CAM is launching a pledge campaign to support The El Rey Community Arts and Housing Project and we need your help! Join us as we work to raise $1 million to create affordable housing and cultural space in the heart of Belltown.
There are so many ways to get involved! Read on to learn more about the project and how you can be a part of building lasting infrastructure for artists and cultural workers in Seattle.
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Common Area Maintenance has saved the historic El Rey building in Belltown and is transforming it into permanently affordable housing for artists and cultural workers.
Alongside housing, the building will include shared space for community programming, residencies, and creative work. This project is about protecting cultural space while building something lasting for the people who make this city what it is. It creates a foundation for artists, organizations, and the public to stay, gather, and grow together in Seattle.
We are launching a $1 million fundraising campaign to support the development, renovation, and long-term stability of The El Rey. Donations or pledged support will help us bring this project to life as a sustainable community resource.
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Common Area Maintenance (CAM) was founded in 2015, with a goal of fostering a community of artists in an affordable space. We are a shared art studio and gallery, founded and propelled by artists, whose purpose is to cultivate an inclusive, affordable, and supportive creative community through resource-sharing, collaboration, and curatorial events.
We operate across two locations in Belltown, Common AREA on 2nd and Blanchard which houses our printshop and fabrication studio, and Common OBJECTS on 1st and Vine where our writers membership is located along with the Common Objects Bookstore, gallery and performance space.
CAM hosts over 130 free and low-costs public events, classes and programs every year and partners with dozens of Seattle’s arts and literary organizations. We are proud to be a place where artists and writers can come to connect, collaborate and find belonging.
We’re building a volunteer team to support outreach, fundraising, creative campaigns, events, and hands on projects that help reactivate this historic building for community use. Whether you want to spread the word, help organize, make art, support fundraising, or pitch in on creative activations, there’s a place for you here.
Be part of the team helping bring this building back to life. Fill out the form below to get involved.
One of the most effective things you can do is reach out directly to your community and friends. It matters that it is coming from you. That kind of personal connection goes a long way and has a real impact.
Click the “Email Friends” button below for a simple template you can copy and paste. Feel free to personalize it so it sounds like you, then send it out to your people.
You can also copy the link to our project page and share it directly. Every message helps build momentum, awareness, and real support for the project.
Join Common AREA Maintenance and Clarion West on May 5 at 5pm for a public celebration of our new partnership at The El Rey.
We’re gathering to mark an exciting milestone as we sign our partnership agreement, celebrate Clarion West’s extraordinary $100,000 commitment to support The El Rey, and share this next chapter with community.
Sample social media language
Hello everyone! I am helping to spread the word about an organization that I support and care about, Common Area Maintenance (CAM) @common_area.
CAM is a local, shared art studio and gallery whose purpose is to cultivate an inclusive, affordable, and supportive creative community.
CAM is working on an incredible project to transform a historic building in downtown Seattle into affordable housing and cultural space. Join me in supporting CAM’s mission to create more resources for artists and nonprofits by spreading the word about The El Rey Community Arts and Housing Project, or by pledging a donation.
In order to be eligible for a major buildings grant, CAM needs to raise $1 million by June 30th. I know we can do it! There are enough of us out there who care deeply about keeping Seattle’s creative communities in the heart of the city, if we pull together, we can bring this project one step closer to its goal!
Ways you can help:
Make a pledge - Make a one-time donation or pledge support over a longer period of time. All pledges go toward the $1 million goal. (link in @common_area bio)
Reach out to people who might be interested in supporting the project
Spread the news - Follow @common_area
Become a member - Are you an artist or writer in need of affordable shared studio space? Sign up for a CAM membership on our website (link in @common_area bio)
Volunteer - Help CAM build this new space!