Red Eye

At Red Eye, we’ve been working—quietly to some, not so quietly to others. After a milestone year, marking Red Eye’s 40th anniversary and completing the build-out of our space, our focus has turned to deepening and sustaining Red Eye’s creative community. What’s most rewarding has been the opportunity to clarify: who we are, who walks with us, who we walk with, and how we want to focus our attention. This is a deepening, a committing, a recommitting. This year on Give to the Max Day, we are asking specifically for your sustained attention, care, and cultivation—a kind of tending. 

Since the election, conditions now seem more uncertain for organizations that support marginalized artists, from the national landscape to the local ecosystem. With the closure of more local arts organizations like the Cowles Center and HUGE, Red Eye has been under increasing pressure to absorb some of these losses. In our conversations, we sense fear and scarcity setting in again, and we hope to reassure artists that Red Eye can weather the ups and downs, and that we can continue to offer resources to our community. 

We will need to support each other in the times ahead, and Red Eye relies on its community to keep this work sustainable. We dream of more ample time for community building, ample resources to support creative process, and cultural transformation that can only take place through collective work. We move towards this dream by increasing honoraria and pay for working artists bit by bit, and by building our equipment inventory frugally and strategically over time, and by gathering a broad base of supporters with a deep commitment to this work. This foundation nurtures the radical voices of our fellow artists, in order to imagine how our shared futures might be otherwise.

We hope you will join your fellow community members in supporting Red Eye this Give to the Max Day and beyond! Red Eye has two goals for this year’s campaign: to bring on board 20 new donors, and to raise $5000 to support our programming. Red Eye is truly sustained by its community—many of our donors are working artists who share what resources they have available, whether it be time or funds or labor or ideas or connections. This community, which is invested in challenging dominant culture, deserves to experience abundant support. If you believe this work is important, we encourage you to be part of making it possible, and share a donation in any amount that is meaningful to you.

Here are several ways you can support Red Eye: 

1. SUSTAINING GIFTS: Launched last year, the Reservoir is Red Eye’s group of committed supporters. You can join by starting a recurring monthly donation on GiveMN! Just check the “monthly” option and select any giving level. Throughout the year, Reservoir members are invited to open rehearsals and process-related conversations with and by artists. This group has already begun to transform what is possible for us, and is the most affirming way to support Red Eye.

2. CAPACITY BUILDING: Of course we welcome one-time gifts as well! Give to the Max Day is a great time to give, because every donation makes us eligible for more prizes through GiveMN. We can also accept gifts via check! Send to: Red Eye Collaboration, 2213 Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404.

3. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Share our posts, forward an email, and/or bring a friend to an event at Red Eye. Learn more at https://www.redeyetheater.org. 

If you would like to discuss your gift with one of the Red Eye Artistic Directors, feel free to reach out to staff@redeyetheater.org.