Fund the Shed! #FUNDTHESHED

OUR MISSION

The Shed's mission is to build God's community through musical and artistic expression, connection, and experiences in all genres for all people.

Memphis is a city known for her rich history in music. The world recognizes our city as Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock'n'Roll! Additionally, Memphis is known for her many contributions to the genres of gospel, jazz, R&B, rap, and soul music! Tucked right on the Mississippi River, Memphis has been home to many movements and we aim to be the next! 

Our goal at The Shed Academy of Memphis is to take an old church building in a community that has seemingly been forgotten and make it a sanctuary from which the light of creativity can shine! In the city of Memphis, 40% of children and youth live below the poverty line and more than 25% of Memphis youth will not graduate from high school. Less than 5% of students have access to any after-school arts programming. Less than 5%!

This begs a series of questions: how has our city managed to be on the forefront of pioneering the sounds that bring Blues, Rock'n'Roll, Soul, Gospel, Jazz, R&B, Rap and many more sounds to the world? When will the next new sound emerge from Memphis? What if there was a place that cultivated this sound? What if this space was fully funded? 

By removing the barrier to access, The Shed Academy of Memphis creates this space for musical and artistic discipline, practice, creativity, and community for students, musicians, and creatives to highlight and hone their creative abilities.

OUR NEEDS

We have a building! This old church building will become a sanctuary for creatives to explore their musical and artistic ability, learn from industry leaders, collaborate with other creatives, and perform or be featured artists. We need a new roof, some foundation work, and many internal cosmetic repairs to ensure that the building meets code for a certificate of occupancy. This is a debt-free facility and this campaign helps to ensure that all funding can be used to eliminate financial access barriers for students and artists who would otherwise not have this opportunity. We need your help to make this happen!

OUR TEAM

Our Executive Director and Founder is Betsy Spring. Betsy is a Memphis native who grew up in this community of South Memphis. Much of Betsy's musical influence and development happened in this same building. She is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and teacher. She is also a wife and mother of three children. She presently spends her days teaching 6th grade Math at Hickory Ridge Middle School. Betsy spent all of 2021 developing the vision for The Shed Academy of Memphis. She currently has a team of 12 leaders filling multiple roles to launch The Shed! This team is growing and each person is committed to Shed Light! Betsy and her team need your support to open the doors. Help us #FUNDTHESHED!