At Parachigo, existence is resistance: artist collective fills Fargo’s need for the extraordinary
July 15th, 2025
By Tylar Frame
To the Ashtagrama community in the Karnataka region of India, “Parachigo” means “a group of little stinkers.”
Anjali Karna — local activist, artist and community organizer — learned the word from their father. When it came time for them to choose a name for downtown Fargo’s newest DIY venue, nothing felt more fitting. After all, what better word could describe a small group of people willing to do almost anything to keep local art alive and well in their community?
It all started when the building that used to house the Red River Women’s Clinic became vacant after Roe v. Wade was overturned, forcing the business to move across the river into Moorhead. Karna was working with a non-profit at the time that was in search of a new location. The clinic building wound up not being the right fit for that specific organization, but Karna knew the space was too special to let go.
“With gentrification and all of the things that move into downtown, if you’re offered a building in downtown to represent the people, it’s like you have to take it,” Karna said.
They managed to cobble together a group of artists and rent the place out for a year. Suddenly, the empty building was teeming with life again. Office cubicles were repurposed into artist workspaces. A stage was installed in the waiting room. One artist collaged on top of the kitchen cabinets, while another painted a beautiful mural on the main floor.
Parachigo’s existence felt like a reclamation of sorts. The music and art scene had taken several big hits over the past few years, namely with the closure of The New Direction, the only other music venue in town that regularly hosted all ages shows.
“I think we have an isolation issue and a drinking issue in Fargo, and those two things are intermingling all of the time,” Karna said. “So I think it’s important to have a space where it’s safe for kids to come in and experiment with art and music without being worried about being in too ‘adult’ of an environment.”
As a teenager, Karna was a frequent visitor to Fargo’s third places. They were “too shy to make friends,” but this eventually pushed them to learn how to play an instrument so they could become more involved in the community. Making music is something that’s still vitally important in Karna’s life, 16 years later.
“To me, this is, selfishly, sustaining the way that I grew up and found magic in the world,” they said. The fight to keep that magic alive has not been an easy one.
“We didn’t have any savings when we started, and we opened in a short period of time,” Karna said. “That’s kind of been a downfall to figure out.”
Unexpected bills are a life or death matter for a place like Parachigo. It’s volunteer-run, meaning nobody benefits financially from the work they put into the space. Everything is done out of passion and every penny that’s made is put right back into the space.
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