$12,181 raised$15,000 goal
Help us reach our year-end fundraising goal of $15,000!
shun·pike ˈshən-ˌpīk
(n) : an alternative route used to avoid the toll and traffic of a superhighway
Traditionally artists have had few options available to build and sustain their practice. Either work within the system (which favors established and often less risk-taking entities) or try to survive on your own.
For over 20 years Shunpike has been a successful alternative route for hundreds of artists and organizations. Artists need administrative support and a way to raise money; they need opportunities to show their work and spaces in which to work; they need environments where they can come together, share their experiences and gain practical skills. Shunpike, through vital programs - including Fiscal Sponsorship, Artists of Color Expo & Symposium, Storefronts, Arts Business Clinics, The Studio @ 2+U, Artists in Residence, and Seattle Restored - provides the support, the advice, the gatherings, and the spaces.
The Drums of Taiko // Japan Creative Arts
Fiscally-sponsored group, performing at Shunpike's Golden Hour
Gretchen Yanover
Cellist, performing at The Studio @ 2+U
Ben Zamora
Artist in Residence in Amazon's Expressions Studio
The art of supporting artists’ businesses requires resources.
As Shunpike’s programs and services grow, funding needs naturally grow. Please join our diverse funding community in supporting this important work. When you support Shunpike, you support the region’s artists, when you support the region’s artists, you support the broader community.
Learn More about Shunpike Programs
Shunpike serves artists and arts groups throughout Washington state through our many (and growing!) programs including:
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP Our longest-running program, Shunpike has served as the fiscal sponsor for hundreds of arts organizations and groups throughout Washington state. Under the umbrella of Shunpike’s non-profit charitable 501(c)(3) status, our fiscally-sponsored organizations can receive tax-deductible contributions from individual donors, granting institutions, and corporate sponsors. Shunpike also provides additional back-office and administrative support services for these organizations.
ACES // Artists of Color Expo & Symposium is an annual BIPOC-led, community-curated program featuring art exhibits, live performances, presentations, workshops, film screenings, artist talks, and artist opportunity tables. We are coming together with intentionality to value our work and see one another as resources while focusing on the challenges and solutions we face as artists of color in the Pacific Northwest. ACES 2023 will be held on May 19+20, 2023 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.
STOREFRONTS is a public art exhibition and pop-up program that came about in the wake of the 2008 economic downturn. Since then, the program has served several neighborhoods in Seattle, as well as other cities in the Puget Sound region. Storefronts South Lake Union has evolved into an ongoing temporary public art partnership with Amazon, hosting 24 artists’ works a year.
AMAZON AiR Shunpike coordinates the Amazon Artist in Residence program, placing 8 artists annually for ten-week residencies at two studios in Seattle and Bellevue.
THE STUDIO @ 2+U Shunpike facilitates the use of a dedicated 1,100 sq. ft. workshop, rehearsal, and presentation space at 2+U, in downtown Seattle. The Studio is created with underserved creative communities in mind, those most affected by gentrification and displacement, and is available at no cost to all selected performers and artists.
SEATTLE RESTORED revives Seattle’s neighborhoods with creativity and commerce! Seattle Restored calls our local artists and entrepreneurs to reinvigorate our city by activating empty storefronts. These projects will benefit neighborhoods, small businesses, artists, and property owners by creating vibrant and engaging streetscapes that encourage the public to visit downtown Seattle, support local businesses, and support local artists – particularly women, black, indigenous, and other entrepreneurs and artists of color. Seattle Restored is a program of Shunpike and Seattle Good Business Network, in partnership with the City of Seattle Office of Economic Development,
Shunpike's Board of Directors is fundraising for this campaign!
If you'd like to contribute to a board member's fundraiser, click one of these links below and learn more about their Shunpike story.
Shunpike empowers Washington state artists & arts groups through equitable access to vital expertise, opportunities, and business services. Providing fiscal sponsorship and direct client management, we help 150+ artists in our region fund their art through charitable donations. We proudly power programs including Storefronts, Artists of Color Expo & Symposium (ACES), Amazon Artist in Residence (Amazon AiR), The Studio at 2+U, and Seattle Restored. Visit www.shunpike.org to learn more and get involved.