assoi book

1: Groups1. Futurefarmers2. Experimental Station (Blackstone Bicycle Works)3. Arizmendi Bakery4. Twin Oaks Intentional Community5. Project Row Houses6. Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX)7. Fixers Collective NYC8. Sunday Soup Chicago 9. Better Farm10. Headwaters Garden and Learning Center11. Arcosanti12. Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers13. Project Row Houses14. InCUBATE15. Flux Factory16. Paris Commune17. Black Mountain College18. Paris Commune

2: Individuals19. Louis Auguste Blanqui20. Kat Kinkade21. Gwendolyn Hallsmith22. John Andrew Rice23. Rick Lowe

3: Places24. Paris Commune25. Project Row Houses26. Black Mountain College27. Headwaters Garden and Learning Center28. Project Row Houses29. Twin Oaks Intentional Community30. Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX)31. Paris Commune32. Headwaters Garden and Learning Center33. InCUBATE34. Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers35. Mondragon Corportation36. Arcosanti

4: Insignia37. Paris Commune 38. Temporary Services39. Sunday Soup Chicago 40. Fixers Collective NYC41. Flux Factory42. Experimental Station43. Arizmendi Bakery44. Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX)45. Black Mountain College46. Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX)47. Mondragon Corporation48. Project Row Houses49. Transition Network

Black Mountain College

Experimental educational com

munity.

1933—1957

ACTIVE 24 YEARS~1200 STUDENTS

For profit, non-stock corporation.

Location The Blue Ridge Assembly buildings near Asheville, North Carolina. In 1941, they moved to Lake Eden and built a campus.

Founder John Andrew Rice

Funding The school was funded by donations and tuition - there was no endowment.

Architecture In the beginning they rented YMCA buildings from the Blue Ridge As-sembly, which became their ‘readymade campus.’ The campus on the Lake Eden property was hand-built by students and faculty as part of the work-experience program3. A. Law-rence Kocher, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer were involved in the design of the new campus.

Successes The college pioneered in progressive, democratic education. Although short-lived, many notable artists and writers studied or taught at Black Mountain, and the school experimented with some of the practices in place at today’s progressive institutions.

Arts education The arts (dramatics, music and fine art) were considered as significant as the other subjects in the liberal arts curriculum. Josef Albers, who taught fine art, saw that an “art-experience” (art practice and technique) and Bauhaus teaching method were useful in providing a new way to perceive the world, one that was sensual and direct, as opposed to indirect and solely intellectual.

Democracy At the time of the founding of the college, educators were concerned with the relationships between the administration, trustees and the faculty: while the stu-dent-teacher dynamic was growing more democratic, the organization of the institutions remained autocratic and the faculty had little say in how schools were run. Black Mountain College responded to this issue by applying the principles of democracy at the institution-al level as well as in the classroom. The college had no trustees, deans or regents. It was owned and administered by the faculty and they had control of educational policy, while the students were responsible for their own education. Issues were resolved at community meetings, which employed a Quaker method to come to decisions. There was an em-phasis on social equality, and faculty dined with the students and participated in the work program.

Black Moun-

tain College

11

EDUCATION

ART

To provide “education in a democracy.” It began as the realization of John Andrew Rice’s ideal school, following his dismissal from Rollins College.

MISSION

Refuge The college became a refuge for European artists at the time of Nazi Germany (the Nazi government closed Bauhaus). Josef and Anni Albers were the first to arrive at Black Mountain. Xanti Schawinsky, also a Bauhaus student, taught art and stage studies, and artists such as Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Leo Lionni, Amédée Ozenfant, Ber-nard Rudofsky, and Ossip Zadkine followed. The college was also a site for the works of the American avant-garde, and it was here that John Cage staged his first “happening,” Merce Cunningham founded his company and Robert Rauschenberg designed sets.

Challenges Lack of funds was the biggest challenge the college faced. Democracy in all aspects of the institution meant that administrative matters were handled by faculty. The school depended on tuition to operate, however, partly due to its unique philosophy, the college had low retention and enrollment. In the end, the school closed its books with a balance of zero and paid off the debt ten years after the college closed. Additionally, the intimacy between faculty and students, as well as the isolated nature of its location led to scandals, conflicts and rumors much to the detriment of college’s image.

