Aishatu

Co-sponsor the connection, support, and camaraderie within the artist community.

Sponsor a workshop for an artist. This amount will cover the cost of entry for one workshop.

Sponsor a stage at an open mic. This amount will cover the cost of highlighting one feature artist at our open mics.

Sponsor a month for the whole community. This amount will cover an entire month of workshops for the whole community.

Fundraisers

Help put on our 1st Annual Flip the Script Virtual Performance! We will be featuring artists from our monthly Flip the Script workshop and producing an anthology of the performed art (available for purchase on Amazon after the event).

Pays the instructor to run one of our workshops for the ENTIRE year!

Pays for the instructors of both our workshops for the entire year!

Pays for our host, features, and facilitators for the entire year!!!!

Art Defined Productions

Did you know Manhattan receives 7-8x the funding for arts than the Bronx receives despite having only a handful more residents and triple the median income?

Seems unfair, right? That's where we come in.

, we are developing the careers of literary and performance artists in underserved and under-resourced communities with access. We encourage the marginalized voices of literary and performing artists by supporting them and uplifting their work to help fill the gaps formed by the systemic racial and financial inequalities of the Bronx and other underserved communities.

We provide a safe space with access for artists who are typically silenced, underserved, and marginalized, especially BIPOC and LGTBQ+ artists by providing: 

 with the tools and resources to grow as a literary artist,

 to discover and develop their artistry and ‘sound’,

 on stage and at community events and be valued for their art.

: a once-a-month, one-night event to get discovered and have more exposure to the arts. These showcases are comprised of two parts:

: a twice-a-month writing workshop that covers different genres, poets, and poems, analyzes form & structure, and includes peer/group work

a twice-a-month writer's workshop that focuses on the specific visual art of storytelling, covering craft skill sets using various concepts and techniques

 that features and incorporates our artists’ works to create an immersive, interactive, and community-building experience. Some examples of past events include 

You might have guessed, but the largest barrier is accessibility - to art-related work, opportunities, communities & resources. Marginalized and under-resourced communities are still being marginalized and under-resourced. :/

Nearly half of artists (47%) in the US stated that their artistic pursuits accounted for less than 25% of their total income

The Bronx houses 1.4 million, a little less than 200,00 than Manhattan, yet there are almost 10x fewer art-related opportunities for Bronx residents

And despite having 17x more art organizations than the Bronx (with only 200K more residents), Manhattan continues to receive 7-8x more funding than the Bronx, perpetuating the lack of workshops, resources, and developmental programs these underserved communities have access to

On top of that, the typical workshop costs $350-500 at a private organization. At universities, costs are typically between $4-6.5K. With the median income being under 

, workshops are a novelty that is not an option for most in these underserved communities. 

As a recent graduate, I was still green, inexperienced, and scared. I pushed through and found myself in rooms where I didn’t feel enough. I wasn’t confident that I had what was needed. The lack of resources and support made quitting the industry a more realistic and pragmatic choice. I saw locked doors everywhere and my support system, the artists I graduated with were switching their careers.

I recently read a testimonial from one of our patrons. She said, “People cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on the workshops that private organizations offer.” This echoes the crux of the problem we're trying to solve for. 

The average Bronxite grosses $21,778, per year. Nearly half of the average New Yorker. I realized the best course of action was to 

. Only we, the underserved, know what we need stemming from the gaps systemic racial and financial inequities bring. And we know when we are being heard. We know what to listen out for and what we're looking for — Equity. For artists like us, marginalized and silenced.

Amira Mustapha is a Ghanaian-American born and raised in The Bronx. She is an actor, playwright, producer, and poet. Amira is the Founder and Executive Director of Art Defined Production, Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to building platforms for literary and performing artists living in underserved communities. For more information visit artdefined.org. 