ABOUT ME

TLDR

• I’m interested in and good at getting people to give money to the arts and artists. I want to help you get these coins.

• I like faces and textile patterns, but, as an introvert and a person on the spectrum, I need plenty of breaks from peopling.

• I care about community building and making information on surviving capitalism in a Black Queer body available to all.

Long Form Bio

Kat Bloomfield (They/Them) founded Arts Business Collaborative (ABC) in 2014 in Queens, which has incubated Black Trans Lives Matter movement organizations in the arts including The Okra Project, For the Gworls, The Frances Thompson Education Foundation (now Transgender Education Foundation), and Black Trans Femmes in the Arts. Over 10 years since launching ABC, they’ve raised over $37.5M for arts organizations and facilitated over $3.5 M in cash assistance to over 900 Black trans artists in all 5 boroughs of NYC and globally for expenses including mental health services, rent, gender affirming surgeries, and academic scholarships.

Through ABC, Kat personally works with 40-80 entrepreneurs and artists per year helping them develop business plans, navigate funding, and generally increase their capacity to build sustainable arts businesses. Kat has lived and worked in Queens since 2012 and is entering their third year of serving Queens Community Board 2 as Treasurer. They have prioritized reaching out to arts and queer community organizations to ensure their funding recommendations are included in the community needs statement and the capital and expense budget priorities.

In addition to Founding ABC, Kat is a co-founder of BLX Alternative, a Queens- and Bronx-based community organization committed to reducing and eliminating the shame and stigma associated with alternative relationships for economically and racially marginalized communities through education and leadership development in the Leather/Kink Fetish, and BDSM communities. This work is deeply tied to the arts as mental wellness, shame-reduction, and a community support modality through culturally relevant craft.

Finally, Kat is the Founder & CEO of Black Cultural Capital, a consulting firm that centers Black, queer creators and supports their ability to retain the economic value of their cultural contributions. (see above).

Personally, Kat is a trans non-binary printmaker and digital media artist who specializes in portraiture and pattern-making. They advocate for disability communities within the arts, especially for people on the Autism Spectrum. They were honored by the Chair of the NYC Council Arts and Culture Committee for a lifetime of service to the NYC arts community in 2021 during Black History Month celebrations.