Upstate Art Weekend: Do Better!
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Have you ever seen something with a name that made you feel like "oh wow, I should be part of this!" but then the deeper you looked into it, the more it felt like it was designed without you in mind while also exploiting you somehow?
Enter Upstate Art Weekend.
- Founded by rich, white, gentrifying artist Helen Toomer. Helen moved "upstate" from New York City during the pandemic's peak / during the Hudson Valley Housing Crisis and said "you know what this area needs? An arts scene!". This is TEXTBOOK saviorism, gentrification, gatekeeping, and ignorance... What Not To Do 101.
- Instead of arriving and immersing herself in what and who was already here or supporting local efforts, she used her resources to design a pay-to-play offering that costs $250+ to be a part of, gave it a name that capitalizes on a region experiencing a housing crisis while not giving back, and actively erases Indigenous history past and present.
- UPAW's name implies a definition of who is considered an artist here, but we know better. Artists in the Hudson Valley care about things and are impacted by things that many transplants like Helen choose to ignore or know nothing about.
A cohort of community members have tried calling her in for the past few years - via comment, DM, email, and invites to in-person conversation. All to no avail, so...
...enter Upstate Art Weekend Do Better!
We're getting the word out. If Helen won't listen and learn, it's time to take action. We call upon anyone who cares about community to opt into learning about this campaign. If you're an impacted local artist - we see you and want to hear you. If you're a participant who didn't know better - opt in and amplify. If you're a visitor - get familiar with the struggles here and do what you can to help rather than only extract. We all have a role to play regarding our collective liberation and well being and are intent on building power and modeling what community care can look like. UPAW could be an avenue to offer care to one another, share resources, and stand up to oppression through the arts. The time is NOW. UPAW - DO BETTER.
~Community Transmissions~
Click each image and read what our community thinks!
A case against Upstate Art Weekend & offerings like it
Community thoughts on Upstate Art Weekend
Wtf?
UPAW has no standards for who they work with. Shame.
Wtf?
UPAW has no standards for who they work with. Shame.
Action items
ACTION 1: inform one another!
- Look up Upstate Art Weekend on social media and comment on any UPAW posts / posts from participants. Let people know about the #UpstateArtWeekendDoBetter hashtag, ask questions, and direct participants and visitors to mutual aid efforts or resources. Fun fact: we can't comment on UPAW things because they blocked us...
- Email or message us your thoughts! We're sharing community-informed transmissions and strive to include as many local voices as possible while centering those of folks who not only hold a marginalized identity but are working class artists and beings most impacted by systems of harm (aka not white women millionaires... for example..... oop!).
- If you don't have any specific thoughts, please just share the campaign wherever you can. It's our responsibility to keep one another informed.
- There are SO many things that can be shared during UPAW, such as free fridges, legal aid, wellness resources, housing and renters rights info, mutual aid efforts, roles to get involved in locally, and much more. Check out out HV Resource Guide (here), get familiar with what's out there, and ask yourself: why would UPAW not want local artists or visitors knowing about these vital resources? Who stands to benefit when the arts are used to gatekeep, divide us, and keep other people down?
ACTION 2: Don't show out to or support UPAW!
So many of the participating venues are also gatekeepers within the local arts scene and don't exist for the many. To venues who knowingly are "trying to change it from the inside"- we'd love to have a presence during your show. To venues ready to escape the cycle of broken ways of operating, let's talk. To venues who think UPAW is good, we're rooting for you and your unlearning journey. To community members who feel excluded - WE ARE. But we don't need this event! Do your own cool things during UPAW & all year long! And do it collaboratively and intersectionally!
ACTION 3: Fill out their survey when it comes out (after the weekend)!
Tell them what they need to hear, and please consider sending us a screenshot or an email of what you said! That way we know they received the feedback (if and when they choose to ignore it).
Venues can print these & put them out for visitors to take:
The defensiveness runs deep...
Do you think we ever got a response from Headstone Gallery?.....
Nope.
Fixed it!
What do YOU wish UPAW would speak about? Let us know! Or let them know! We use our platform to share things like our Resource Guide, full of things like community fridges and pantries, free wellness services, and other tools that artists and community members need year round. UPAW has the power to make this part of their work. Why don't they want us to survive or thrive here?
Solidarity to all artists speaking out and taking action!
organize - recognize - celebrate!