Notice to our community—

In 2025 UNIT/PITT will be (incredibly!) celebrating its 50th anniversary. As one of Vancouver’s first artist-run centres, “The Pitt” has been a crucial space for artistic experimentation, critical inquiry, subcultural production, and arts advocacy for five decades. With your support, we hope to continue this work for years to come.

We are seeking to raise $20,000 to stabilize our organization in the face of sector-wide financial challenges in the arts. If you’ve attended our events, exhibited or published with us, or appreciated our programs, now is the time to give back!

In September 2023, UNIT/PITT seized the opportunity to move into our beloved garden and gallery space at 2954 West 4th Avenue, returning to exhibitions and in-person programming after three years of remote operations. Our decision was informed by community feedback and consultation with grant officers, alongside careful strategic and financial planning. Our funders expressed a strong desire to see UNIT/PITT return to a physical gallery space, noting that this move could open greater funding opportunities.Despite our efforts to move UNIT/PITT towards financial and organizational security, industry forces outside of our control have left us in a vulnerable position. The transition back to brick and mortar operations has increased our overhead by about $40,000 per year. We are incredibly grateful to our funders for the grants that we receive, however, recent and unforeseen funding stagnation and declines across the sector have severely impacted UNIT/PITT’s financial stability, leading us to liquidate our emergency reserve funds in order to maintain operations in the short-term.

UNIT/PITT is humbly seeking support from our community to help us weather a challenging financial period. Donations directly support the artists we work with, our staff, and our programs. We have worked hard to establish UNIT/PITT as an artist-run centre that rejects the sterility of institutionalized arts engagement and brings thoughtful, lively programming to the city. In order to continue offering our very special gallery to the community, we ask that you consider donating and sharing this call widely. Every contribution helps. We recognize that many arts and cultural organizations across the province face similar challenges, and stand in solidarity with our peers fighting to keep arts spaces open and thriving.

This first year at our Kitsilano home has been beautiful. We've hosted exhibitions, performances, workshops, garden film screenings, an offsite exhibition at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, poetry readings, and more, welcoming hundreds of community members. We strive to provide supportive, flexible opportunities to each of the artists, curators, and creative practitioners we collaborate with. Moving to Kits has expanded the reach of artist-run culture within our city, connecting into a neighbourhood rich in Vancouver’s art history.

Looking ahead, UNIT/PITT intends to activate our 50-year old archives, expand on garden programs, improve accessibility in our facility, host a curatorial residency, and hopefully hire more staff (!). Stay tuned for our 50th anniversary programming, as well as feedback surveys to help enhance our programs and operations during this milestone year and beyond. We will also be rolling out a campaign of special fundraising events including a karaoke party, garden party, long table dinner, and flash sales on books and ephemera.As we are a registered charitable organization, all donations will be processed through CanadaHelps, and you’ll receive a tax receipt for your contribution.

A sincere thank you for your support,

UNIT/PITT Board of Directors and Staff

Catherine de Montreuil, Executive Director

Alison Bosley, Associate Director

Board of Directors Héloïse Auvray, Kaila Bhullar, Emilie Crewe, Sara Ellis, Nico Ford, Angie Kwong, Madison Mayhew, Craig Stensrud, Marianne Thodas, Henry Tsang, and Anna Zoria