Relationship to local community Many residents of the town were shocked by the progressive attitudes of the community members. At one point the school was ru-mored to be a communist colony.7

Sources & Further Reading• Davis, Cathryn, and Neeley House. Fully Awake: Black Mountain College. Documenta-

ry.Documentary Educational Resources, 2008.• Unknown. “Black Mountain College Bulletin.” UNC Asheville, Special Collections,

1945. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Collection. D.H. Ramsey Library. http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/BMCMAC/01_bmcmac_publications/bmc-mac_pub_11_1944-45/default_bmcmac_pub_1945_bulletin.htm.

• “ABOUT BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE,” n.d. http://www.ibiblio.org/bmc/bmcaboutb-mc.html.

• Harris, Mary Emma. The Arts at Black Mountain College. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1987.

• Unknown. “Black Mountain College Work Camp Publication.” UNC Asheville, Special Collections, 1941. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Collection. D.H. Ramsey Library. http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/BMCMAC/01_bmcmac_pub-lications/bmcmac_pub_08_1940-41/bmc_08_workcamp_1940/default_bmcmac_pub_1941_wc.htm.

• “MoMA | The Collection | Black Mountain College.” MoMA.org. Accessed November 23, 2013. http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10952.

• Davis, Cathryn, and Neeley House. Fully Awake: Black Mountain College. Documenta-ry. Documentary Educational Resources, 2008.

Temporary Services

1998—CURRENLY ACTIVE

3 MEMBERSNon-corporate, non-com-

mercial, non-NPO

Artist group/collective

Location Exhibitions in various non-commercial spaces and online.

Funding Temporary Services generates income from Half Letter Press, which distributes artist books and booklets online. They are further supported by lectures, honorariums, grants and awards. Income from exhibitions, workshops and presentations also fund proj-ects.

Successes Temporary Services has curated innovative exhibitions and events and con-tinues to publish books through Half Letter Press. They take on a variety of topics and seek to work as a group over the long-term rather than to focus on a single issue. They also play many roles (artists, organizers, curators, writers) without unnecessary differentiation or hierarchic categorization. Existing outside of the commercial gallery system and in collabo-ration with other groups, they have created thought-provoking work situated in accessible contexts. They are thoroughly committed to functioning as a group and being represented as such - all three members answer questions together, write material together and agree on what is created under the name of Temporary Services.

Challenges For 3 years starting in 1998, Temporary Services occupied a physical store-front and ran an alternative art space. However this became limiting in the 2001. In terms of identity, they now use ‘Temporary Services’ followed by the names of the three artists involved to prevent confusion and misrepresentation. The group once had more fluid membership and was larger in size, however it established itself as the current trio for rea-sons of practicality - they found that the maintenance of a larger collective (and a healthy one at that) took more time than it did to make work. They often found/find that infra-structure made by others is often unsatisfactory for their work. For this reason, Temporary Services create their own infrastructure to meet their unique needs and incorporate the de-sign of of contexts and platforms in their creative process, while still employing and utiliz-ing borrowed formats that function well. One example of an infrastructure they created is Half Letter Press, the online distributor for independent publications (self-published artists’ books, zines, booklets, etc.) as they saw that distribution of such material was limited.

Quotes “You only have healthy individuals if you have a healthy collective. The inverse of this statement is true as well. Our society slants way too much towards individuals at the expense of the collective. There are serious consequences for this.”Tem

porary

Services

13

ART

With an emphasis on productive cooperation (groupwork) Tempo-rary Services aims to create work that is truly accessible and can be found in everyday places. They take on themes of art and labor, pub-lic space, social justice, information sharing, amongst others.

MISSION

“We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to take control over the discourse around your work and to publish at every opportunity. It is important to not sit around and wait for someone else to do this. We tell this to younger artists all the time and to our peers. We got this fever from many different places. One inspiration was an earlier incarnation of the Danish group N55 (the version that was still a collective of all of its founding members). They published booklets for everything they did.“

Address Temporary ServicesP.O. Box 121012Chicago, IL 60612USA

Website http://www.temporaryservices.org

Sources & Further Reading • “About Us.” Temporary Services. n.d.,http://www.temporaryservices.org/contact.html.• “PAST SERVICES Since 1998.” Temporary Services, n.d. http://www.temporaryservices.

org/past_services.html.• Temporary Services. Interview with Temporary Services. Interview by Jenny Jaskey,

February 2010. http://rhizome.org/editorial/2010/feb/12/interview-with-temporary-ser-vices/.

• Temporary Services. Creative Chaos: Inside the activist art of Temporary Services. Interview by Anthony Elms, December 2008. http://art.newcity.com/2008/12/02/cre-ative-chaos-inside-the-activist-art-of-temporary-services/.

