RAIR INC
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Mission Statement
RAIR's mission is to challenge the perception of waste culture by providing a unique platform for artists at the intersection of art and industry.
About This Cause
SUMMARY OF ORGANIZATION’S VISION Founded in 2010, RAIR is an art + industry nonprofit that interrupts the waste stream in order to facilitate the production of high-quality creative content that takes trash as its object or as its medium. Situated within the Revolution Recovery construction and demolition waste recycling facility located in Philadelphia, RAIR facilitates cross- disciplinary dialogue about art, sustainability and waste culture while offering artists, community groups, educators and industry partners access to over 500 tons of trash per day. PROGRAMS Since its inception, RAIR’s flagship Residency Program has established itself as a unique opportunity for emerging, mid-career, and established artists to work at the intersection of art, industry, and sustainability. Selected by a review panel of esteemed arts professionals through RAIR’s Open Call, five Artists in Residence per year receive attentive and hands on support from RAIR's staff who, acting as liaisons between artists and the recycling facility, ensure that residents can work safely and effectively within the parameters of a busy operational facility. In addition to providing artists on-site access to recovered materials, construction equipment, and a fully functioning studio and project space, the RAIR Residency Program offers Residents the opportunity to use the entire 3.5 acre recycling facility as an expansive project space for the development and presentation of ambitious experimental work. By facilitating artists’ direct engagement with the waste stream and the recycling facility, RAIR offers a unique opportunity for residents to consider their practice through the lens of sustainability and to thoughtfully consider their processes of material sourcing and waste disposal. In the summer of 2018, RAIR was awarded a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to support and bolster the flagship Residency Program by offering honorariums and stipends for housing and travel for Open Call residents along with a professional development initiative that provides Open Call residents with studio visits and commissioned essays/interviews from celebrated artists and curators. The grant made it possible to launch a Fellowship program that is awarded to one established artist per year for the development of a work that unfolds over the course of that year and overlaps with residents from Open Call. The Fellowship program is modeled after the success of past RAIR artists’ projects and gives Fellows the time and resources to develop projects that push the possibilities of what can be created in response to and in collaboration with the recycling facility and the waste industry. The grant also provided funding for a strategic marketing campaign that broadened the organization's reach and allowed for the organization to offer residencies to artists from outside the region and the country. The generosity of several additional foundations and government agencies has sustained the support provided to artists by the Residency and Fellowship programs through the present time. PROJECTS The projects produced by Residents consistently reshape our understanding of the facility, its dynamics of labor, and the ethical challenges that emerge when addressing environmental issues. Over the past several years, RAIR has also worked with a variety of select artists, institutions and interdisciplinary collaborators to develop and execute ambitious projects with multi-format programmatic outcomes in conjunction with the Residency Program. One of the projects that RAIR recently completed is Site to Be Seen, an interdisciplinary research and commissioning project funded by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. “STBS” is not only the biggest budgeted project RAIR has ever been granted, but it also has brought the legendary Mierle Laderman Ukeles on board as RAIR’s first-ever Vision Artist in Residence. The grant also assembled a research team to interrogate the history of the Superfund site adjacent to the recycling facility and is the land between RAIR and the Delaware River. The research resulted in a 400 page dossier that closely chronicles the toxic site . With the dossier as an anchor, and working closely with a small group of esteemed curatorial advisors, RAIR selected approximately one dozen artists to commission site responses for a culminating event held in October 2021. LEADERSHIP With over 9 years of experience executing ambitious projects in the the recycling centers industrial setting, RAIR’s staff, Co-Founder and Director of Residencies Billy Dufala has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to create space and time for artists to mine the recycling center and the larger waste industry for creative opportunities while maintaining an awareness of the risks, boundaries and pitfalls associated with running an art and industry residency program. Throughout the years RAIR staff has cultivated a strong network of creative collaborators, material resources and institutional and industry partners who are poised for continued engagement with the ongoing residency and its programming. RAIR’s other Co-Founder and acting Executive Director Fern Gookin is also the Director of Sustainability for Revolution Recovery and has not only helped start and establish the program, but has continued to help develop and maintain the organization's fiscal responsibility, administrative duties and organize and participate in fundraising efforts. FINANCIALS During the pandemic RAIR’s fundraising was done virtually and successfully beginning with the organization’s annual fundraising event, The Trash Bash, which transitioned to being held virtually last fall and far exceeded its revenue goals. The organization’s annual budget has grown steadily since its inception. The projected general operating budget for the year ending June 30, 2022 is $325,619 and is on track to achieve that goal. CONTACT INFORMATION Billy Dufala, Co-Founder and Director of Residencies Email: Billy@rairphilly.org Cell: 267-408-6339 www.rairphilly.org