Help Us Raise 2000 Fivers For Our Studio!

There are 1.6 billion fivers. We just need 2000 of them! Some of these 1.6 billion fivers are yours! Please can we have some? That one in the back of your wallet or purse, it would do nicely. That one you got in your change from a twenty earlier, that’d be fine too. Even that crumpled one in your back pocket you thought was a receipt.

Our crowdfunding campaign “2000 Fivers” is now live on Indiegogo. We are raising matching funds for capital funding we received in 2017 to refurbish the electricial system in our building and install a new fire alarm system and emergency lighting.

If you can afford to support us you can donate on our campaign page here. If you can’t afford to donate but would like to see us reach our goal, please share our campaign via your social networks!

Thank you in advance for all your support <3 <3

Credits: Thank you so much to Alec Moore for putting together our video & to Andy Wison for coming up with music for it!! Awesome Members <3 <3

We want to provide a safe and supportive environment for our member artists, communities that access our space and audiences who attend our events.

Over the past 4 years we have refurbished a 5500 sq ft industrial building into a modern artist studio with studio spaces, large build workshop, photography darkroom, screen-printing darkroom and facilities, print area, project room, electronics area, meeting room and artist library. We have invested thousands of euros of personal capital, thousands of hours of sweat equity and reinvested the majority of membership fees paid to us into the building. Now we need a little bit of help from the outside.

In 2017 A4 was awarded €22.8K in capital funding to upgrade the electrical wiring and to install a fire alarm system in our building. This is 70% of the total cost of the proposed works and the maximum we could apply for. In order to draw down the funds and carry out the necessary upgrades to the building we need to match the remaining 30% of costs which is just a few euros shy of €10k.

During 2017 we focused a lot of time in securing a long term lease for the building to ensure that value for money was guaranteed when investing into the building itself. In Jan 2018 we secured a 10 year lease and this means for the next 10 years we can confidently continue to provide safe and affordable studio space to artists working in Dublin. That’s only 50c per year for each fiver donated!

A4 Sounds is an interdisciplinary artist studio and gallery. We provide affordable access to studio space, artist facilities and workshops and courses. We curate a programme of art events including artist residencies, graduate awards, exhibitions, community get togethers, talks, and cinema, performance and music events. We also work with a wide range of communities, supporting them in their work through either provision of space or equipment for example The Forgotten Zine Archive, BLEND Residents Association, Fire House Film Contest, Hackfest Animation Festival, Abortion Rights Campaign, Strike 4 Repeal, the home-work collective and Irish Housing Network.

A4 is an important resource for numerous artists, activists, groups and collectives in Dublin City. We provide an alternative model for studio space that focuses on shared facilities and resources. This means we can support more artists at a lower cost compared to the more traditional model of a desk in a room. Currently we are the most affordable artist led studio in the city which is extremely important considering the rising prices of rent and living costs which are forcing many artists to leave.
Since opening our doors 4 years ago we have:

1. Supported hundreds of artists and many communities and activist groups.
2. Developed an artist in residency programme supporting 2-3 artists from studio work to exhibition each year.
3. Developed our Graduate Award supporting 1 graduate from DIT Grangegorman each year.
4. Developed our Supported Project Award supporting 1-5 activist groups each year.
5. Developed our educational programme, providing low cost access to learning for the public and providing employment opportunities for our member artists.
6. Helped fundraise for a number of causes and organisations.
7. Curated a wide range of events and exhibitions.

The total cost of refurbishments is €32.6k.
We have secured €22.8k or 70% of project costs.

The refurbishment is broken into 3 parts:

1. Refurbishment of old electrics: €18.4k
2. Installation of a Fire Alarm System: €10.2k
3. Installation of Emergency Lighting: €4k

1. €5.5k or 55% of monies raised will be spent on refurbishment of the electrics.
2. €3.1k or 31% of monies raised will be spent on installation of a Fire Alarm System.

3. €1.2k or 12% of monies raised will be spent on the installation of Emergency Lightening

4. €220 or 2% remaining will go towards fees and charges from the campaign.