OPEN LETTER
November 19, 2019
Dear Oakland and the Bay Area arts community,
Nearly six years ago, a cutting edge, grassroots art and theater company called Ragged Wing Ensemble had the gumption to create the only black box theater in Oakland. Ragged Wing had already spent a nomadic decade in the East Bay, staging shows out of boxes and car trunks, in theaters, churches, schools and public parks. The instability of the vagrant existence was getting exhausting and unhealthy. It was time to get a place of our own.
Dear Oakland and the Bay Area arts community,
Nearly six years ago, a cutting edge, grassroots art and theater company called Ragged Wing Ensemble had the gumption to create the only black box theater in Oakland. Ragged Wing had already spent a nomadic decade in the East Bay, staging shows out of boxes and car trunks, in theaters, churches, schools and public parks. The instability of the vagrant existence was getting exhausting and unhealthy. It was time to get a place of our own.
In 2014, Ragged Wing established The Flight Deck at 1540 Broadway, unpacked its boxes, and filled the space with stories, music, movement and light. Others came and filled it too. In nearly six years, RWE has hosted hundreds of arts groups, thousands of artists and more than 50,000 audience members who have filled the black box with their dreams, spirits and magic. At The Flight Deck, we practiced radical acts of imagination. |
But it hasn’t been easy. There has never been enough money. Even though the calendar is always full, all of the rental fees combined only cover about half of what it costs to run the space. Ragged Wing Ensemble has been left with the burden of fundraising the difference every year to subsidize affordable use by all 70 groups using the space. As a result, we have not been able to give proper focus to growing our own artistic programs or adequately paying our leaders, artists and staff.
Ragged Wing Ensemble will not be renewing the lease on 1540 Broadway when it expires at the end of March 2020.
After building the space and inhabiting the black box of The Flight Deck, we will be packing our boxes and heading on our way. Of course, after all the time, money, love, blood, sweat and tears we have invested in the space, we would like to see it continue as a cultural space. It holds a very important place in the town’s cultural ecosystem and so many artists rely on it. So we are currently trying to identify a group that could take over the lease and run the space. However, if another group does not step up to take it over, the space will close.
So what happens next?
Well, when artists lose their space, what do they do? Make art about it, of course! And because art is dialogue, we want you to join us in creating...
THE ART OF LEAVING
...a multi-layered, participatory project engaging the whole community in what it means to leave this space. It will be a ritual celebration of The Flight Deck’s legacy, culminating in a ceremonial exit from the space on March 29, 2020.
Well, when artists lose their space, what do they do? Make art about it, of course! And because art is dialogue, we want you to join us in creating...
THE ART OF LEAVING
...a multi-layered, participatory project engaging the whole community in what it means to leave this space. It will be a ritual celebration of The Flight Deck’s legacy, culminating in a ceremonial exit from the space on March 29, 2020.
Imagine this…
You enter The Flight Deck and see a gallery show made up of boxes. In each box is a story about leaving. Performers approach wearing miniature black-box stages. Inside each one is a whole world. You are handed a paint brush and invited to express your thoughts about leaving on a wall. You hear music in the theater and enter to join in a celebration of The Flight Deck and creative resiliency. Eventually, you are swept up in a wave of people exiting the space and spilling out onto Broadway, singing, dancing, drumming, wailing and rejoicing. |
What happens to a city when artists have nowhere to be?
As we leave, we join so many of our artist friends who have already been displaced. This story of leaving is bigger than Ragged Wing. Bigger than The Flight Deck. Bigger than Oakland.
We will not exit quietly. As we let go of the physical space of The Flight Deck, we will continue the momentum of its community. Join us in cultivating The Art of Leaving.
RAGGED WING’S FUTURE
As Ragged Wing Ensemble exits the space it birthed and held, we look to what is next. Ragged Wing is returning to a nomadic existence, but with so much more maturity and vision. We are looking to create compact, tourable shows, host multidisciplinary arts events in homes and outdoor spaces, teach our unique process, bring our work to colleges and businesses, connect with new supporters and cultivate new leaders.
BEYOND THE FLIGHT DECK
A new idea has emerged. Through our “Reimagining Business Models in the Arts” research project, we are developing an Oakland Cultural Space Cooperative. This business will network, preserve and activate cultural spaces, with the goal of sustaining culture makers of color facing displacement. Cooperatively owned by artists and cultural workers, the enterprise will increase access to space while providing opportunities to build wealth and collective advocacy power. Throughout 2020, a cohort of Oakland cultural organizations will meet to collaboratively design this enterprise. The research team will produce the invOAK podcast to share this process and bring voices from around the country into dialogue with our Oakland cultural leaders. Follow our group of inspired cultural change-makers as we design and prototype this new idea.
Thank you for being part of this amazing, resilient community. Please reach out with any questions or ideas. We look forward to entering this next phase with you.
Have questions about this transition? SEE OUR FAQs.
Have questions about this transition? SEE OUR FAQs.
How can you help?
Click on these links to:
- Participate in The Art of Leaving project
- Donate to support The Art of Leaving and Ragged Wing’s transition out of The Flight Deck
- Donate to support The Lower Bottom Playaz, Oakland’s only African American Theatre Company, who will also be spaceless again without The Flight Deck
- Book an event at The Flight Deck through March
- Subscribe to the invOAK podcast to follow the development of the Oakland Cultural Space Cooperative
Send an email to [email protected] with the indicated subject line to:
- Inquire about taking over the lease at 1540 Broadway; subject line: 1540 BROADWAY LEASE
- Offer space for RWE or another Flight Deck group after March; subject line: NEW SPACE
- Get involved with the Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation (BAMBD, CDC) which is producing BAMBDFEST 2020 in August; subject line: BAMBD
- Host The Art of Leaving after it leaves The Flight Deck; subject line: HOST THE ART OF LEAVING
- Bring media attention to this story; subject line: MEDIA
- Join the Ragged Wing Ensemble Board of Directors and/or become an advisor; subject line: BOARD