With support from the California Arts Council, A.B.O. Comix will increase Director Casper Cendre and Executive Assistant Oliver Mills’ paid hours, enabling us to sustainably increase our staff capacity to better meet the needs of our contributors and will produce 9 publications by LGBTQ2S+ artists experiencing incarceration.
*Maintain a physical space for the advancement of our programs and services, providing a safer community gathering space and the ability to reach more neighbors, new volunteers, and members of aligned organizations through our street presence
*Provide a platform to marginalized community members inside prison to express themselves artistically
*Work closely with LGBTQ2S+ members experiencing incarceration to develop artwork & provide feedback so that artists can hone their skills
*Introduce the general public to the plight of LGBTQ2S+ people experiencing incarceration
*Fundraise for and provide financial assistance to our contributors and other LGBTQ2S+ people experiencing incarceration in need
*Create and maintain LGBTQ2S+ community contact and friendship across prison walls
*Support LGBTQ2S+ people experiencing incarceration to gain knowledge and experience in the publishing/artistic industry
*Provide artists with credentials for a portfolio and letters of recommendation (for parole boards, etc.)
*Introduce LGBTQ2S+ people experiencing incarceration to other organizations that may assist them with needs or publish their work
*Engage with the local community at events (workshops, book and zine fests)
*Collaborate and work in solidarity with other prisoner advocacy/abolitionist groups
*Produce annual comic anthology featuring dozens of artists, many of whom will be published/recognized for the first time
*Produce Solo works (autobiographies/memoirs, omnibus collections, multiple series/volumes of comics)
*Produce a Podcast featuring long form interviews with currently and formerly incarcerated contributors and those working on behalf of people experiencing incarceration within the prison system
*Self-produce events that bring local and allied artists in adjacently/to collaborate with our contributors
*Provide parole support work for LGBTQ2S+ people that become eligible for homecoming