Downtown nonprofit SuFu Creative offers safe environment for community to create, learn

SuFu Creative, which began by hosting art shows for nonprofits, has transitioned into a nonprofit organization itself.

It’s located inside Nordic Hall, 218 W 13th St., and is complete with a space for creating art in a safe space downtown.

Heather Cain, president and founder, said the idea for the nonprofit began to grow in 2022.

“We did an art show for The Foster Network that year,” Cain said. “People brought an item from the list of things The Foster Network needed and in exchange got a raffle ticket for an art piece or to draw for prizes.”

When Cain and the board members discovered that they could have a greater impact as an official nonprofit, they began working toward that goal.

“Now that we are a nonprofit, we have access to resources we didn’t have before,” Cain said. “The suite in Nordic Hall opened up, and now people can come in and create art for free with the resources we can now provide.”

Cain said there are no strict guidelines about who can access the canvas, paint and other art supplies SuFu Creative provides.

“You can make $100,000 or $0 a year; we just want you do be able to create art here in a safe environment,” Cain said. “I wanted people to come in, and if they want to paint or draw but don’t have the resources, I will send them away with extra supplies for later.”

The only other rules are that children younger than 14 need to be accompanied by an adult and everyone in the space must be sober.

“We don’t allow people to drink or do drugs here,” Cain said. “SuFu Creative is just a space for people to do good.”

SuFu Creative had its grand opening last week. The space has art for sale and spaces for artists to sell work. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are open-studio hours, and on Thursday and Saturday, there will be free art classes in the space.

“I want to reiterate that anyone can just come in and hang out,” Cain said. “We just wanted a safe space to do good and create art and grow community.”

On the art class days, there will be a regular schedule of different crafts and art projects to learn. SuFu Creative also will host visiting artists and teachers to lead the classes. The classes are free and run completely by donations.

“I believe art is such an important coping skill,” Cain said. “Everyone should have that resource to cope, express themselves and feel their emotions through art-making.”

Cain shared a story about an art teacher in high school who brought about her passion for making art accessible to others — in a way one wouldn’t expect.

“I unfortunately had a mean art teacher who she never took time for me because I wasn’t particularly good at art,” Cain said. “Because of that, I want to make space for everyone, especially people who ‘suck’ at art. I believe everyone is good at art, and I want to be here to help.”

Cain said SuFu Creative is in the process of branching out and supporting more nonprofits such as Bishop Dudley Hospitality House and a few nursing homes.

It’s also raising support for another Foster Network event.

The next show hosted by SuFu Creative will be from 2 to 4 p.m. July 20 to raise support for back-to-school items needed by The Foster Network.