Frida Fridays x #BBATX: The Arts and Alternative Economies

#supportwomenartists.

It's our motto. It's our mission. And at #bbatx, we're after the answer to one question, in particular: How do we create cultures and creative communities that prioritize and advocate for the social and financial empowerment of women artists?

Over the years, we've found that question has many answers, most of which lie in coalition-building, advocacy, accountability and the development of new social and economic networks. That's why we do events, and that's why we focus on bringing women organizers, creatives and artists together. Resource-sharing is the sh*t, y'all.

As you may already know, we regularly donate portions of our operating budget to other organizations, specifically like-minded groups that speak to and uphold our five tenets (the arts, community infrastructure, activism, entrepreneurialism, personal and professional development) in different ways. This Fall, we became the series sponsor of Frida Friday ATX, a monthly pop-up marketplace, organized by TK Tunchez, to showcase women makers of color. Read on for a little more on the series:

Frida Friday ATX is the only monthly WOC-centered marketplace in Austin. As a market, FFATX aims to support and promote the work of WOC through the creation of an alternative economy and cultural space that honors and celebrate work by women of color. Each market attracts between 300 and 500 attendees per month and features a wide array of self-identified WOC artists and entrepreneurs, while simultaneously raising funds for local community organizations and projects.

As FFATX's fall sponsor, we've worked closely with Tunchez to develop a coalition that drives our communities forward. Over the last couple of months, Tunchez has spoken on two of our panels about community-driven entrepreneurship and market organizing, vended at craftHER Market Fall '17 under her artist name, Las Ofrendas, and participated in the production of Unity in Color: ATX. We're grateful to contribute to the growth of Frida Fridays, and we're excited to continue creating sustainable relationships of support and economic growth in the Austin community with women organizers, like TK. It takes a village!

You can attend the next Frida Fridays on Oct. 20 at Kebabalicious.

If you have any questions about this partnership, shoot an email to thebabes@bossbabes.org.