• Temporary Services. Creative Time Presents: Interrogating Public Space. Interview by Nato Thompson, January 2010. http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2010/public-space/interrogating/2010/10/temporary-services-date-year/.

Temporary ServicesC/O BloomBaldersgade 70, st. th.2200 Copenhagen NDenmark

Futurefarmers1995—CURRENLY ACTIVE

6 MEMBERSfor-profit (?)

Art and design collective, design studio

Location San Francisco, CA

Founders Rob Hopkins (co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, permaculture and natural building educator), Naresh Giangrande (co-founder of Transition Town Totnes)

Funding Futurefarmers receives funding on a project-by-project basis, from various institutions, commissioners, art organizations, museums, and foundations.

Successes Their work innovatively presents scientific concepts and environmental is-sues, involving the audience in participatory and interactive sculptures and installations. They have shown internationally and maintain a successful residency program.

Website http://futurefarmers.com/

Address 499 Alabama Street #114 San Francisco, CA 94110

Phone +1 (415) 552 2124

Email [email protected]

Sources & Further Reading• Windsor, Cooley. “Futurefarmers Build-Your-Own-Headlands-Residency Kit.” Futurefar-

mers, n.d. http://futurefarmers.com/static/files/cooleywindsortext.• “The Handbook for Gift and Exchange-Based Art.” In What We Want Is Free: Gener-

osity and Exchange in Recent Art, 154–155. The SUNY Series in Postmodern Culture. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005.

• Various. “Open Field: Conversations on the Commons.” Walker Art Center, n.d. http://www.walkerart.org/open-field-conversations-on-the-commons.

Future

Farmers

15

ART

Their work often addresses current ecological issues by using well-crafted objects in didactic contexts which demonstrate various mechanisms (e.g. Shoemaker’s Dialogue [2011]1, Ethnobotanical Station [2012]2).

In their words:

“We use various media to create work that has the potential to desta-bilize logics of ‘certainty.’ We deconstruct systems such as food poli-cies, public transportation and rural farming networks to visualize and understand their intrinsic logics. Through this disassembly new narratives emerge that reconfigure the principles that once dominat-ed these systems. Our work often provides a playful entry point and tools for participants to gain insight into deeper fields of inquiry- not only to imagine, but to participate in and initiate change in the plac-es we live.”3

MISSION

Paris Commune

1871ACTIVE 71 DAYS

1,825,000 RESIDENTSRepublic

Mass Society, Revolution

Location Paris, France

Leader Auguste Blanqui and his followers were an influential force in the events precip-itating the Commune, however Blanqui himself was captured and imprisoned in Versailles before the 92-member Communal Council was elected. This council consisted mostly of professionals and intellectuals.

Funding “In its reorganization of social and economic relations, the Paris Commune did not follow ideological prescriptions. In terms of economics, their goal was not to abolish private property or immediately socialize the means of production, but rather to ensure that their use and the use of all resources went to meeting the needs of the people. Ho-tels were taken over to house the mass of refugees that had been created by the Prussian incursion into Paris and its surrounding suburbs. Canteens were set up to feed the people, while wood, coal, and other necessities were distributed free to those in poverty or at low prices to others. Workshops whose owners had fled to Versailles along with government elites would become collectivized and put in the hands of the workers. The communal government also rewrote many large contracts in order to establish a minimum wage and often included a provision that payment to contractors should, whenever possible, be made not to the employers but to workers’ cooperatives. The council members estab-lished low wages for themselves to prevent against the bourgeois allegiances of those in national government, and to ensure that workers would continue to work.”

Challenges “The Paris Commune of 1871 was not merely the sucessor to the Com-mune of 1793, with its Committee of Public Safety and its guillotine; it was the culmination of the continuous struggle waged by the people of Paris against their various rulers which had found physical expression in the barricades of 1830, 1832 and 1848. It was hailed by Marx, and Lenin called it the first modern revolution, the first stage in a revolutionary pro-cess of which the Russian Revolution was the second.”

Infrastructure National Guard militia, free/inexpensive clothing distribution, can-teens, hotels used to house refugees and homeless, worker cooperatives, artists federa-tion, comedie francaise, churches converted into schools, womens’ unions.

