With support from the California Arts Council, Water & Power will provide one year of free rehearsal performance and exhibition space to BIPOC, low-income, and trans/LGBTQIA+ artists in Los Angeles facing systemic barriers such as housing insecurity, economic disadvantage and mental health challenges.
The program will deliver 600+ hours of free rehearsal space and over 350 hours of free performance and exhibition space, with equipment, staff support and documentation services, enabling artists to develop and present new work without financial burden. CAC funds will support facility operations, production costs, programming staffing, documentation, and accessibility accommodations to ensure the space remains free and fully functional for artists at every stage of their career. Through this grant, we anticipate platforming 216 new artists and providing a total of $174,600 worth of rehearsal and exhibition space.
Water & Power provides performance and exhibition space for emerging artists working in electronic music, performance art, and installation. As an artist-led queer collective, we work to create accessible performance opportunities for our BIPOC LGBTQIA+ community of artists who have aged out of traditional institutional resources or never had access to them to begin with. Our programming focuses on peer-led learning from working artists, grassroots artist education, and hands-on workshops