By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — New York choreographer Ronald K. Brown has been working on his latest performance, set to show at Chelsea's Joyce Theater in February, for months. But despite his efforts, the piece he envisions could be a no-go.
Everything for the piece is coming together — the movement, costumes and music. Everything, that is, except for the $50,000 price tag for actually making the show happen.
Brown has a shortfall of $12,500. In an attempt to raise that, he's turning to new social networking site USA Projects, set up to help established artists from the United States raise money for their projects.
They post pleas for help, and hope users respond with donations.
"The work will serve as a testimony and commitment to making the world a better place," Brown explains about the project, "On Earth Together," on his site posting, asking fans to open their pocketbooks and help pay for rehearsal space. "Your assistance will make the difference."
Introduced to the public for the first time Tuesday at a gala in Lincoln Center, USA Projects has actually been running as a test artist funding website for six months-- and has already raised more than $200,000 for over 75 artists.
Funded projects range from documentaries on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to the construction of a giant steel-tip pen and penholder. Many artists received more funding than than they asked for, like Harlem-based filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, who will show his project on marriage equality at Harlem Stage in April.
"It's been amazingly fruitful," Harris, who asked for $10,000 but received $11,500, said. "It's really beneficial — people who I didn't even think would support this type of project gave a lot of money."
The website, the first of its kind, has potential to be truly successful because only carefully selected, well-known artists — like those who have already won awards — will be able to pitch a project, United States Artists Executive Director Kathie DeShaw told DNAinfo.
"We are trying to democratize the work that we do," DeShaw said, meaning that donors can pick which well-known artists they want to help."
She added, "We can get exposure to an audience the artists would never ever reach in their lifetime."
