Tucked just a block from downtown Coeur d'Alene's bustling Sherman Avenue sits an oasis of art education. Emerge is an art gallery and retail space, but also a hub of creative energy and expression, offering classes and workshops for rising local artists.
As a nonprofit, Emerge relies heavily on grant funding to sustain its $325,000 yearly operating budget. As the organization heads into the new year, however, reaching that funding target has been more uncertain than before.
For the past four years, Emerge has received significant financial support from the Windgate Foundation, a private foundation based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Emerge's Executive Director Jeni Hegsted says the arts nonprofit has received about $50,000 from the foundation each of the past four years, but this year the foundation denied its grant application due to a technicality.
"We were denied the grant because we had included that we would be supporting performance artists with the funding," Hegsted says. "We have an education series for artists called our Artist Incubator Series, and those students submit their capstone projects to our annual Block Party. We wanted to expand that."
Hegsted says money from the Windgate Foundation supported both arts programming and a portion of Emerge's Block Party event last year. In its latest grant application, Emerge noted goals to expand its offerings with a music incubator for 2025.
"They denied that request saying that they do not fund performance art of any kind," she says. "We feel like it fell in line with their mission to provide educational opportunities to artists."
Emerge's grants committee consists of two experienced grant writers and Hegsted. While working on their application to Windgate, Hegsted says none of them saw any indication that performance arts fell outside the foundation's grant qualifications.
While Hegsted asked to modify Emerge's proposal and omit the portion about musicians, Windgate denied the request, stating that the process was too far along, but that Emerge would be allowed to reapply for grant funding next year.
To make up for the loss in anticipated funding from the Windgate Foundation and ensure that Emerge can continue its arts education programs next year, Hegsted says the arts nonprofit launched a crowdfunding campaign.
As of Monday, Dec. 9, Emerge's "Help From Friends" campaign had raised just over $19,000 of its $45,000 goal.
At the $20,000 mark, Jane Clark of Clark's Diamond Jewelers in Coeur d'Alene committed to match up to $10,000 in donations, plus another $5,000 on top, for a total donation of $15,000 to help Emerge hit its goal.
"If we can meet our goal it's going to ensure that we can still run our professional development series and panel discussions that are super relevant to artists," Hegsted says. "If we don't, we would have to look at not doing some of our big events [next] year like the Ceramic Throwdown, the Ink Print Rally and the Block Party."
The Help From Friends campaign runs through Saturday, Dec. 21, and culminates in an end-of-campaign party at Emerge with drinks and music by DJ Donuts.
"The country as a whole needs places that are truly inclusive, and places that are allowing freedom of expression and creativity," Hegsted says. "It's our hope that the community will join us in ensuring Emerge's future." ♦
