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.
What exactly do you do and where are you based?
Events we’ve hosted include art exhibitions (group and solo), public performances, open mics (virtual and in person), vendor markets, workshops, info sessions, networking mixers, dance parties, and more. Projects include digital zines, mail-in campaigns, and astrology offerings. We are also part of coalitions across the region that advocate for the well-being of those most impacted by harmful systems.
We have hosted in-person events in Beacon, Kingston, Newburgh, New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Rosendale, & Woodstock and look forward to future programming throughout the Hudson Valley region. We've also hosted a number of virtual events. View our past events here.
We do not have a venue of our own and prioritize collaborating with existing spaces across the region - preferably those that are owned or run by marginalized folx. 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 do not take commission on sold artwork during exhibitions, we compensate performers and collaborators, we rent venues that support our community, we source supplies and food locally and consciously, and prioritize building healthy relationships that will sustain safe community for all.
What do you mean when you say "marginalized" and why do you center them?
To marginalize someone is to relegate them to a power-less position within a society or group. A society that labels certain people as "outside the norms" of patriarchy and capitalism marginalizes those people, edging them out. Such persons are typically systematically excluded from full participation and consequently may lack the tools or privileges to improve their situation.
We believe that while the populations we attract have many differences between them, they are similarly disadvantaged in the local creative arena. We believe that creating space for all to come together and/or work together can have many benefits, including a chance to educate one another about their unique and shared experiences via their creative work and also to provide space for them to organize and mobilize against inequitable and oppressive systems. We aim to work intersectionally so that we all can win.
“Nobody's free until everybody's free.” - Fannie Lou Hamer
Didn't you used to be called something else?
We did! From January 2018 - December 2020, we went by CelebrateWomxn845. When we were first founded, we chose to use the term "womxn" in response to a voiced need for space for women and women-identifying artists. In 2019, we revised our mission to include femme, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming creatives. Over time, our reach and network became more and more intersectional and it made sense to continue expanding.
We recognize that conversations around topics such as race, gender, gender identity, class, ability, etc. and the language surrounding them all is super personal to each individual and is also changing every day. We do not claim to be experts. We do, however, choose to create a platform that is rooted in intersectionality, education, mutual respect, and celebration of and for marginalized creatives.
Are you an artist collective / non-profit / gallery?
Nope. We're just a group of locals using our resources, networks, and privileges to create opportunity and to hold space for connection via the arts and celebration in a sustainable, conscious, and community-centered way. We are a vessel, a container, a resource, an amplifier.
Who's "we"?
Celebrate845 was founded by Jamie Sanin (she/they), an artist, educator, and organizer from the Hudson Valley. In 2020 we finally formed #TeamCelebrate, a diverse group of delegates from different parts of the 845 who practice different forms of art. We have the conversations and shape where Celebrate goes based on our collective community's needs. Get to know them here.
How can I work with Celebrate845?
Contact us.
organize - recognize - celebrate!
