Hannah Berry: Empowering Artists to Pave Pathways for Innovation

After becoming the first graduate in her family, Hannah Berry had no idea what she wanted to do. At that point of time, Hannah was a single mom with an Art Education degree from the Kendall College of Art and Design. Unfortunately, which would have landed her with even lesser income and time with her child, so she continued to work in the service industry. Hannah Berry soon came to know that one of her friends was rehabbing a building north of Grand Rapid’s Downtown River Restoration area and many national company’s relocation sites. One thing led to another, and Hannah and her partner sold her house to purchase it.

With this purchase, Hannah quickly learned about real-estate development and realized the massive barriers for those without generational wealth. She then joined a Corridor Improvement board, Business Association, and Downtown Development Committee to learn every nook and crannies of urban design through economic and community development.

Start of a Journey

Later in 2017, Hannah Berry successfully started her event space Lions & Rabbits Center for the Arts, which is now DBA Rosebud.

The Lions and Rabbits Center of Arts is a public art organization that understands that artistic development creates social innovation. The organization works with zip-code specific artists, organizations, and municipalities to manage art installation, street parties, murals, and different placemaking initiatives while fundraising for more public art. The organization believes in recycling community dollars into public art; it can push policy, amplify voices, and bring intentional economic development to the people who live, work and play in this arena.

As this project was a seasonal mural instructor for a student program at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, Hannah Berry realized few more opportunities for the artists. Hannah soon shifted her focus from her business properties to funding disparities for local artists. During the pandemic, she and her team fundraised over 300k for artist compensation and quality materials. Thanks to a surplus of trial and error projects and underfunded leaders, she started her first non-profit in 2021. With the non-profit, the team’s focus is to re-develop how communities prioritize art.

Lions & Rabbits LLC is a women-led organization specializing in public art and education. The organization’s staff of five women and four interns are responsible for hosting special events, fundraising, and pushing public art forward, which can often become a foreign and challenging concept and involves multiple collaborating organizations.

Standing Out

Lions & Rabbits has a hybrid financial model. When it first started its journey, it was an LLC, and now it has a 501c3 and LLC. The LLC works in various special events, experiential marketing, and consulting. Hannah says, “If the project falls within the mission of the 501c3, we can shift dollars and attention. Our LLC aids the 501c3 in all fundraising initiatives, providing high-quality fundraising and community events.”

Hannah Berry firmly believes in the powers of the community. By understanding the city’s pulse and dedicating her work to a hybrid financial model, Hannah Berry and her team have found ways to integrate local artwork into everyday lives. Starting from public art to intentional event planning, Hannah hopes to create more beauty in everything her organization touches. Her professional goals are to create various play structures and working ecosystems for multiple non-profit and for-profit financial facilities.

Changed Priorities

When Hannah Berry started her venture, she never thought of the social and economic disasters of the world. She says, “I thought our organization could “do it all” when it comes to art, and we can’t.” With many things that shed light on disparities, the entire team of Lions & Rabbits quickly understood the fact that sometimes even ten partners are not enough. The team has always worked in Grand Rapids, but it hasn’t always worked outside the city’s boundaries, so it quickly realized that most neighborhoods are in the same place.