The Millet House: Art Gallery & Community

Floaters Foundation, dba The Millet House is changing People's Lives!

Our current focus is on getting funded for 2024.

We are a nonprofit 501(c)3 with EIN 47-3172967

We have many exciting programs slated for 2024. It takes around $35,000 per year to fully fund our programs AND pay the bills.

To donate, click the DONATE button above and select an amount.  

Every little bit helps. It all adds up.

And we are all volunteers at The Millet House, with no paid staff, so every donation goes to fund the work that we do!

Who are we? From an outreach to homeless artists over 25 years ago, The Millet House has evolved into a professional gallery and community space run by artists both established and emerging. Art is an area where everyone truly is equal and can learn from one another, and we are as inclusive as we can make it, open to artists and art lovers from every part of society.

In order to be open to everyone, we make sure that there are no barriers at all to participation: no fees to join our art collective, no fees to exhibit; and any workshops with a suggested donation are sliding scale and anyone is welcome to attend with no donation at all.

The Millet House made it through the pandemic era: feeding people from our garden in 2020, distributing art supplies, opening our outdoor spaces for artists to work, using our entire programming budget for artists stipends because many art events changed or were even cancelled. We are SO GRATEFUL to those of you who have supported us. But to continue our work, we need sustainable funding.

Here is some of what your donation, of any size, can help us with this year:

Art supplies! Our Art Salons and other events at The Millet House involve art projects of all kinds, as do the community events we participate in. We also distribute art supplies to anyone who needs them.

Co-sponsor a garden workshop! In 2020 and 2021, our organic garden fed large numbers of people. This year volunteers cleared the space for us of weeds, etc. and we are ready to start over. We need tools, soil, and more.

Scholarships to workshops! Our workshops often have a suggested donation but payment is not required. The cost is made up for by the Millet House, which makes sure that the presenting artist is paid a small amount, that there are refreshments, and that any extra materials are purchased. Oh, and that the air conditioning works here in Mesa, Arizona in the summer.

Support our art exhibits and community projects! We offer 4-6 shows per year, each with a featured artist and a juried supporting show. Prior to each show we repair and repaint, clean and curate and hang art and then arrange an opening and a closing reception. As well, we give back to our Valley communities in many ways: serving as an umbrella organization for a project in Phoenix; making fry bread and bringing art projects in Paradise Valley; making Luminarias in Scottsdale; participating in a variety of City of Mesa and Mesa Arts Center initiatives such as Art in the Park and Dia de los Muertos. These, like our exhibits, always require several days of preparation.

Sponsor an artist! Our stipends go to artists and begin at $25. There is a cap of $200 per month per person. We hope to extend our stipend program. There is need, as we come out of the pandemic era to a time of high housing costs.

Help us keep the lights on – quite literally. Our other bills need to be paid each month as well. In summer, the air conditioning has to be kept to a level such that art is not damaged.

Help us move forward! We see so much that we can offer the community. We’d love to be able to stay open several days a week. We have wonderful plans for all our spaces. Our carriage house could be another exhibition space. We have room in the basement for an artist in residence. Outside in the courtyard we have plans drawn up for a small labyrinth, two murals, raised gardening beds and more.

Or, help us finish our accessibility project! We want to be fully accessible to everyone! We have been gifted a walker and have fixed our Little Free Library so that wheelchair users can easily access the books. Next up: a permanent ramp and a sidewalk to be widened. The final step in our accessibility project is to build a bathroom that is accessible to people in wheelchairs. This would be built outdoors for ease of access. We have spoken to a contractor and know the ideal place for it.

And please do visit our website and our artspace. Open hours are posted on the website at http://themillethouse.com. We hope to see you, virtually or in person, soon! You are always invited! don't miss the fun!

Oh, and this is our current mascot, Mr. Green Eyes. Our very dear Millet House cat, Amante-Missue, passed away at 20 years old this past Spring, but before he left us he selected Mr. Green Eyes as his companion and possible replacement. Mr. Green Eyes is a community cat and at some point someone trapped and neutered him and cut the tip of his ear off -- so he is shy -- but loving.