CultureHouse Peabody Announces Events to Fund Community Pop-Up

Peabody, MA – The CultureHouse Peabody Advisory Group announced today the launch of community-focused fundraising events to support plans for CultureHouse Peabody, an upcoming pop-up space in downtown Peabody. The events will be hosted virtually and include a paint night, yoga class, and other activities intended to unite the community, foster support for the project, and raise funds to finance the space. The activities will support the final week of a crowdfunding campaign launched by the Advisory Group through a partnership with the non-profit CultureHouse, MassDevelopment, and Patronicity which is scheduled to end on April 30, 2021.

The current list of events is as follows:

• Wednesday, April 28, 7:00pm: Crystal Lake Canvas Paint Night (info link)
• Friday, April 30, 12:00pm: Yoga Flow with Jenny Lane Yoga (info link)

CultureHouse Peabody is intended to be a pop-up space to serve as a public living room for the community. The space will accommodate social distancing and health guidelines, and include seating, ping-pong tables, and games for adults and children. Guided by the leadership of the CultureHouse Peabody Advisory Group, comprised of local artists, residents, and activists from the community, the project is currently set to open in early June.

“During this past year, most of us have been staying home to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. And while that decision has kept us all safe during the pandemic, it hasn’t resulted in much community-building or economic stimulation in Peabody,” said Emily Cooper, a member of the Advisory Group and one of the community members involved with the project. “CultureHouse Peabody is designed to fill that gap: Provide a ‘third place’ outside of home and work where you can connect with neighbors, enjoy entertainment, and safely relax in downtown Peabody. I’m confident that these events will prove to everyone how special CultureHouse Peabody can be for our community.”

The events are intended to both raise money and awareness for the importance of a physical free to enter community space. They are the first of many events planned for the project. At the close of the fundraising campaign, the CultureHouse Peabody Advisory Group will next launch a month-long pop-up project on the space to gather community input, study how the space is used, and put together an impact report detailing a plan for a potential longer-term space in the city. The research findings gathered from the participatory pop-up space will help local community members and stakeholders develop new models for economic recovery from the pandemic in Peabody.

“We feel that these kick-off events are the best way to show the community firsthand how special a public space like CultureHouse Peabody can be for our community,” said Stephanie Johnson, a member of the Advisory Group. “When you create a meaningful space for people to relax and entertain themselves, you simultaneously generate community engagement, social connections, and economic stimulation for downtown businesses.”

Tickets for the events will directly fund the project through a crowdfunding campaign launched by the Advisory Group through a partnership with Patronicity. The fundraiser is currently open through April 30. If the Advisory Group meets its fundraising goal of $10,000, they will unlock a matching grant from Commonwealth Places, a Mass Development program. The current goal for fully funding the project is $40,000.

The CultureHouse Peabody Advisory Group is currently putting together plans for the month-long, information-gathering pop-up phase. To learn more about the initiative and donate to support the project, visit https://www.patronicity.com/peabody.