Food System A threat of famine existed around the time prior to the Paris Commune, however there is little information about food during the commune and the specific func-tioning of the canteens. Paris

Comm

une

17

COMMUNE Quotes “During [the Commune’s] short reign, not a single man, woman, child, or old person was hungry, or cold, or homeless. It was amazing to see how with only tiny resourc-es, this government not only fought a horrible war for two months, but chased famine from the hearths of the huge population which had had no work for a year. That was one of the miracles of a true democracy.” -Arthur Arnould

“Of late, the Social-Democratic philistine has once more been filled with wholesome terror at the words: Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Well and good, gentlemen, do you want to know what this dictatorship looks like? Look at the Paris Commune. That was the Dictator-ship of the Proletariat.” -Frederick Engels“The sacrifices of the Commune, heavy as they were, are made up for by its significance for the general struggle of the proletariat: it stirred the socialist movement throughout Europe, it demonstrated the strength of civil war, it dispelled patriotic illusions, and de-stroyed the naïve belief in any efforts of the bourgeoisie for common national aims. The Commune taught the European proletariat to pose concretely the tasks of the socialist revolution.” -Vladimir Lenin

Successes The Paris Commune is the first example in modern history of a working class republic functioning without a ruling class. It inspired later revolutions, because of its short duration major ideological differences among its participants did not have time to create significant in-fighting and factionalism. It made significant innovations in direct democracy, what a mass society based on active citizen participations in governance and ownership might look like.

Challenges The Paris Commune prompted one of the cases worst State terrorism in nineteenth century, 25,000 executed for political reasons. Steeled bourgeois republicans against subsequent revolutionary attempts in France and elsewhere in the Western world.

Relationship to Surrounding Community Other Communes in various French cities came into existence around 1871, partly inspired by Paris and also sharing similar conditions. Shortly before their defeat, the Communards were in the beginning stages of a plan to create a federation of Communes. Later influences of the Paris Commune in Eu-rope were the Russian Revolution, whose protagonists saw as suceeding where the Com-mune had failed. The Chinese Revolution of 1949 took similar inspiration from the Paris Commune. Anarchists or libertarians look back upon the Second French Revolution as a moment of prefigurative, direct participatory democracy in opposition to State parliamen-tary democracy.

Sources & Further Reading• Jellinek, Frank. The Paris Commune of 1871. The Universal Library. New York: Grosset

& Dunlap, 1965.• “Lenin: Lessons of the Commune.” Accessed October 6, 2013. http://www.marxists.

org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mar/23.htm.• Marx, Karl, and International Workingmen’s Association. The Civil War in France. En-

larged ed. Chicago: C.H. Herr, 1934.• Gluckstein, Donny. Paris Commune: A Revolution in Democracy. Haymarket Books,

2013.

MASS SOCIETY

SOCIALISM

PARIS

EUROPE

Mondragón Cooperative Corporation

1956—ACTIVE

57 YEARS83,000

EMPLOYEESWorker Cooperative

Federation

Worker cooperative federation

Location Mondragón, Spain

Founder Father José María Arizmendiarrieta Madariaga founded the Mondragón Polytechnic School, “a democratically administered educational centre open to all young people in the region,” in 1943. This was the first manifestation of what would eventually become the cooperative corporation and the University of Mondragón.

Income/Funding Mondragón conceives of all of its activities as falling into one of the following categories: finance, industry, distribution, and knowledge. Finance activities comprise banking, social welfare and insurance.

Philosophy/Mission Mondragón has ten basic principles: “open admission,” “dem-ocratic organization,” “sovereignty of labor,” “instrumental and subordinate nature of capital,” “participatory management,” “payment solidarity,” “inter-cooperation,” “social transformation,” “universality,” and “education.” These were adopted in October 1987 after the first Mondragón Cooperative Congress. Mondragón is “firmly committed to the environment, competitive improvement and customer satisfaction in order to generate wealth in society through business development and the creation of, preferably co-opera-tive, employment.”

Infrastructure Because it is a federation of workers’ cooperatives, Mondragón itself is made up of a great number of entities.

Successes Mondragón has grown extensively since its foundation. It is “the largest busi-ness corporation in the Basque Country and the seventh largest in Spain, as regards both sales and workforce.”

Challenges The Chairman of Mondragón identifies the recent recession as a cause for a “slowdown” in its functioning. He states, “It was in this adverse economic situation and in a climate of insecurity, uncertainty and general lack of confidence that we had to tackle the task of management in 2011.” In response, Mondragón has employed certain “shock measures,” such as the “relocation of workers, savings in purchasing or containment of salaries, among others.”

