Prismid Sanctuary, Grammy-winner esperanza spalding’s dream project, launches expansion plan

In addition to her accomplishments as a Grammy-winning bassist, composer, singer, and teacher,

esperanza spalding

has also had a vision for an artists retreat, located in her hometown of Portland.

That vision became reality with the establishment of

Prismid Sanctuary,

a nonprofit with a program devised by co-directors spalding and Mick Rose, which has offered a space for free creative programs led by, and designed for, artists and cultural workers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

The 0.74-acre site for Prismid Sanctuary was purchased in 2021, following a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $350,000 in donations from more than 650 people.

Now, there are expansion and redevelopment plans for Prismid Sanctuary. According to an announcement today, Prismid plans to redevelop its North Portland site “to create a community-inspired eco-cultural hub and city-based artist retreat. Once completed, Prismid Sanctuary will be the first net-zero, Black and Indigenous community-designed and owned facility in the Pacific Northwest.”

The redevelopment plans calls for artist-in-residence dwellings for visiting local artists; a community hub with spaces for hosting salons, classes, dinners, readings, concerts, and community meetings; new garden reconstruction intended to accommodate a regenerative community-supported agriculture project, with the intention of making free organic produce available to the local community.

A rendering of a workshop space, part of the expansion plans for Portland’s Prismid Sanctuary.

Prismid/Allied Works

Other new features envisioned in the expansion plan are a kitchen; a tea bar and library with a collection of books about “ecology, poetry, art, and music, written by local and BIPOC authors”; a wellness center, with hot tub, sauna, cold plunge, shower facilities, and sweat lodge; and an outdoor, covered deck and stage.

According to the announcement, the vision for the redesign “is rooted in community-centered design-making to ensure that the project reflects the shared wisdom and expertise of the Prismid community.”

The rebuild and design collective consists of a partnership between Prismid community members; Adre, a real estate development firm, Allied Works, PLACE, an architecture firm; a landscape architecture team; and Green Hammer, a net-zero builder.

A rendering of a kitchen space, part of redesign plans for Portlands’ Prismid Sanctuary.

Prismid/Allied Works

The announcement also says that “A central goal of the project is furthering land-reciprocity and relational reliance between Portland’s Black and Indigenous communities through inter-community stewardship and ownership of Prismid Sanctuary. The property is pledged as a Land Back site honoring the histories of those who have been disenfranchised or forcibly removed from their lands and is committed to creating a sustainable, intergenerational funding model for Black and Indigenous artists to engage with Land-Back efforts.”

The redevelopment project is currently in the pre-development phase. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2026, with a projected opening in Spring 2027.

Construction costs are estimated to be $7 million, and, according to the announcement, Prismid has raised 50 percent of thar goal. Organizations and people who want to contribute to the rebuild campaign can do so by visiting

prismid.org/support

.

In addition, spalding is offering a personal incentive to help raise funds for the redesign. For every donor who contributes $777,777 or more to Prismid Sanctuary, spalding will,

as the website says,

“create an original commissioned suite of music composed, recorded and delivered as a one-of-a-kind vinyl record and a private performance.”

An aerial view of the proposed redevelopment project for Portland’s Prismid Sanctuary.

Prismid/Allied Works

“Prismid Sanctuary as a process of being in community has expanded my imagination, my conception of reciprocity with place, and it has affirmed the audacious dream that – together with community – artists can create the institutions we need to thrive,” spalding said in the announcement.

Mick Rose, Prismid co-founder, said in the statement, “Our vision for this expansion project is to create a blueprint for how our Black and Indigenous communities can build mutual care and collaboration, shared liberation, and stewardship.

“Through our relationships,” Rose’s statement continued, “we work to develop a shared understanding of the impacts of settler colonialism and government policies on our communities, and we exercise a willingness to confront systemic exclusion, understanding that what we are learning and growing from will be a useful resource for others on this path.”

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