Los Angeles Black Image Center launches crowdfunding to avoid closure

The Black Image Center (BIC), a nonprofit collective founded in 2022 by young Black photographers in Los Angeles, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to keep its doors open. The organization aims to support Black artists in telling their own stories, born from the 2020 racial uprising when much of the documentation was done by white journalists. Co-directors Kalena Yiaueki and Maya Mansour run the space. In 2022, BIC purchased a venue in Culver City, providing free workspace, research, and photographic development. The center offers free events, workshops, residencies, film screenings, and conferences, but these come at a high cost. Yiaueki told Hyperallergic that the organization is struggling with rent, programming, supplies, and unpaid volunteer labor. BIC is too young to qualify for most foundation and corporate grants. The crowdfunding goal is $380,000 to cover 2024 operational and programming costs, with $80,000 for rent and utilities, and the rest for staff healthcare, educator compensation, and materials. Donations of equipment and volunteer time are also welcome.