The Future of ALTAR
Seven years ago, an idea I had been carrying for more than a decade became ALTAR.
I wanted to create a beautiful and sacred space where women across generations could come together to connect, share their gifts, learn from one another and navigate the complexity of their lives without pretense or performing.
I may have offered the loom, but it is all of us weaving our own threads into the tapestry who have made ALTAR what it is. Everyone who has walked through our doors or simply followed along from afar has been part of what we created.
I’ve often said that the little girl in me who wanted to belong grew up and made herself a playhouse. I’m still a little surprised and delighted that so many of you wanted to come and play too.
But now at the end of the year, our lease is up and I find myself at a threshold. This deadline has uncovered something I think I’ve known for a while, but haven’t been ready to acknowledge:
It’s time to let this chapter of ALTAR be complete.
So, at the end of this year, we will close the doors of our Logan Square home.
Even writing those words brings up so much. Pride and sadness. Relief and tenderness. And enormous gratitude for everything that has happened inside these walls.
How Did We Get Here?
When people ask me, “How’s it going at ALTAR?” I often hesitate, because the answer really depends on what metric you choose.
If the metric is women’s lives touched and inspired, we are hitting it out of the park. Almost every day, someone thanks me for creating ALTAR and tells me about the impact this community has had on her life.
If the metric is ALTAR’s financial sustainability, the answer is more complicated.
ALTAR began as an offering. A creative expression. Something I wanted to exist in the world. After years of gathering women in circles in my own living room, I wanted to make the living room larger.
The tension between ALTAR as an offering and ALTAR as an enterprise has been a constant companion for seven years.
Having an exquisite home for this community has been an incredible gift. But we understood early on that memberships and ticketed programs alone could not sustain the operation.
Private and corporate events helped fund the community side of ALTAR, but what I underestimated was that building and servicing that revenue stream was essentially a business of its own. It required ongoing marketing and sales, staffing and coordination, and a kind of operational focus that isn’t where my energy or gifts naturally lie.
Somewhere along the way, the business we built to support the offering began to eclipse the offering itself.
We spent much of this year exploring what a sustainable future for ALTAR could look like. We looked at different models and structures and imagined new ways we might make a future in this space work.
Eventually, I realized I needed to ask myself a different question:
Even if we could make it work, do I want to keep doing what it would require of me?
At this stage of my life, the answer is no.
Hard Things Are Hard
Knowing what I needed and allowing myself to act on it have been two very different things.
I believe deeply in ALTAR and in what we have created here. I wanted to make it work. And because ALTAR began as an offering, I think my instinct has always been to keep offering: more energy, more resources, more of myself.
I think I’ve known for some time that this wasn’t sustainable for me. But I wanted ALTAR to exist. For a long time, that was reason enough to keep going.
There was love in that. There was also a deep desire not to disappoint anyone, including myself. I had a vision for what ALTAR could be, and letting that go has been really hard.
As I’ve wrestled with this decision, I recognized a familiar pattern that I do not want to repeat: avoiding a difficult decision until depletion, illness or some other crisis makes it for me.
ALTAR encourages women to trust what they know, honor their needs and desires and have the courage to act on them. I have to be willing to do that, too.
Maybe there is permission in that for all of us. We don’t have to wait until something falls apart to let it go. We are allowed to be done when we know we’re done, even when something is still good, still matters, and others would love for us to continue.
Last week, I visited the Obama Presidential Center and saw a small sign that Barack Obama kept on his desk. It simply said, “Hard things are hard.” I smiled because I recognized how much time and energy I have spent trying to find a way forward that wouldn’t be so hard for me or for this community.
There isn’t one.
Hard things are hard. And we can do hard things. Together.
What Comes Next?
The ALTAR community extends far beyond our membership and these walls.
More than 3,000 of you are part of this larger community, through Instagram, email, and more. Some have been ALTAR Members. Some come to an occasional gathering. Others have been following along for years.
A physical home and membership have created a deep sense of belonging for many women. And for others, these offerings haven’t been accessible or the right way in.
With that in mind, I’m genuinely curious about what becomes possible when we release the space. I’m excited to imagine how ALTAR’s particular magic might reach women across Chicago and invite those of you on the periphery more fully into the weave.
I don’t know exactly what that will look like yet. ALTAR might pop up around the city and suburbs, collaborate with other spaces and communities and find new ways to gather.
I also have an idea taking shape for a creative project that could knit this larger community together in a way a physical space cannot.
I’ll have more to share as I know more.
Crossing This Threshold Together
In the meantime, ALTAR is very much alive.
We have three and a half months left in this beautiful space, with a rich calendar of programs, gatherings and special events planned for the fall. If you haven’t been here in a while, come back. If you’ve always meant to experience ALTAR, come see us.
If you have something to celebrate or a team to gather this fall, we’d love to have you do it here. We’ll continue hosting corporate events, celebrations and holiday parties through the end of the year. We want as many people as possible to have the chance to experience this beautiful space before we say goodbye.
Save the date for the evening of December 3rd. We’ll gather to celebrate this chapter of ALTAR and everything we have created here together.
For now, stay close and consider joining our email list. We’ll continue sharing what’s unfolding there, so you’ll be among the first to know as the next chapter begins to take shape.
Let’s make the most of this final stretch and fill ALTAR with life and love and amazing women taking up space!
With love and gratitude,
Kathy Bresler
ALTAR Founder & Consciousness Concierge
