inequitable and oppressive systems. We aim to work intersectionally so that we all can thrive.
“Nobody's free until everybody's free.” - Fannie Lou Hamer
Who's "we"?
Celebrate845 was founded by Jamie (they/she), an artist, educator, and organizer from the 845. In 2020, Team Celebrate assembled- a diverse group of delegates from different parts of the region who practice different forms of art and hold varied identities and experiences. Most recently, we've evolved into primarily being driven by collaborations and work with impacted community members project by project. We listen to our neighbors, have the conversations, and carry out where Celebrate goes based on our collective community's needs.
We also give tremendous love to all collaborators, supporters, and creatives who work with us, inform us, and show up for one another. Thank you.
Celebrate is a fluid vessel to be yielded, so if you have a vision and would like to utilize our platform to see it through, let's talk.
Didn't you used to be called something else?
We did! From January 2018 - January 2021, we went by CelebrateWomxn845. When we were first founded, we chose to use the term "womxn" and sought to hold space for women and women-identifying artists based on a voiced local need. In 2019, we revised our mission to include femme, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming creatives based on feedback and experience. Over time, our reach and network became more and more intersectional and it made sense to continue to bend and expand. We changed our name to Celebrate845 by the end of January 2021, as the term "womxn" had been co-opted by TERFs and was not worth hanging onto. We do not judge people who prefer this term as one that most honors their identity.
We recognize that conversations around race, gender, gender identity, class, ability, etc. and the language surrounding them all are super personal to each individual and are also changing every day, place to place. We do not claim to be experts. We do, however, choose to create a platform that is rooted in intersectionality, continued education, flexibility, trust, mutual respect, and celebration of and for creatives in this region while centering those who are systemically disadvantaged.
How can I work with Celebrate845?
Contact us here, or fill out our collaboration form here.
organize - recognize - celebrate!
