Stay Gallery closure is imminent without renewed city support, operator says
Gabe Enamorado and Juliana Canty, of Stay Arts, say the gallery has a few months before it may close due to lack of funding. (PHOTO BY ALEX DOMINGUEZ)
DOWNEY — With their agreement with the city of Downey expired and minimal funds coming in, Stay Arts fears that its namesake gallery may soon be forced to shut its doors.
After previously having their lease paid for by the city, Stay Arts – who operates Stay Gallery - say that conversations about the space’s future funding have grown cold.
Instead, Stay says that it was told to apply for the city’s new Community Based Organization Funding Program, which will see a $100,000 grant divvied up between nonprofits for use on programs, events, and projects.
“What’s happening is our operating agreement with the city of Downey lapsed in May; it’s been an agreement that has been renewed since our start in 2012,” said Gabriel Enamorado, executive director of Stay Arts. “That agreement is a contractual agreement where Stay provides services to the community in the form of programs and maintaining and operating [the gallery], and we are compensated through the Art in Public Places Fund in the form of lease payments for the building.”
Enamorado said that this agreement has been renewed every three years, with the final agreement ending in May. He added that Stay had tried to renew the agreement in various ways, submitting proposals since around 2021 “to envision what going forward would look like.”
“Essentially, our proposal, our requests have not been prioritized,” said Enamorado.
Stay did apply for the CBO grant, but Enamorado says that even if they are selected, “it’s two different expenses.”
“The thing is, that grant is specifically for programs and services and events. Our funding from the AIPP is specifically for our building, and when you look at the Art in Public Places ordinance, it specifically states that money is for public art installations and art venues in the downtown.”
Mayor Claudia Frometa listens to a Stay Gallery supporter speak on the benefits of the gallery at Tuesday’s city council meeting. (PHOTO BY ALEX DOMINGUEZ)
Stay applied for three months of affordable workshops and classes in Spring 2024, but according to Programs Director Juliana Canty, the gallery would “still be at risk of closing.”
“Even if we were to receive that grant, it’s still not a viable solution for the lease of the building,” said Canty.
Stay has already been forced to cut some corners just to maintain their building.
“I’ve already skipped my payroll multiple times, so has [Canty] so that we can keep the building and the cost associated,” said Enamorado. “You look at the space; it’s a small space, but you’re talking about a space that is meant to have public hours for the community, meant to have programming that’s consistent, the time and labor it takes to produce all that… We tap out at a certain point; you hit a limit.
“We’re a service-based organization; we’re providing a service and filling a need, not this market that we’re tapping into.”
Stay has also not been able to program much, as Enamorado says it costs a lot of money to do so. Their last show cost around $5,000, and only raised around $8,000.
He said we’re “not looking to cash-out on this thing.”
“That’s the thing that’s so hard to communicate and have people understand, is this is a service; we’re just providing a service the way parks and rec offers a service, the way other community departments offer services,” said Enamorado. “It’s not cash-driven, it’s not profit-driven. It’s purely to provide a service and we see what we do as a reciprocal exchange with the city; we’re provided funding to just keep this thing going.”
At most, Enamorado says Stay might be able to hang onto the gallery until January before starting to pack up shop. Should the gallery close, he guaranteed that Stay Arts would still have a presence within the community.
More frustratingly, Enamorado says he’s never been given a reason why support for the gallery seems to have vanished. Canty offered that there was a narrative that “Stay Gallery needs to be fully self-sufficient,” which she argues is a “moot point.”
“We’re a service-based organization. The city is not our only source of income, we’re not relying fully on the city,” said Canty. “We’re working hard every single day to apply for grants, to fundraise, to collect donations, to find other sources of income. We diversify our streams of income, and being a non-profit, a large aspect of being a nonprofit is partnering with local government, other organizations, foundations; it’s a massive part of why a nonprofit exists, is to fill a void that is not being met in a certain area.
“The argument that we need to be fully self-sufficient off of the services that we’re providing, it doesn’t make sense because the services that were providing are a benefit to the community; they’re not profit driven.”
Enamorado says that if they “have to lose the building, we will,” however Canty added that “the community doesn’t want to lose the space.”
“This is literally the only visual arts space and gallery in the city of Downey,” said Canty. “If you lose that, you’re cutting off so much access to not only Downey residents, but people in neighboring communities who have no access at all in their cities for arts programming.”
Hoping to garner support, the organization has kicked off a “Save Stay” campaign, including an online petition which has already gathered over 1,000 signatures. The gallery also mustered a strong show of support at Tuesday’s council meeting, drawing around 30 speakers on its behalf.
The council ultimately decided to put Stays funding on the upcoming agenda.
Enamorado thanked everyone for their support.
“Thank you to all of the artists, the community members that have contributed to this place. People know that we’re fighting to keep this thing going,” said Enamorado. “Our goal has always been to grow beyond what we have offered. We have large visions for what we could do here for artists and for residents.”
