90 Days In: What We’ve Built—And Where We Go From Here

By Avery Anderson

Ninety days ago, The Arts Passport was just an idea in a Google Doc and a Wi-Fi signal borrowed from a coffee shop that definitely did not say “yes” to us hanging out that long.

Today, it’s a real thing.

Since launching, we’ve published 56 original stories, hosted a packed Mamma Mia! karaoke night (featuring multiple Donnas and a lot of glitter), and launched a book club with Tombolo Books and freeFall Theatre. That club is now expanding to include the Museum of Fine Arts, Straz Center, Florida Holocaust Museum, and Stageworks Theatre.

We’ve built a growing network of 14 venue partners, grown to 318 subscribers, and have 20 paid members helping keep the wheels on.

We’ve done all that with $315/month in expenses, roughly three mental breakdowns, and at least one instance of accidentally breaking our own website trying to fix a typo.

And yes—we’re proud. But we’re not done.

Where we’re falling short—and how we want to fix it

Let’s not sugarcoat it. We’re hitting limits. And there are two places we know we’re not showing up the way we want to:

1. We’re not covering music the way it deserves.

Tampa Bay’s music scene is wild, weird, genre-crossing, and often BIPOC-led—and right now, it’s underrepresented in our coverage. That’s on us. We want to fix it by bringing on a dedicated music writer who can treat the scene with the care, context, and curiosity it deserves.

2. Our people deserve to be paid.

We’re committed to covering BIPOC and queer artists in real, not performative, ways. That takes time, trust, and effort. And the people doing that work—including our phenomenal digital editor who’s been running all our socials—are currently being paid in ✨vibes✨.

That’s not sustainable.

To pay a part-time music writer ($200/month) and our editor ($500/month)—plus keep up with basic operating costs—we’d need to hit $915/month in revenue. Right now, we’re at $185.

That would mean 91 new members at $10/year.

Is that going to happen this month? Probably not. (Unless Beyoncé shares our newsletter. If you know her, feel free to text her.)

We’re actively pursuing grants, sponsorships, and partnerships with small businesses. But the point isn’t just money. The point is this:

We want to build something together. And we want to open our problems and growing pains up to you—because this project is as much yours as it is ours.

Why we’re telling you this

Because this isn’t a press release. It’s a backstage pass.

We’re not just trying to promote the shiny stuff. We want you in on the real story: the spreadsheets, the stalled ideas, the “how do we scale this without losing what makes it great?” kind of questions.

We’re proud of what we’ve built. We know what we need to do better. And we believe the next 90 days could be even bigger—if we do them together.

So no, this isn’t a pity party or a pitch deck.It’s just us saying: This is working. And we want to see how far it can go.

We’ve seen what’s possible. We’ve felt the momentum.Now we need the resources—and the community—to take the next leap.

If you can, become a member.If you can’t, forward this to someone who might.If you’re reading this, you’re already part of the story.

Let’s build the next 90 days together.