performance art depot (pad)
@pad-mainz

The Mainz-based performance art depot – or "pad" for short – had its own performance and production space in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, from 2007 to 2020. As a non-profit organization (pad e.V.), pad received €5,000 in annual institutional funding from the city of Mainz. With hard work, idealism, and dedication, we continually expanded pad. The 600 square meters in the basement of an apartment building were generously provided free of charge by the owner. Until 2020, we organized countless guest performances by international artists as part of an annual festival for performance and contemporary dance, and staged around one hundred of our own productions under the "Schmitt&Schulz" label, funded by the Rhineland-Palatinate state ministry.

In 2020, the building was sold to an investor who evicted pad, left the building vacant for four years, and is now demolishing it to construct a larger building on the site for profit. From 2020 until now (2026), we desperately tried to find affordable new premises or to convince the city of Mainz to increase its institutional funding so that pad could rent new space.

In the meantime, we staged productions online and outdoors and set up a rehearsal stage in the spa town of Bad Kreuznach, 50 km from Mainz. There, in the former elementary school building in the town center, pad now has a rehearsal stage that can also be used for performances from time to time. But every day costs rent—albeit not much.

However, pad is a Mainz institution and receives funding from the city. It has its core audience in Mainz and therefore desperately wants to re-establish a physical presence there. This opportunity is now within reach:

The socio-cultural center "Kulturbäckerei," which is finally becoming a reality after years of struggle in cultural policy, can now become pad's new home base. Located at Mainz's customs port, the enormous, historic building, once the main building of the former army bread bakery, will be ready for occupancy in September 2026! For years, the operators of pad (Nic Schmitt and Peter Schulz) have also helped to make this major project possible, having been active (founding) members of the Kulturbäckerei e.V. association for many years; Peter Schulz currently serves on the association's board. pad now has the privilege of being one of the organizations that will be given permanent spaces in the Kulturbäckerei. The Kulturbäckerei will then be an even more promising location for pad than its own stage, as it will offer studios for visual artists, band rehearsal and workshop rooms, a large exhibition space, a studio stage, spaces for community projects, and much more. A place where a vibrant cultural life is expected. And here, pad can now have its own 35 sq m workspace, a 16 sq m office, and the option of sharing the 120 sq m studio stage.

However, this comes with rental costs, which, although specially discounted for artists, are still unaffordable for us.

Specifically, the office and workspace together cost around €500 per month, in addition to daily rental fees for the optional studio stage. As an alternative venue or additional rehearsal and performance space, there are also varying costs (depending on need) for the stage in Bad Kreuznach. To ensure pad's long-awaited move into the Kulturbäckerei and its continued presence there, we have calculated that we need approximately €800 per month in additional funding. This does not yet include compensation for our organizational work.

We would be absolutely thrilled if, with your help, we could once again make pad a permanent venue for international performance artists in Mainz and for Rhineland-Palatinate!

Our new socio-cultural concept, which we developed for our launch at the Kulturbäckerei (Culture Bakery), envisions inviting pad's former international guest artists for artist-in-residence residencies, during which they would each develop a performance production with theater studies students in Mainz. We are currently seeking funding from the Rhineland-Palatinate Foundation for Culture for this project.

But first, we need to rent and pay for the new premises.

Please help us :-)

Nic Schmitt (Chairwoman of pad e.V.) and Peter Schulz (Chairman of pad e.V. and Board Member of Kulturbäckerei e.V.)

Links:

www.pad-mainz.de

www.schmittundschulz.de

www.kulturbaeckerei-mainz.de