PAAIR 100
Friends of PAAIR, we ask you to consider helping to support our annual operating costs, which cover mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities, averaging $10,000 per year. We are asking the PAAIR100 people/businesses to pledge $100 each to cover these costs for the upcoming year which will allow us to better focus on maximizing our programming. As a thank you from PAAIR, you will receive a complimentary PAAIR100 t-shirt. Please wear it with pride; you are our best promoters. Your generous donation will go a long way to provide a welcoming residence for new artists coming to Port Austin!
The cost to operate the PAAIR residence is approximately $10,000 a year.
Mortgage–$4,384
Electric–$650
Gas–$200
Water–$830
Internet–$750
Insurance–$1,750
Cleaning–$1,250
Total $9,814
What we do:
Host artists: painters, writers, photographers, multi-media artists, musicians, designers
Sponsor workshops, art talks, immersive experiences, gallery exhibits
Offer the summer music series – concerts at Port Austin's Gallup Park and The Port Austin Community Playhouse
Display DIA Inside/Out and local art throughout town
Collaborate with 53North (the barn art project), organizing unveiling events
Maintain and update the Bee Barn, a building with rich Port Austin history
Our history
The PAAIR program, established in 2019, offers artists, local and international, living quarters and indoor and outdoor space to create and showcase their work. There is no charge to artists for their stay. We only ask that artists offer a community-based event. Our board and volunteers work year-round to plan and offer guidance to help artists connect with the community.
In our first year, we partnered with the Detroit Institute of Art’s Inside/Out program, placing 11 art pieces throughout the community, moving them every summer. We added 8 local artists’ work in 2022 to showcase the talent in our area.
We also welcomed our first guest, Detroit painter Ani Garabedian, in 2019. In 2021, as Covid restrictions began to ease, botanical artist Lisa Waud, created pop-up floral installations in the community and hosted Party Store, a botanical immersion at the old Al’s Party Store. One hundred volunteers and 400 guests participated in this safe respite of beauty.
During our five active seasons, we have hosted a foraging dinner, four songwriting retreats, a beehive sound immersion, community screen printing of local designs, and a gallery walk of photos honoring Huron County farming. We have offered creative writing workshops and hosted public readings from award-winning authors. We have offered space for sound baths and rain drum workshops. Our loft has become a gallery for numerous painters, multi-media artists, and a fashion designer, many of whom have presented art talks there for large audiences. We have also launched the summer music series, welcoming orchestras and bands to Port Austin’s Gallup Park. As our programming continues to grow, our normal season from June through September has now expanded to also include May and October.
Our work on the barn has been extensive. We created living quarters with an updated kitchen and bathroom and an art exhibition space with track lighting in the upstairs hayloft. Our future plans include new windows, roof work, and installation of HVAC on the second floor. We fund these projects as well as our programs through grants and donations. We are grateful for our supporters and want to continue to use these donations to create new programming, however, we also have a growing need to cover our annual operating costs.