Art.coop has some important news as we enter 2026! 📢
After five years of co-building Art.coop — growing it from the spark of our “Solidarity Not Charity” report in 2021 for
@GrantmakersintheArts into a living experiment in creative cooperative network and funder organizing — our co-founders Caroline and Nati are entering a new chapter!
Caroline gradually transitioned out of Art.coop last year to build
@pollinator_coop , which matches peers across organizations who want to strategize via secure video chat.
Nati is transitioning out of Art.coop to focus on artist organizing via EAT: Economics. Arts. Transformation aka
@ArtWorldsWeWant .
This isn’t an ending for Nati or Caroline: it’s a shift in orbit.
Nati says: “When we co-wrote Solidarity Not Charity, we wanted to spark conversations, begin to resource the field, and build toward a creative economy rooted in cooperation, economic democracy and justice. Art.coop grew from that vision, and we’re proud of the purpose and possibility this work has created. The political moment is changing quickly, and so are the ways we each feel called to respond. After five years since the release of the report in March 2021, to co-stewarding a worker-self directed organization starting in 2023, it’s time for us to tend and water other parts of the artist liberation ecosystem.”
Caroline says: “Nothing has made us more proud than seeing funders start their own cooperatives, class traitor artists redistributing their wealth to the solidarity economy, and artists empowered as they awaken to the legacy and power of artists remaking the world at the root cause of these oppressive economies.”
Art.coop continues to offer Fellowships for arts and culture cooperatives, and study materials like our courses and podcast series to educate creatives and funders alike about solidarity economies. Art.coop is governed by a strong team of co-stewards: Ebony, Sruti, Marina, Robin, Ethan, Gabbi, and Lydia.
You can reach out to them:
[email protected] 💌
From Caroline and Nati: “Thank you for the care, the lessons, and the trust. We’re leaving with love, clarity, and hope for what comes next — for all of us. In common-unity and con razón!”
