Bloomery Update
After nearly a year of programming in Suite D at 17 New South Street in Northampton, The Bloomery Art Gallery & Meeting Place will be closing its doors at the end of June. While this transition marks the end of an era, it also signals a new phase of strategic planning for the Bloom Local project.
At its inception, The Bloomery was envisioned as an incubation space and a stepping stone towards realizing a greater vision for what we could do with this project—and it did just that. The space allowed us to host amazing artists, connect with over 300 community members at monthly art openings, and expand the concept of what our community events could look like in a post-2020 world. While we made a beautiful start at 17 New South, we need more resources and time to plan a sustainable future for such an important project. In addition, the space was not fully accessible. For these primary reasons, this part of the project will be pausing until further notice.
But we continue on! Bloom Local will continue to serve our local LGBTQIA+ creative community as we bolster and refine our digital platforms like the 2023 Business Guide and the Spring & Summer Gift Guide, and continuing to build our partner programs, including the Q/T Valley Emergence meet-up series co-produced with Transhealth. These shifts in focus will allow us to make informed and discerning choices about how, why, and where we show up as an organization for the betterment of the community in the future.
We're so grateful for all the support, feedback, and encouragement we've received in hosting an in-person space this past year. It takes so many people believing in a dream to make it grow, and we couldn't have made this start without you. Moving forward, we'll be strategically planning and fundraising for Bloom's next phase of growth, in the meantime, we hope to see you at our upcoming events and exhibitions in May and June.
There's no end to dreaming in this community, and we can't wait to see what the future holds!
To contact us, email luc@bloomlocal.live.