May 19, 2020
Dear friends,
As you know, when shelter-in-place first began, we were gearing up for The Art of Leaving, a festival celebrating the legacy of The Flight Deck and the act of letting go. At first, we planned to reschedule the event for the summer of 2020, but now, given the state of public health, the public event will be fully canceled. We all share in the loss of collective ritual this event would have provided, but like many things in this global moment, and like the venue itself, we need to let it go.
The content created by artists for this event is beautiful and touching, and they are currently working to document their creations. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing some of these with you so that you can experience some of what this event would have been. We also plan to use these works as jumping-off points to create a new version of the event whenever it is safe to gather again. Your donations paid these artists to create this work, as well as supported RWE staff to guide the organization through this challenging moment.
Ragged Wing is embracing this time of metamorphosis. When COVID-19 hit we were already mid-pivot - reinventing our business model and imagining the next chapter. Now, we are putting our efforts into providing accessible ways to heal through creativity and connection. Tune in to MOMENT 2 MOMENT, our transformative talk series, on Thursdays at 5pm and join the dialogue. Sharing stories is how we humans build wisdom. It is the key to our survival. Your donations also supported a quick pivot to this relevant and timely programming.
There are several exciting announcements coming soon, so stay tuned…
May each of you be well and healthy,
Anna, Amy and the whole Ragged Wing crew
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Imagine this…
You enter The Flight Deck and see a gallery show made up of boxes. In each box is a story about leaving. Performers approach wearing miniature black-box stages. Inside each one is a whole world. You are handed a paint brush and invited to express your thoughts about leaving on a wall. You hear music in the theater and enter to join in a celebration of The Flight Deck and creative resiliency. Eventually, you are swept up in a wave of people exiting the space and spilling out onto Broadway, singing, dancing, drumming, wailing and rejoicing.
At the end of March, 2020, Ragged Wing Ensemble will leave The Flight Deck, a space that it birthed, grew and shared with hundreds of artists and thousands of community members over nearly six years. The Flight Deck is the only black box theater in Oakland, and if another group does not step up to take over the lease, it will close. Read the Open Letter and FAQs for details on this transition.
When artists lose their space, what do they do? Make art about it, of course! And because art is dialogue, we want you to join us in creating...
THE ART OF LEAVING
...a multi-layered, participatory project engaging the whole community in what it means to leave this space. It will be a ritual celebration of The Flight Deck’s legacy, culminating in a ceremonial exit from the space on March 29, 2020. After this event, we aim to bring The Art of Leaving to multiple venues around the Bay Area to continue this story beyond the physical space of The Flight Deck.
Click here to share your thoughts and/or participate in the project.
We will not exit quietly.
As we let go of the physical space of The Flight Deck, we will continue the momentum of its community. As we leave, we join so many of our artist friends who have already been displaced.
This story of leaving is bigger than Ragged Wing. Bigger than The Flight Deck. Bigger than Oakland.
Join us in cultivating The Art of Leaving.
Please help us raise $50,000 by the end of the year and a total of $75,000 by the end of January in order to produce this important project and transition out of The Flight Deck and into the next chapter gracefully.
