BOB HOLMAN

…but I’m going to start with the “official” statement that was crafted by Ann Enzminger with input from a whole lot of people who worked so hard on this effort. More to come — but if this is news to you, if you had made a contribution, know it was not in vain. It was, in fact, essential in informing a new direction for the Club’s survival. Here’s the Statement:

The Bowery Poetry Club has long championed the statement “Everything is Subject to Change” with gleeful revelry in the grand chaos that inspires us to write and sing and make art as well as with a somber understanding that the world around us does not always operate as poetically as we would like. It is from this place deep in our hearts and with this knowledge of the great dualities facing arts organizations in the current economy that we address the recent launch and sudden retraction of our Kickstarter Campaign.

To those who donated and helped us spread the word, thank you for your belief in our community and your dedication to the traditional arts of the Bowery. It was with great faith in your desire to help the club that we were feverishly inspired to move forward with our plea to raise $50,000 to solidify the future health and well-being of the Bowery Poetry Club. However, the initial response to our Kickstarter Campaign raised something imminently more powerful than the funds necessary to compete with our inherent architectural challenges:

You gave us hope.

We are happy to report that the energy circulated around this campaign has provided us with some very exciting opportunities that will allow us to continue nurturing the community that we cherish. The nature of these opportunities required us to let go of the potential funding that Kickstarter may have provided and turn towards the light of more certain and immediate possibilities. We encourage all of you to keep your eyes open to what’s to come at the BPC and pledge to continue cultivating a space that inspires creativity and community on the Bowery.