founde Urban Soul Alliance — Coming 2027






Opening 2027
California · 501(c)(3)

Art.
Community.
Belonging.

A queer-facing, multidisciplinary live/work arts center where artists create, community gathers, and young people discover who they are.

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Our Belief

The arts are not a luxury. They are the most direct path to knowing who you are.

Urban Soul Alliance begins with a conviction forged from lived experience. We were not born into access. We built it — through art, through community, through the stubborn insistence that creative expression belongs to everyone.

We are building a space in California where queer artists can make work without compromise, where the community can gather without conditions, and where young people who have been failed by systems can find themselves through the transformative power of creative practice.

This is not a program. It is not a building. It is an act of activism — toward a world with room for all voices.

"There is no stronger vehicle than the arts to level the playing field — to build autonomy, self-determination, and a deep sense of identity in those who have been denied both resources and representation."
What We Are

Three things
that belong together.

01
A home for
queer artists

Live/work residency, studio space, and exhibition opportunity for multidisciplinary artists. Below-market, sustainable, and built for creative freedom. Up to 8 live/work units and studio-only memberships — a permanent home, not a temporary residency.


02
A gathering place
for all

A public gallery, café, and community space that opens its doors wide. Exhibitions, events, performances, open studios, and workshops that make Urban Soul Alliance the living room of queer creative life in the community.


03
A launchpad for
young people

A mentorship and apprenticeship program for foster youth aging out of the system — matched with resident artists, building real skills in the creative economy, and gaining the relationships and readiness they need to thrive independently.


JIR portrait
Jennifer Ifil-Ryan
Founder · Urban Soul Alliance
View artistic practice
The Founder

This center is not a pivot.
It is a destination.

Jennifer Ifil-Ryan is a visionary arts leader with over a decade of senior leadership experience across nonprofit cultural institutions and global corporate environments. She has co-launched a museum, redesigned education departments at institutions including Friends of the High Line, led global communications and community strategy at Nike, and currently serves as Director of Arts Programs at EPACenter.

Her commitment to working with diverse communities is not a professional posture — it is personal. Raised in a low-income, single-parent home, her path from small nonprofits to global corporate communications was deliberate: to understand how the arts function across the full spectrum of access, resources, and power — and how to move between those worlds in service of the people most often left out of them.

She holds an MA in Visual Arts and Public Administration from NYU and has contributed to thought leadership at institutions including Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lincoln Center, and the San Francisco Symphony.

Urban Soul Alliance is not a pivot. It is the destination her entire body of work has been moving toward.

The Space

California.
Coming 2027.

We are actively identifying the right home — a community with real need, an established arts ecosystem, and a strong queer presence. Site announcement coming soon.

Live / Work
Artist Residency

Up to 8 live/work units alongside studio-only memberships at below-market rates. Full-fee and fully-funded fellowship positions, with paid residents cross-subsidizing fellows from under-resourced backgrounds.

Public Facing
Gallery & Café

A street-facing gallery and café that activates the neighborhood every day — rotating exhibitions, artist talks, open studios, screenings, and a genuinely welcoming space for the queer community.

Programming
Events & Community

A full calendar of cultural events, workshops, performances, and community dinners. The gallery and café as a living room for queer creative life — not a venue, a home.

Youth Program
Apprenticeship

Dedicated workshop space integrated into the daily life of the center. Three-tier mentorship program for foster youth aging out of the system, from first exposure to workforce readiness.

Creative Economy
Studios & Making

Working studios across visual art, performance, music, film, and design. A space built for actual production — not a co-working space dressed as an arts center.

Registered
501(c)(3)

Urban Soul Alliance is a registered nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible. We are currently in the planning and seed-funding phase ahead of our 2027 opening.

Support Urban Soul Alliance

Join us at the beginning.

We are seeking founding donors to seed the planning phase and proof-of-concept year. Your investment now makes the 2027 opening possible.

$5K–$25K
Founding Supporter
Seed the planning phase — legal structure, organizational infrastructure, and early community events that begin building our base.
$25K–$100K
Proof of Concept
Fund our pilot year — pop-up gallery programming, community events, pilot residency, and the first youth apprenticeships in action.
$100K+
Lead Investor
Shape the capital campaign strategy, secure naming recognition, and help anchor the site acquisition and full build-out.
Donate

Make a gift.

All donations to Urban Soul Alliance are tax-deductible. Complete this form and we will be in touch within 48 hours to discuss your gift and answer any questions.

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