CounterPulse was founded over 30 years ago in an oversized living room by a collective of artists who started producing shows and inviting their friends. They were fortunate enough to have that space to gather, so their community began to grow. We have always maintained the alchemy of those grassroots beginnings: part emergent and iterative, part magic and catalytic.
Now, as 2022 comes to close, we’re achieving more than we could have dreamed. Our community has rallied to support us in purchasing our building, ensuring our continued access to space and fostering our impact.
Now we need your support to secure our stage for years to come!
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In the last fiscal year…
• Organized the 2021 CounterPulse Biennial Festival featuring over 5 new site-specific performances and 6 digital events
• Threw our annual Innerspace Art Party & Auction which raised over $80,000 to directly pay Bay Area artists and cultural workers
• Supported 4 transdisciplinary Artists-in-Residence with paid mentorship and over 274 hours of free rehearsal space in our Combustible and Edge tracks
• Provided 84 hours of rehearsal space for Weaving Spirits, a co-propresented week-long festival of workshops and performance curated by ARC Alumni Javier Stell-Fresquez and Indigeneous Drag icon Landa Lakes.
• Highly subsidized 169 hours of studio space to 18 artists who regularly use CounterPulse’s space to develop new works in dance and performance.
• Hosted 137 performances and community programs at 80 Turk St
In this monumental moment for CounterPulse’s legacy, we want to look back on this past year’s successes and at the people who make our community so special.
Our audiences
Our dynamic community reflects the Bay’s cultural legacy of radical diversity and collective power.
On average our audience is
• 40% of our virtual audience reported the show they attended as their first CP show
• 24% were audiences streaming from outside of California
• 33% were ages 18-34.
We subsidized 1,215 free tickets, as well as providing an additional 729 discounted tickets
CounterPulse devotes resources into accessible technologies and services for our live events, such as Audio Description, Haptic Tours, and ASL interpretation. Our digital marketing campaigns include outreach to disabled and/or LGBTQ+ communities and organizations
Our Artists
CounterPulse paid $388,488 to 198 artists through
• 1 Biennial Festival
• 4 ARC residencies
• 5 Visual art exhibitions
• 7 Co-Productions
• 50 TenderArts events
On average our artists are
527 hours of subsidized studio space was provided to 38 artists to develop new dance and performance works
9 House Artists fundraised $248,900 through our fiscal sponsorship program.
Our Partners
Our partners believe in sharing resources to broaden and deepen support for the arts
We received 658 donations and 19 grants in the last year
Thank you for supporting the work of CounterPulse!
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Download our FY2022 Impact Report • Download our Theory of Change • Download our Strategic Plan (2021-2025)
Featured photos:
• Kanukai Chigamba and Gbedu Town Radio as part of ARC Edge 2022. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• Ambrose Trataris and Grey Tartaglione at Innerspace 2022. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• CounterPulse’s Homecoming King Jota Mercury at Innerspace 2022. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• ARC Combustible Residents h0tclub in FreeIceCream.network. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• Diana Lara in NETWORK by KD>>MovingGround. Photo by Hillary Goidell
• Gbedu Town Radio perform an excerpt of Mixtape of the Dead and Gone. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• Bae Laurel, Audrey Johnson, and Laila Shabazz in [and then we must be]. Photo by Robbie Sweeny
• Esther Young in in NETWORK by KD>>MovingGround. Photo by Hillary Goidell
• Shinichi Ioga-Koga in CATENA by Dilate Ensemble. Photo by Robbie Sweeny