5 Points Art Gallery and Studios, an artist-run creative space with a focus on artists of color, is facing a $260,000 balloon payment to be paid in full by Dec. 1. To rally financial support, it’s having an art-filled celebration: the Save the Gallery Art + Music Festival on Sept. 27.
Since opening in 2018, 5 Points has served an influential role in Milwaukee’s art scene. The gallery is known for representing both local and international artists, particularly artists of color and other marginalized or disadvantaged creatives. The building features nine artist studios, a shared commercial kitchen for culinary artists, and two affordable residency apartments for artists.
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“What 5 Points has been is not only a stabilizer, but an opportunity maker for artists,” says owner and founder Fatima Laster. “I was meeting such talented people, and I wasn’t understanding why they weren’t being showcased. 5 Points Art Gallery gives that opportunity, showcases those talents, cultivates those talents.”
Once a foreclosed funeral home, the space was purchased and renovated by Laster in 2018. To make the transformation possible, Laster took a loan structured with a $260,000 balloon payment – the only financing option available to her at the time. The loan allowed Laster to create the cultural space, yet it has also led to its dire financial situation today.
With the Dec. 1 deadline approaching, the pressure to pay off the loan is growing. The gallery has generated only a fraction of the needed funds from donations and previous fundraising. The remaining balance has the gallery in a bind, Laster says, hence the festival to raise money and community support.
The Save the Gallery Art + Music Festival will run from noon-10 p.m. at the gallery’s location in Milwaukee (3514 N. Port Washington Ave). The festival will be a 10-hour celebration of art, food, music and community building. While the festival is first and foremost a fundraiser, Laster hopes it doubles as an enriching cultural experience.
“You’re going to get a really immersive experience with visual arts, performing arts and literary arts,” she says. “It’s in the vein of what the gallery has done and continues to do – mixing artistic genres within the space.”
The festival will include local food vendors, performances from singers and rappers, arts and crafts workshops, auctions, and a panel discussion on gentrification.
Laster, named a Milwaukee Arts Board artist of the year in 2024, says that the gallery’s potential closing would be detrimental to Milwaukee’s cultural landscape. “If the space were to close, the city and the community would be erasing humanity and culture itself – a culture that people don’t know exists here and is being given a platform of visibility.”
Without substantial funds or sponsorships, the fate of the gallery rests with the community response. Though in a moment of uncertainty, Laster is already thinking about the gallery’s future with optimism.
“The vision for the future of the gallery is to keep pushing the program and expand,” she says. “We have artist-led workshops that will be reimplemented, we will keep showcasing exhibitions that are free to the public, and we will keep making programs accessible for artists and visitors.”
To purchase tickets to the Save the Gallery festival and donate to the 5 Points Gallery, visit the 5 Points Gallery website and its GoFundMe page.
