18th & Union, an arts and community space in Seattle’s Central District, needs your support!

Since opening in September 2016, 18th & Union has co-presented over 60 different productions featuring both local and touring performing artists. We’ve hosted dozens of performance, audition, rehearsal and community rentals, and we’ve established ourselves as a vital part of Seattle’s arts scene. 

And we’ve done this all while remaining in the black since day one. How did we do it? With your support. 18th & Union’s earned income from rents, ticket and concession sales covers our rent, utilities, and other day-to-day expenses, and we pay a significant amount to artists as their share of ticket sales. But there isn’t much left after that. Our hard-working staff manages the space, maintains the tech, and does everything in their power to support the artists. They receive a small monthly stipend, but are mostly volunteering their time. We did a crowdfunding campaign when we first opened in 2016 (and those wonderful donors’ names are emblazoned on our lobby wall in multi-colored chalk). We raised that initial money to support our start-up costs, and now we want to invest in our staff. Over 18 months later, it’s now time to ask for your support again.

With your continued support, we’ll increase stipends paid to our staff. We’ll have the resources to temporarily increase staff for new projects. And, critically, we’ll be able to stash a bit in the bank for those unpredictable moments when we need to draw on reserves.

$1,500: Covering operating cost increases (primarily the 6.15% rent increase)

$3,000: Increasing staff stipends (to increase all by 50%)

$1,000: For the piggy bank (building a reserve)

Number of co-presentations: 37

Number of guest rental productions: 7

Number of other community events: dozens

Number of artists who appeared on our stage: Over 100!

Amounts paid in rent, utilities and insurance: $37,178

Amounts paid to artists as their share of ticket sales: $20,774

So far in 2018, we’ve co-presented over a dozen different shows and hosted 4 rental productions. This summer, we’ll be bringing back some of our favorite solo performers and hosting a world premiere of a set of short plays by local playwrights. And in the Fall, you can expect more shows, more music, and more community involvement.

18th & Union is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of 18th & Union must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.