Westfield Broward

[laughs] Every three or four months, we change, um, the artwork inside the museum.

Aside from its physical building in Broward Mall, Island Space hosts events like the Mango Festival and the Rum Cake Festival, but funding these programs has grown difficult as funding has dried up at the national, state, and now local levels.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed more than $30 million in state budget grants, including to Island Space, in 2024.

Thompson then learned the museum would also lose an Institute of Museum and Library Services African American Museums grant.

like the purpose of my story.

Cause I feel like, yeah, I could have, someone else could have established persevere, but if they didn't have a really story that that's motivate, like motivating them behind it, like it doesn't, it doesn't really have any meaning, but when they see me in person, like when I was finally able to, to, to go in person at like when I first started, um, When I first started, after COVID-19 pandemic ended, I started to pop up events at Broward Mall and Pembroke Lakes Mall, at church events, at clothing events.

And basically, when I was talking to my customers, I was able to establish a good relationship with them and explain to them, when they asked, why did you start your brand? Well, I explained my story behind it.

And basically, that allowed me to interact well with my customers.