Lupinewood is a left-of-center LGBT art collective and commune that has operated a communal residence in a historic mansion in Greenfield, Massachusetts, since 2017. Residents have rehabilitated the property while hosting community programs promoting LGBT interests, including artist residencies and crisis housing. In 2023, the collective established the Lupinewood Institute as a nonprofit entity to support community arts projects, training programs, and art sales. ¹

The group is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), a far-left nonprofit with a history of supporting socialist and Marxist-aligned movements in Latin America and beyond. The Lupinewood Institute has received funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. ^{2 3}

Background

In 2017, a group of individuals moved into a dilapidated mansion in Greenfield, Massachusetts and began restoring the building and grounds through fundraising, art sales, and labor. Residents share responsibilities for finances, construction, maintenance, and other tasks, and hold regular meetings to coordinate activities. ¹

Over subsequent years, the collective hosted various community initiatives, including free childcare, artist residencies, crisis housing, free English classes, and conflict mediation support. In 2023, these efforts were formalized under the Lupinewood Institute, a nonprofit organization that launched a six-month incubation program called Start Something to assist community members in developing and launching new projects. ⁴

Activities

Lupinewood residents have lived communally, sharing household and property maintenance duties while operating the residence as a base for arts and community programs. The collective has provided crisis housing, artist residencies, free English classes for immigrants, free childcare, and conflict mediation support. ^{1 5}

Through the Lupinewood Institute, the collective has operated an incubation program called Start Something, which offered stipends and facilitation to help participants launch community-focused initiatives. Projects that completed the program join a collective structure for ongoing collaboration on administration, fundraising, and promotion. ⁶

Supported projects have included Paper Ghost Print Shop, a community screen printing studio open to local users, and Electro-Acoustic Mechanics, a recording studio and music practice space built with reclaimed equipment. The Institute has also hosted public events and coordinated programming across its member projects. ⁷

Cult Allegations

In 2023, self-described former members used social media platforms, including the Instagram account Lupinewood Survivors, to allege that the Lupinewood collective engaged in cult-like behavior. Claims included emotional abuse, coercion, sexual aggression, promotion of drug use, and other harmful conduct affecting multiple individuals. ^{8 9}

The collective published a public statement and email correspondence with the individuals to deny the allegations. In denying the allegations the group stated that the accusers alleged “that we’re an elitist, racist, ableist cult controlled by abusive leaders who take sexual advantage of people in marginal positions, who force people to do manual labor, who have kicked people out in the last year, and who have punished and silenced the people who have tried to speak out against us.” ⁹

The collective further stated that “People in our group haven’t sexually abused children. We haven’t asked anyone to leave during the pandemic, and we haven’t exacted reprisal, silencing, or smear campaigns against people who’ve moved elsewhere. We’re not a cult and we don’t think there’s only one way to go about stuff; we don’t force people to do manual labor; we haven’t taken sexual advantage of people we’re supporting; and we aren’t controlling a local organizer.” ⁹

Alliance for Global Justice

Lupinewood has been among the many left-of-center and far-left organizations operating under the umbrella of the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), a controversial fiscal sponsor that supports numerous radical-left causes and activist groups. AFGJ has sponsored groups with alleged ties to foreign militant organizations and far-left movements across Latin America and the Middle East. In January 2023, the Washington Examiner reported that the Ford Foundation ceased all grantmaking to AFGJ after “years of warnings” about the organization’s ties to a Palestinian group with terrorist designations under U.S. law. ^{10 11 12}

The Lupinewood Institute established its own nonprofit status in 2024, and its subsequent relationship with AFGJ was unclear; however, an AFGJ donation page for Lupinewood was active as of late 2025. In tax year 2021, the Alliance for Global Justice disbursed $52,080 to Lupinewood LLC. ^{13 14}

1. “About.” Lupinewood. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://lupinewoodinstitute.com/about/
2. https://afgj.salsalabs.org/lupinewood/index.html
3. “mass cultural council.” Lupinewood. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://www.lupinewood.com/tag/mass-cultural-council/.
4. “Home.” Lupinewood Institute. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://lupinewoodinstitute.com/.
5. “About.” Lupinewood. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://www.lupinewood.com/contact-2/.
6. “Start Something.” Lupinewood Institute. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://lupinewoodinstitute.com/root-grants-program/.
7. “Electro-Acoustic Mechanics.” Lupinewood Institute. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://lupinewoodinstitute.com/electro-acoustic-mechanics/.
8. “@lupinewoodsurvivors.” Instagram. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/lupinewoodsurvivors/.
9. “Statement.” Lupinewood. February 13, 2022. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250212191824/https://www.lupinewood.com/statement/.
10. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Liberal Ford Foundation to Stop Funding Palestinian Terror-Tied Group after Years of Warnings.” Washington Examiner. June 18, 2024. Accessed July 5, 2025. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2579782/liberal-ford-foundation-to-stop-funding-palestinian-terror-tied-group-years-of-warnings/
11. “Fiscally Sponsored Projects.” Alliance for Global Justice, October 18, 2023. Accessed June 1, 2025. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230906184056/https://afgj.org/fsp/fiscally-sponsored-projects
12. “Support.” Queer Food Foundation. Accessed October 19, 2025. https://www.queerfoodfoundation.org/support/
13. Return of an Organization Exempt form Income Tax. Alliance for Global Justice. 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522094677/202123159349306682/full
14. “Lupinewood Institute.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed December 18, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/832311667