2022
IMPACT REPORT
EMPOWERING COMMUNITY THROUGH CREATIVITY
Our mission is to spark creativity and inspiration in people's everyday lives. As a part of our creative community, we want to thank you for being a champion of creativity and supporting free and accessible art opportunities.
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Our goal is to create an uplifting environment where people feel safe, welcome & inspired without consideration to their individual social, political, spiritual or economic experiences and perspectives. We love our surrounding community and we believe strongly that celebrating the culture, history and values of our neighbors strengthens all. This goal led us in 2019 to turn the Ix Art Park into a non-profit organization.
NOTABLE IN 2022
MAKING ART IS
FOR EVERYONE
Our #1 goal is the creation of a healthy community. We believe there is an artist in everyone. You don’t have to possess any special artistic skill, you just need an open heart and the willingness to try. Studies show that making art relieves stress, enhances brain activity, encourages creative thinking, and improves physical, mental and emotional health.
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Since 2021, over 12,000 people have discovered their inner artist at our Outside Art Room. Every Thursday through Sunday, we provide free art kits, including watercolors, paint sticks, chalk, and more to people of all ages. In addition, we host Arts From Underground, a free weekly series that provides adults with an opportunity to make art and explore their inner creativity while meeting new people and socializing with old friends.
The Ix Art Park serves as a free and engaging public mural and sculpture park in downtown Charlottesville that welcomed 290,000 people in 2022. In an effort to ensure accessibility for all, we hosted several free festivals and weekly events. Our crown jewel is the Farmers Market at Ix which attracts the broadest audience and consistently welcomes 2,000 to 3,000 people every Saturday morning.
In addition to our free events and weekly programming, we hosted roughly 27,000 people at a variety of ticketed events celebrating all forms of art. We also welcomed roughly 12,000 ticketed guests to the Looking Glass, our immersive art experience.
2022 AT A GLANCE
290,000
IN PERSON AUDIENCE
159,000
NEW VISITORS
240,000
(CACVB) VISIT CHARLOTTESVILLE IMPRESSIONS
12,000
VISITORS TO THE OUTSIDE ART ROOM
STIMULATING LEARNING
THROUGH THE ARTS
Arts Education not only inspires and motivates students to learn, but it supports creative and critical thinking. That is why we created an arts education initiative that provides curated instruction in multiple forms of art.
Since our initiative began in 2020, our 6 week summer arts camp for kids ages 3 – 13 has grown exponentially. In 2020, we welcomed 10 students and offered 3 free scholarships to marginalized youth. In 2021, that number rose to 60 students and 18 free scholarships. In 2022, we proudly welcomed 183 students and 29 free scholarships. Under the guidance of our trained art teachers, students learned to draw, paint, and create sculptures. In our Stop Motion Animation camp, kids wrote, directed, sculpted, shot, and edited short films. The program offered lessons in patience and focus, as well as puppet building and set design. It further provided a creatively charged tutorial in the most elusive and important of skills: collaboration and teamwork.
AFTER SCHOOL ART MAKING WITH THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
ARTS EDUCATION
In 2021 & 2022, we also partnered with the Boys & Girls Club at Cherry Avenue to provide 60 students with 36 weeks of free after-school arts programming.
Other strong partnerships were forged or expanded with International Neighbors, United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Piedmont Housing Area Residents and more community organizations.
We will continue to grow and enhance these programs as we design more educational opportunities and partnerships in 2023.
2022 SUMMER CAMP PROGRAM
STUDENTS AGES 3 - 13
WEEKS OF CAMP
CAMP PROGRAMS
FREE SCHOLARSHIPS
TEACHING ARTISTS EMPLOYED
STUDENT ART PROJECTS
STUDENT PRODUCED
INDEPENDENT FILMS
183
6
14
29
10
915
4
BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Ix Art Park, with our partner Market Central, entered our 3rd year hosting the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market at Ix which has grown from 10 vendors in 2020 to more than 70 local farmers and craftspeople each week. 47% of our vendors were representatives of Black Indigenous People of Color and Immigrant communities. The Farmer’s Market at Ix also offered Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits aimed at supplementing the food budget for needy families so they could purchase healthy food options and move toward self-sufficiency.
