free103point9 10th Anniversary Capital Campaign

Next year will mark free103point9’s tenth anniversary. As we approach this monumental milestone we'd like to invite you to participate in an exciting schedule of special anniversary events and the planning ahead for free103point9’s long-term future.

We are writing to ask you to consider making a tax-deductible contribution to free103point9. We hope you believe free103point9 programs and activities –- online radio, special exhibitions, unique experimental transmission shows, and artist residencies and resources –- to be valuable and can assist in making their continuation possible.

Since our founding in 1997 as a mobile microcasting collective, free103point9 has fostered artists and audiences interested in experimentation on the airwaves. With encouragement and assistance from the free103point9 community at large, and generous grants from the New York State Council for the Arts, and Experimental Television Center, free103point9 shifted from artist collective to nonprofit organization in 2002, employing the term "Transmission Arts" as an umbrella for our interactions with airwaves.

“Transmission Arts” unite a community of artists and audiences interested in experimental radio ideas and tools. Transmission practices harness, occupy and/or respond to the airwaves that surround us. We are excited that the term is becoming part of the educational canon.

Proudly, over the last ten years, we have presented the work of hundreds of artists to international audiences in a wide scope of contexts. Our programs have been presented in partnership with exciting and influential institutions such as Anthology Film Archives, NY; Art in General, NY; Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw; Electronic Arts Intermix, NY; Gwangju Biennale, South Korea; Hallwalls, Buffalo; Hogar Collection, Brooklyn; The Kitchen, NY; LMCC, NY; The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh; The New Museum for Contemporary Art, NY; NAMAC; The Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico; The Ontological Theatre, NY; PERFORMA, NY; Rhizome, NY; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and White Box, NY among numerous others.

From 2000 to 2004 the free103point9 Gallery in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn provided a special place for artists working in experimental sound genres such as avant folk, noise, computer-based music, free jazz and spoken word. Renamed the free103point9 Project Space in 2005, it continues as place for artists to meet, conduct workshops, present works in progress, and serves as a key studio for live content streamed on free103point9 Online Radio. This year, we’ve started hosting public events again and have many special events planned for this fall. With financial support, we will expand these programs further.

Both our Online Radio and Dispatch Series programs continue our commitment to the experimental sound and transmission community, and distribute live and recorded works to audiences in over sixty countries. We are now working closely with over 20 "transmission artists," exhibiting their work in many contexts including online radio, galleries, museums, and public spaces.

The free103point9 Wave Farm, which opened last year in upstate New York, is situated on 30 acres of pastoral meadows, with ponds, forest paths, and mountain views. Wave Farm is home to a summer performance series, artist residencies, skill shares, special Online Radio performances, and a forthcoming Transmission Sculpture Garden. As many of you have witnessed first hand, the Wave Farm environment is uniquely inspiring. Your extraordinary feedback about the grounds and atmosphere fuels our vision for Wave Farm as a public destination for decades to come. <

On June 16, 2006, we broke ground on the Wave Farm Study Center, which will house reading, listening, and viewing libraries; a performance/gallery space; a recording studio; and future artists-in-residence. This major undertaking is well on its way. Designed by Caireen O’Hagan and Manche Mitchell, the Study Center is a 4,000 square-foot facility. We are working with some terrific who are supportive of free103point9’s activities and we will do much of the interior work in-house. Yet, we need to raise an additional 20,000 dollars to complete the building, and are turning to our community for the first time appealing for individual contributions to help close this gap.

We'd like to thank you for your help in building free103point9 from a tiny group to a well-respected non-profit organization that now works with some of the best transmission artists in the world. We are planning several special events in conjunction with our anniversary next spring and we look forward to celebrating together.

Your support will facilitate future programs and ensure the longevity and growth of free103point9. Donations of any amount are welcome, and may be sent via check to:
free103point9
5662 Route 23
Acra, NY 12405
Click on the button below to make a contribution through Paypal.