09/02/2026
Help us build the foundation needed to make Ecdysiast Arts Museum a permanent institution in the Quad Cities. Learn more: https://gofund.me/181cb45c5
✨ Help Us Build a Permanent Home for Burlesque History & Community Care in Davenport, Iowa ✨
At the Ecdysiast Arts Museum, we preserve the history of burlesque and stripping while creating a space where people can learn, perform, organize, eat, connect, and experience art that might otherwise never reach a working-class Midwestern community.
The museum has become a home for conversations about democracy, labor, gender, bodily autonomy, political power, and collective liberation. It is a place where Iowans can access food without shame, where artists can perform and develop their craft, and where people can learn about the women and gender-expansive performers who used burlesque and stripping to feed themselves, support their families, build community, and create their own economies when traditional systems shut them out.
Today, nearly all of this work is being carried by a small team of 5 people.
We are raising an initial $150,000 that will help the museum move out of constant crisis response and into a period of stability.
These funds will help to protect the museum’s archive, compensate the small team keeping the space running, continue food distribution and public programming, and build the administrative foundation needed to make the museum a permanent institution in Davenport.
Once we reach that first goal, we will work toward a second goal of $300,000 so the museum can move from immediate stability into long-term growth.
Please contribute what you can and share this campaign with people who care about art, labor history, bodily autonomy, q***r and feminist history, food access, Iowa, the Quad Cities, or the power of communities to build something lasting together.
Help us reach our first goal of $150,000!
Learn more: https://gofund.me/0ab4c0bf2
Photo by Howie Do
