Gadfly Theatre Productions, a queer and feminist theater company in the Twin Cities, launched a fundraiser last week to raise funds for a permanent space for queer and feminist performing arts.

The capital campaign is called “Home is Where the Art Is,” and it’s paired with a performance series at Lush.

“In a time when small, affordable spaces are disappearing from the Twin Cities, the need for a low-cost safer-space where individuals can develop their artistic voice and identity is greater than ever,” the organization wrote in its fundraising appeal through IndieGoGo free Generosity platform.

Gadfly is hoping to raise $7,210 in order to rent an inexpensive commercial space, and transform it to a queer and feminist theatre space. The group composed this video for the project:

“Gadfly has been doing great work six years, and having a home allows our art to grow and our service to audience and LGBTQ+ artists alike to flourish and take on new life; but we don’t just want the space for our own work,” creative director Cassandra Snow told The Column. “Major rental venues shutting down mean that upwards of 40 small companies need to find new homes to create in, and those with economic disadvantage or who are otherwise marginalized still can’t access the rental venues that are available, and that includes tons of members of our LGBTQ+ community who we’d rent the space to at no profit to us–and if we receive ENOUGH donations we could even subsidize some rentals.”

In mid-March, Gadfly is producing a series of “One Night Stands” to help raise money for the capital campaign billed as a tawdry festival of queer music, comedy, and drag & burlesque. Each of the three nights features different queer performers doing different mediums.

Music night on March 17 will feature big names in Twin Cities queer music including Koaz, Joey Schad, and Mayda. Comedy night on March 18 features headliner Maggie Farris with John Thomas and Janna Raye Syverson. Drag and burlesque night will be headlined by Sweetpea, and feature Esmé Rodríguez, Raven De’Mure, Queenie von Curves, Marcel Michelle, and Damien D’Luxe.

The performance series highlights the theatre’s mission of “smashing the patriarchy, breaking binaries, and elevating marginalized voices with evocative theatre and performance art.”

“One Night Stands is really our love song to the queer arts community here — they’ve kept us going this long,” said Snow. “And now is a chance to see what else “besides theatre” they might see in our space and celebrate the diverse and proud arts culture we have here in the LGBTQ+ community.”

Performance Dates:
A Night of Queer Music–March 17, 2016 $15 in advance, $20 at the door
A Night of Queer Comedy–March 18th, 2016 $15 in advance, $20 at the door
A Night of Queer Drag and Burlesque–March 20th, 2016 $15 in advance, $20 at the door