U*Space was born out of a vision...

I was seven when I first had an idea, which would later become known as U*Space. On that fateful day, which was very much like any other day, I was looking through a variety art books. Some featured painters, others, writers. There were singers, dancers, novelists, sculptors, playwrights, etc. Somehow in my small naïve way, I came to understand that all these people were really one person in my mind's eye. Even though it was clear to me that they worked in many different fields, each using various mediums, I somehow understood what they all had in common. It was their commitment to representing the truth. Art was their tool to find that truth. Each one of them had kept digging, until they had come to find that uniquely original mother lode buried deep inside every living being.

In that quiet moment I realized that I too wanted to set off on that same journey, in the hopes of moving timelessly, honestly, towards the center of myself. My mother came into the room looking to retrieve something. I recall looking up at her, books spewed before me - “One day,” I proclaimed proudly; “I’m going to have all these people in one place.” I exclaimed. The words, completely lost on her. For this important realization was to be as so many important things are in life, a private affair.

My own artistic journey would not only take me all over the world, but it would allow me to work freely in the field of visual, performing, and literary arts. Still, from that period of young adolescent innocence until 2003, I continued to drafting and redraft, what would become the manifesto of U*Space. Because I have always believed that art has the power to nurture an individuals life, I have always demanded that it be made accessible to the largest of audiences. This would become the driving force towards establishing U*Space.

In late 2002, I found myself repeatedly coming into contact with individuals asking questions for which my own journey had been kind enough to equip me to answer. It was during this time period that I came to understand that I needed to take the drafts I had worked on all those years and start the process of kneading them into flesh. I had come to fully understand that what I had wanted to say that fateful day was that “One day, there would exist a place where all forms of the arts would coexist in harmony.

I have always envisioned U*Space as a 'people’s' gallery. A place where one came; Physically or virtually, to engage in various forms of communion. Whether it were communion with one’s self or interactive with others. Where creativity could be used as a conduit to tap into an individual’s spiritual source in order to foster positive movement towards healing and or sustainability in one's life and community. For artists - U*Space would serve as a place where art could be nurtured without the destructive prejudices of unsympathetic audiences. Exuberantly celebrating every human being regardless of their race, gender, status, or position in life. If art truly has the power to heal people, then it is the artists and the community’s responsibility to find any and every way possible to allow for this to happen. U*Space exists for no other reason than to serve as a catalyst for being multivalent.

U*Space has always been a dream of mine for the people. It is my way of saying “whatever good you see in me, it is there because of you.” But who is this you? It is every man, woman, and child who often dreamt of no more than a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and a little joy from time to time in their hearts. All those simple people who placed their songs, told me their stories. Each one of them, a page that lives on forever in my heart. U*Space is everyone who’s ever meant something to me. It is the mirror for which I see myself, but more importantly, it is my payment to you, for all the eternal gratitude I have felt.

Terence E. Jackson - Founder