The Tragically Hip Contributes to the Tett Café Fundraising Drive

The Tragically Hip contributed to the Tett Cafe fundraising drive with two tickets to their Canada Day concert, and here's how you can take part.

The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning is Kingston's hub of collaboration and creativity. There's just one thing missing, the centre has no common gathering spot: a café. So the Tett, with support from The Hip, is kicking off its fundraising campaign to make this dream a reality.

The Tragically Hip have stepped in with an amazing offer; two tickets and backstage passes to their July 1st concert in Toronto with a one night stay at The Delta Hotel. As well, Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel has offered a one night stay for two. Get in on the action at MAXSOLD.com.

July 9th the Tett Café Fundraiser, A Night Under The Stars, presents Kingston Jazz chanteuse Chantal Thompson and her band and a delicious meal catered by Epicurious. Tickets available at The Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning in the facility office, Unit 111G or by calling 343-266-0009. You can also purchase tickets online by clicking the PayPal button at the bottom of this page.

A third possibility is to donate directly through Canada Helps. 

The Tett board and tenants are currently raising these funds for the fit up costs of the café. Nadine Baker, Co-Chair of the Tett Centre, explains that while the Tett building is City-owned, the Tett Centre itself is a non-profit, charitable organization, completely separate from and independent of the City, although the Centre does rent the space from the City.

Tett Centre Co-Chair Patty Petkovich says that the Grand Opening of the Tett earlier this year proved the enormous potential of the arts hub.

"We have been working on this project for ten years now and it is just incredible to think about where we were, how far we have come and our excitement over the vision," she says.

An important component of the Tett vision is a café on the water level of the south side of the facility.

She explains that it would provide a space where artists in the Centre could come, sit and have a coffee and exchange ideas in an informal setting. It would be a place where parents bringing their children to activities could meet and relax. It’s a destination where Kingstonians can enjoy the incredible view with a glass of wine in hand.

Next door to the Tett, the staff and students of The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts are looking forward to having a source for food close by. In addition, it would draw the surrounding neighborhood and the greater Kingston community into the building. Once inside the Tett, It would give people a reason to spend more time and be able to mingle with the community of artists who fill the centre.

"The café is vital," says Nadine Baker, Tett Co-Chair. "We are relying on it for the tenants of the Tett and to draw visitors to the Tett. There will be nothing between the café and the water. It will be the only one of its kind in the entire city."

But to open a café, the Tett has to come up with the funds to fit it up.

"We want people to know that this centre is community-forged. Everyone is invested in the place. The City of Kingston provided the basic fit up for the entire building in terms of walls and doors, but there is no funding for creating a café. We have to do that on our own. And members of the community can help with that through donations that each get a tax receipt."

This is a golden opportunity for everyone in the community to contribute to their city's arts hub.

There are a number of ways you can contribute. Join in on the birth of Kingston’s first true waterfront café.