The MaybeItsFate White Paper

Below is a summary of the co-op white paper. Read the full white paper here.

MaybeItsFate: a member-owned cultural hub for Louisville

MaybeItsFate is building a three-story community center and cultural hub in Louisville’s Butchertown: a public art gallery on the ground floor and a member-run, salon-style social club upstairs. The goal is simple and ambitious: grow a home for art, subcultures, conversation, and civic instigation—while creating a sustainable model that shares value with the people who activate it.

The 20/20 model (no crypto, just co-ops and a building)

The engine behind MaybeItsFate is a reciprocal ownership structure between two legal entities:

• MaybeItsFate LLC — owns the property at 1425 Story Ave (lease-to-own).
• MaybeItsFate LCA — a for-profit cooperative that runs the gallery, social club, and online community.

Each owns 20% of the other—hence 20/20. Members own and govern the co-op (one-member/one-vote), enjoy the space, and—when the co-op becomes profitable—participate in profit sharing. Investors back the building’s long-term value while also supporting the co-op that makes the place vibrant.

Why now

Post-pandemic, Louisville needs a central salon that mingles artists, technologists, researchers, and curious neighbors. MaybeItsFate is designed to spark emergence – chance encounters, collaborations, and ideas – through regular programming, informal spaces for conversation, and an online forum that extends the vibe beyond the building.

What it feels like

Think: an unpretentious, evolving “dive-bar-smart” aesthetic shaped by the community. Bright gallery downstairs; dim, cozy salons upstairs. Programming ranges from talks and small performances to workshops, yoga, and kid-friendly evenings so parents can participate.

Membership & sustainability

• Membership: pay-what-you-can options, standard plan $19.50/month (billed annually) with a modest initiation fee; discounts for artists, 20-somethings, and out-of-towners.
• Scale targets: ~100 members sustains basic operations; ~750 members lets the co-op carry the lease-to-own payments; cap ~2,600 members (subject to community health).
• Revenue: member dues, gallery sales, and on-site beverage program routed to the co-op.

Governance you can feel

• One member = one vote.
• Co-op Board (8–12 members) approves community-backed initiatives; bylaws adopted Jan 5, 2025.
• Bounties & Stewardship Roles reward members who take on meaningful work (now unified in v1.0.4).
• Gallery grants support artist projects.
• Safety Committee upholds a clear Code of Conduct.

Impact (and how it’s measured)

The white paper names concrete outcomes—artist support, social inclusion, mental wellbeing, youth engagement, civic participation, environmental practices—and pairs each with practical metrics (attendance, surveys, collaborations, local business uplift, public art counts, etc.).

The aim: a model that is culturally alive and measurably useful.

The building and the path ahead

1425 Story Ave offers ~5,858 sq ft across three floors, a parking lot, and a garden (rare amenities close to NuLu/downtown). Renovations (fire suppression, elevator, code upgrades) are largely complete.

The roadmap: operate sustainably → acquire the building outright → share profits with active members (anticipated after acquisition, with profit-sharing decisions voted annually).

Bottom line: MaybeItsFate is a practical, hopeful fork in how culture gets funded and shared—own the space together, run it together, benefit together. If you want Louisville to be the best place in the U.S. to be an artist (and to love art), join in, show up, bring a friend, and help shape what emerges.

👉 Get involved: maybeitsfate.com • hello@maybeitsfate.com