Support the Bag Factory Art Boxes Project

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Due to a generous donation the Bag Factory received from a private individual towards our operational costs, we are extremely grateful and delighted that our organisation will make it through the coming months until we resume our programming in early 2021.

We have decided to edit our GoGetFunding campaign to raise funds for a project which is very close to our hearts. Our kids art workshops are aimed at our youngest audiences to introduce them to the joy of creativity and art making. We work with less privileged schools and children's homes in the inner city, and with children in our local community. Due to the increasing numbers of Coronavirus infections, we are currently unable to run these workshops without putting these youngsters at risk.

We remain committed to giving the gift of art to children, and we are adapting our kids art workshop programme, taking Covid-19 into consideration. We will distribute Bag Factory Art Boxes to the schools and children that we work with, including age-appropriate art materials, activity instructions, and colour-in artworks made by Bag Factory artists. All proceeds raised with this campaign will go towards producing and distributing the Art Boxes.

Each Bag Factory Art Box contains art materials for 30 children, at a cost of R 1,500 per box.

The Bag Factory is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation in Johannesburg, South Africa. Under one roof it houses 18 artist studio spaces, a fine art lithography print studio, a gallery showcasing new work by emerging artists, and space for hosting events that encourage a greater understanding of visual art and stimulates interaction between artists and our audiences. Fifteen studios are subsidised to provide affordable studio space to a cross-generational community of Johannesburg-based artists; three studios are reserved for international artist residencies and the Bag Factory's artist development programmes which provide much-needed mentorship to young and emerging artists.

The Bag Factory was founded in 1991 and has a pioneering almost 30-year history of providing a supportive infrastructure for artists. It’s crucial role for the arts in South Africa is confirmed by a long list of celebrated alumni. It is unique in combining art making with cultural debate and art exhibitions, thereby creating a fertile environment for experimentation, innovation and cultural dialogue between creatives in South Africa and the rest of the world.