Mondragón

19

CORPORATION

Relationship to surrounding larger community Mondragón has corporate offices in Brazil, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Russia, the United States, and Vietnam. As the largest corporation in the Basque country, and as the employer of over 83,000 people, Mondragón’s presence is indubitable.

Quotes “The present, however splendid it may be, bears the seeds of its own ruin if it becomes separated from the future.” - José Maria Arizmendiarrieta

Books titles Kasimir, Sharryn. The Myth of Mondragon: Cooperatives, Politics, and Working-Class Life in a Basque Town. SUNY Series. SUNY Press, 1996.

Whyte, William. Making Mondragon: The Growth and Dynamics of the Worker Coopera-tive Complex. Cornell International Industrial Labor Relations Reports 14. Cornell Universi-ty Press, 1991.

Contact informationCorporate CenterPº Jose Mª Arizmendiarrieta nº 5 20500 Mondragon - GipuzkoaTel: 34 943 779 300Fax: 34 943 796 632

Website http://www.mondragon-corporation.com

Sources & Further Reading• Kasimir, Sharryn. The Myth of Mondragon: Cooperatives, Politics, and Working-Class

Life in a Basque Town. SUNY Series. SUNY Press, 1996.• Whyte, William. Making Mondragon: The Growth and Dynamics of the Worker Coop-

erative Complex. Cornell International Industrial Labor Relations Reports 14. Cornell University Press, 1991.

• “Message from the Chairman, Corporation MONDRAGON.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Who-we-are/Message-from-the-Chairman.aspx.

• “Historic Background, MONDRAGON Corporation.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experi-ence/Historic-Background.aspx.

• “Co-operative Experience, MONDRAGON Corporation.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/language/en-US/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience.aspx.

WORKER COOP

EUROPE

Transition Network

2006—CURRENLY ACTIVE ~1130 INITIATIVES1

NPO 501(c)(3)

Educational/environmental organization, support netw

ork

Location The original transition town movement began in Totnes, UK. The model has since spread globally and initiatives exist all around the world. National hubs exist in 15 countries, each with their own office.

Founders Rob Hopkins (co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, permaculture and natural building educator), Naresh Giangrande (co-founder of Transition Town Totnes)

Funding Transition Network Ltd. (UK) receives funding from Artists Project Earth, The Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation, The Roddick Foundation and the Calouste Gul-benkian Foundation and businesses such as Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, among oth-ers. Transition US receives funding from Post Carbon Institute and a private investor. They also collect donations as a NPO.

Successes Transition town has grown into a global movement, and Transition Network Ltd. contains many groups at various scales (national, regional, local). It is successful in encouraging collaborative action that strengthens communities. By providing adaptable principles, Transition Network supports initiatives that implement change suited to each locality.

Challenges Transition initiatives face many of the same challenges of community orga-nizing. Not all initiatives have succeeded and the documentary In Transition 2.0 shows one that closed due to interpersonal conflicts. While still growing, it is not as well known as it could be. For small initiatives to make significant impact collectively, the movement needs to grow even more and reach a wider audience.

LocationsTransition Networkhttp://www.transitionnetwork.org/43 Fore Street, TotnesTQ9 5HN, UK+44 05601 531882

Transition UShttp://www.transitionus.org/home970 Gravenstein Highway SouthSebastopol, CA 95472+1 (707) 824 1554 [email protected]

Transitiion

Network

21

EDUCATION

ENVIRONMENTALISM

To advocate for and support community “transitions” from fossil fuel dependence to a healthier human culture. Designed for neighborhoods, towns and cities around the world to self-organize in order to increase resilience and reduce CO2 emissions. In their words, “Transition Net-work supports community-led responses to peak oil and climate change, building resilience and happiness. Our mission is: to inspire, to encour-age, to network, to support and to train communities as they establish a Transition Initiative in their locale.”

The movement has taken off globally and sprouted related projects and sites (Transition Culture, Transition Training, REconomy Project and two documentaries) under the umbrella of Transition Network. Transi-tion Network exists to support grassroots initiatives, with structural step-by-step guidelines for success. They host events, conferences, and train-ings; run blogs and webinars; publish newsletters, books, films, guides, and tweets. Their disclaimer below captures the “engaged optimism” that fuels the movement:

“We truly don’t know if this will work. Transition is a social experiment on a massive scale. What we are convinced of is this:If we wait for the governments, it’ll be too little, too late. If we act as in-dividuals, it’ll be too little. But if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.”5

MISSION COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Sources & Further Reading• In Transition 1.0, 2008. https://vimeo.com/8029815.• Hopkins, Rob. The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience.