OUR FARMERS MARKET
2,000 - 3,000
195
$13,588
47%
VISITS WEEKLY
VENDORS A YEAR
SNAP BENEFIT FUNDING
BIPOC & IMMIGRANT VENDORS
Thousands of people attended the 263 events held at the Ix Art Park in 2022. Special focus was paid to a few Signature Events:
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2nd Annual Soul of Cville Festival, a 3-day FREE festival that showcased Black culture through film, fashion, music, dance, and more. Over 9,000 people attended.
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2nd Annual CVille Arts Festival, a 3-day festival that highlighted the creativity and diversity of 55 different East Coast artists.
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Fae Fest, CVille’s 1st 2-day family oriented Renaissance festival that featured over 50 artisan vendors, live music, demonstrations, workshops and performances set in a medieval environment. Over 8,600 people attended.
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Ix Flix, a FREE outdoor summer movie series that showcased 12 feature films
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Fantasy Fest, a 2-day Halloween themed fundraising event that celebrated fantasy, magic & imagination through workshops, vendors, live performances & demonstrations. Over 6,500 people attended.
OUR ONLINE FOOTPRINT
25,000
INSTAGRAM VIEWS
34,000
FACEBOOK VIEWS
43,000
WEBSITE VISITS
22,000
ONLINE FOLLOWERS
STRENGTHENING OUR
URBAN ENVIRONMENT
As of today, the Ix Art Park hails as one of the few free outdoor art parks in the United States. We are committed to the concept of providing a free and safe art space that welcomes all people regardless of their social, political, spiritual or economic backgrounds. We know that the opportunity to interact and collaborate with culturally diverse people in a creative environment fosters healthy neighborhoods. Studies further show that communities thrive when there is a positive intersection between diverse populations. But, we also understand that building civic relationships with community stakeholders, particularly in marginalized communities, requires time and trust. We strive to establish that trust for our residents and visitors alike.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
263
TICKETS SOLD
27,000
OUR VISION IS TO CONTINUE TO BUILD A CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM THAT FOSTERS ARTISTIC OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESSIBLE ART
In the next 1-3 years, we plan to launch an aggressive donor based campaign to re-imagine and beautify our free Outdoor Art Park with the addition of dynamic new stationary and interactive art pieces as well as new amenities, like improved seating, shade structures and greenery. Stay tuned for more information about this campaign and to get a peak at our exciting design plan.
INVESTING IN OUR
CREATIVE ECONOMY
In 2022, we contributed roughly $323,571 to the Creative Economy of Charlottesville by hiring artists not only to make art and perform, but to operate and maintain the Ix Art Park.
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We created 3 new murals, including the Discover Black CVille mural and the 1st America Connects National Mural. This mural mosaic, which featured tiles painted by 1,500 people, was sponsored by the Canadian based Global Roots Project and was the first such mural to be unveiled in the U.S.
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We also brought in 3 new art pieces inside The Looking Glass, including a 21 foot centipede produced by Meow Wolf artist Jenny Ollikainen.
Ix Art Park strives to be a national leader in public & immersive art experiences. Our concentrated free outdoor street art compilations is one of the most robust in the U.S. We are also home to The Looking Glass, Virginia’s first and only permanent, immersive art space, which opened in 2020, just 6 weeks before the Covid pandemic hit. Instead of laying people off during Covid, we hired two full time artists and recruited additional project artists to double the size of the space adding new projections, soundscapes, fabric art and a thrilling new narrative. Today, The Looking Glass boasts ~6,000 square feet of immersive art space designed and built by over 25 professional artists, all of whom were paid fair wages for their efforts.
12,000
TICKETED VISITORS CAME TO
THE LOOKING GLASS IN 2022
9
NEW ARTISTS EMPLOYED
13
NEW ART PIECES
522 SECOND ST SE, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22902 INFO@IXARTPARK.ORG