Always on
This project successfully funded on 19th June 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Back Pup and Tiger—Canterbury Needs This Space
Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
Aim
Pup and Tiger is a queer-owned art space and café, serving great coffee while fostering creativity, inclusivity, and community.
🏳️🌈 TL;DR – What’s Pup and Tiger?
Pup and Tiger is a queer-owned art space and café in Canterbury, built to celebrate creativity, connection, and community, with a special focus on LGBTQ+ and under-represented artists.
We’re not just about coffee and art. We’re creating a true community hub: with exhibitions, live music, workshops, and talks that inspire, include, and uplift.
👉 We need your support to open our doors! Help us fund renovations, gallery lighting, and essential equipment, and bring this vibrant, much-needed space to life.
Join us, and be part of building something powerful, creative, and proudly inclusive.
💡 The Idea
Pup and Tiger is more than just a café.
It’s a dream brought to life by two passionate creators: Jared Pappas-Kelley and Ash Sweeney.
As proud members of the LGBTQ+ community, we’ve long envisioned a space that exhibits contemporary art, serves incredible coffee, and builds something much deeper: a home for creativity, connection, and care.
Our mission is to create a space where people gather, connect, and grow. A platform for under-represented voices, and a warm, welcoming space that brings people together in real life.
🌍 Why Now?
Between rising isolation and shrinking physical queer spaces, places like Pup and Tiger are urgently needed.
With years of experience running contemporary art spaces internationally, we’ve seen firsthand how vital in-person, inclusive, creative environments are.
Canterbury has nothing like this.
That’s why we’re building one.
🎨 The Art
At Pup and Tiger, art is at the heart of everything we do.
We’ll showcase and sell work in all mediums, from paintings and prints to sculpture and photography, by both established and emerging LGBTQ+ and under-represented artists.
But it’s more than just a gallery.
You’ll be able to grab a great coffee, take in an exhibition, and have conversations that matter.
We believe coffee is a ritual, a reason to pause, to connect, and to reflect.
🫂 The Community
Pup and Tiger will be a true community space, hosting:
- Art exhibitions
- Poetry nights and open mic sessions
- Live music from local artists
- Creative workshops and community talks
These events are about more than just performance, they’re about building a culture of expression, visibility, and joy.
🏳️⚧️ The Difference
We’ll collaborate with LGBTQ+ charities and foundations to host talks and events that raise awareness of:
- Mental health
- Rights for marginalised groups
- Queer joy and resistance
- The ongoing fight for equality
This won’t be a passive space, it’s a space where learning, advocacy, and healing happen side-by-side.
We’ll also run donation drives, collaborations, and community fundraisers to keep giving back.
🛠️ What You’re Funding
Your support helps us unlock a match-funded loan from Kent County Council, your donation goes further!
We’ll use these funds to:
- 💡 Install gallery lighting and fixtures
- 🛠️ Renovate the café and exhibition space
- ☕ Buy a commercial coffee machine, fridges, and oven
- 🎨 Create an atmosphere that feels bold, welcoming, and inclusive
With your help, we’re building more than a venue.
We’re creating a landmark of queer creativity in Canterbury.
🧡 Why It Matters
Pup and Tiger isn’t a chain café with rainbow flags.
It’s a queer-led, artist-built, community-first space.
It’s where artists are paid fairly.
Where queer people can gather and breathe.
Where creativity is valued and visible.
We’re aiming to open our doors in September 2025 — but we need your help to get there.
🤝 Join Us
You can help us make this happen:
👉 Donate what you can — every bit makes a real difference
👉 Share this crowdfund with friends, allies, and art lovers
👉 Follow us on Bluesky or Instagram for updates and announcements
Together, we can create something lasting — a space that uplifts, connects, and inspires.
Let’s build Pup and Tiger. Let’s do this together.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made