This week Under the Sun Gallery will open its inaugural show as the non-profit FORUM Arts and Culture. After less than a year of programming in its current location, the gallery has reorganized as a non-profit arts organization in an attempt to reinvigorate its presence in the community and broaden the dialogue of contemporary art in El Paso. Its first show, "The Idea of Nature," will open today (April 4), from 5-8 p.m. at 705 Texas Avenue.

"The Idea of Nature" is an invitational group exhibition featuring photography by David Taylor, monotype prints by Susan Davidoff, sculpture by Willie Ray Parish and a site-specific work by Adrian Esparza. According to creative director Jeff Lichtfield, “The artists will all in some way respond to the natural world, or tensions between the natural and man-made.” He notes as an example a series of photographs to be exhibited by Taylor, which contrast stunning scenes of the underground world at Carlsbad Caverns with human-made caverns being torn out of the earth to store nuclear waste. Lichtfield observes that "The Idea of Nature" is the kind of show made possible by their new non-profit status. These established local artists, that in some cases have exclusive contracts with commercial galleries, are able to exhibit at FORUM precisely because it is a no longer a commercial space.

Prior to FORUM, Under the Sun Gallery operated for more than eight years in a variety of locations. It was founded in part by artist and current director of FORUM, Chris Bevins. “Under the Sun was never about money,” says Bevins, “It was about artists getting together to create a common space and to support one another.” He believes that the change to non-profit status was a logical next step for their organization. As a non-profit, FORUM has had to establish a board of directors. Bevins says that this can mean more bureaucracy for an organization that up to now has operated like an informal artists cooperative, but also, in a best-case-scenario, more people taking serious responsibility for the viability of the organization. Future plans include public lecture series and educational programming, attracting and exhibiting emerging artists from major arts centers like New York and Los Angeles, and continuing to build on successful open call shows for the local artist community, like last fall’s "The Border Massive."

Non-profit, contemporary art spaces began playing a major role in the national visual arts scene in the 1970s. They emerged as spaces in which artists could experiment, create, and exhibit without pressure from market forces. Organizations such as White Columns in New York City, which Lichtfield sites as a model for FORUM, became known as formidable alternatives to museums and galleries, providing a unique environment in which viewers could engage with contemporary art. Non-profit contemporary arts spaces can play cultural, political, educational, and social roles in an active arts community. But this does not make them immune to financial concerns.

Recent gallery closings have raised questions about the viability of the arts in El Paso, and FORUM has responded by embracing the concept of the non-profit arts space. Lichtfield points to Texas cities like Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Marfa, in which the arts have reinvigorated the economic and social fabric of the larger community. But in some regards it is easier to imagine convincing an arts patron to buy a piece of art, which can be seen as a investment, or at least a personal indulgence, than it is to imagine convincing them to support the arts for the greater good of El Paso. That is exactly what FORUM will have to do if it is to succeed.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s largest non-profit organization for advancing the arts, produced a 2006 study that found giving to arts and culture as a percent of total philanthropy has decreased steadily since the mid 1990s. The average non-profit arts organization derives 50 percent of their revenue from earned income (ticket sales, membership, sponsorship) and 43 percent from private sector philanthropy (individuals, foundations and corporations). Only 7 percent of funds come from government sources.

Looking at these figures, it is easy to see how an economic reality that has caused multiple gallery closings can make it equally hard to keep a non-profit organization afloat. People may not buy art at a non-profit gallery, but they still need to buy into the idea that the arts are worth supporting. FORUM needs to convince El Paso that contemporary art matters. They hope that "The Idea of Nature" will begin to do just that.