March 2010: It’s official – RAIR was awarded our first grant!  We will receive $40,000 from the City of Philadelphia’s Creative Industry Workforce grant to renovate artist workspace and office space at Revolution Recovery’s facility.

February 2010: RAIR is really starting pick up momentum.  We’ve been meeting with a lot of people with experience in the art / sustainability / non-profit world to soak up as much advice as we can.  So far, everyone has been really helpful and supportive.

January 2010: Billy Dufala is testing the waters.  He’s spending time at the facility to understand the logistics of how an artist can work effectively during Revolution Recovery’s daily business operations.  Special thanks to John Greig for his vision and efforts to make the studio a functional workspace.

January 2010: We’re making a lot of progress.  We’ve launched our blog and are starting to collect donations for our start-up.  We are looking for tools for the studio and small monetary contributions to help us file our non-profit paperwork.  Check our donation page for more information.

December 2009: RAIR submitted our first grant proposal to create formalized studio space at Revolution Recovery.  This grant is through the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy and the Commerce Department.  Applicants will be notified in February 2010.

Fall 2009: Fern, Avi and Billy have been meeting regularly to talk about the establishment of the residency program.  As part of her thesis project, Fern’s been doing a lot of research on exisiting artist residency programs and what it will take to start one in Philadelphia.