Totnes, Devon: Green Books, 2008.• “Transition National Hub Initiatives.” Transition Network, n.d. http://www.transitionnet-

work.org/initiatives/national-hubs.• “Funding.” Transition Network, n.d. http://www.transitionnetwork.org/about/funding.• “Partners, Funders, Sponsors, and Alliances.” Transition US, n.d. http://www.transitio-

nus.org/partners.• “Transition Network Endorsement Marque.” Transition Network, 2011. https://www.

transitionnetwork.org/sites/www.transitionnetwork.org/files/TransitionNetwork-Brand-ing-Guidelines-May09-v2_0_0.pdf.

• “Transition 101.” Transition US, n.d. http://transitionus.org/transition-101.• Goude, Emma. In Transition 2.0. Documentary. New Society Pub, 2013.

Flux Factory 1994—CURRENLY ACTIVE

NPO 501(c)(3)

Arts organization

Location Long Island City, Queens, New York

Funding The Andy Warhol Foundation of the Arts, AT&T, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hyde and Watson Foundation, the New York Community Trust, and more.

Architecture Flux factory is housed in an ”8000 square foot, 3-story converted greet-ing card factory two blocks north of Queens Plaza.”

Sucesses One member of Flux told us, “Flux empowers artists.” With the resources it provides, artists and community members experience great creative freedom.

Challenges Flux Factory has been forced to relocate twice to date. Each time, the group is faced with reconverting in a new space and beginning anew.

Relationship to larger community Flux Thursdays are a monthly discussion sa-lon and monthly potluck that is free and open to the public. In its mission statement, Flux states, “As an artist-run organization, Flux Factory is a distinguished cultural component of its Queens neighborhood and the greater New York art world. Flux Factory produces four major and dozens of smaller exhibitions per year, runs a residency program, and presents monthly events that serve the artistic communities and general public of New York City.”

Contact www.fluxfactory.org/contact-us/

Website www.fluxfactory.org

Sources & Further Reading• “Why Aren’t There More Flux Factories? | Art Fag City | The L Magazine - New

York City’s Local Event and Arts & Culture Guide.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.thelmagazine.com/newyork/why-arent-there-more-flux-factories/Con-tent?oid=2339270.

• “What Is the Economic Monster of Our Time?” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://hyperallergic.com/73559/what-is-the-economic-monster-of-our-time/.

• “Jaime Iglehart | Flux Factory.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.fluxfactory.org/fluxers/jaime-iglehart/.

• “Mission | Flux Factory.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.fluxfactory.org/about/mission/.

Flux Factory

23

ART

“Flux Factory is a non-profit art organization that supports and pro-motes emerging artists through exhibitions, commissions, residen-cies, and collaborative opportunities. Flux Factory is guided by its passion to nurture the creative process, and knows that this process does not happen in a vacuum but rather through a network of peers and through resource-sharing. Flux Factory functions as an incu-bation and laboratory space for the creation of artworks that are in dialogue with the physical, social, and cultural spheres of New York City (though collaborations may start in New York and stretch far beyond).

The central guiding concept of Flux Factory is that innovative new works are created out of a rigorous commitment to collaborative processes. It is thus a forum that encourages participants to work with new collaborators, with unfamiliar media, and within a stimu-lating and unique social environment.”


Better Farm/ Better Arts


1-5 RESIDENTS*NPO 501(c)(3)*

Sustainability education center and artists’ colony

Location Redwood, New York

Founder Stephen F. Caldwell

Architecture Better Farm is located on 65 acres in a 5,000 square-foot building. In addition, Better Farm “offers the public a living laboratory of organic gardens, alternative building structures and projects, a 1,500-square-foot studio and gallery space, and a blue-print for environmentally conscious living.”

Food System Because it is a sustainability center, the food system is at the core of Better Farm. “The gardens are run by Better Farm’s sustainability education students: indi-viduals interested in learning about sustainability, permaculture, and alternative gardening methods. [...] We use varying tactics (direct compost, various naturally based and home-made pest deterrents, companion planting), some of which are experimental or brand-new ideas, to turn our garden into a living laboratory where taking chances and learning as we go is all part of the process. In the last four years, we have produced enough vegetables, fruits, greens, and herbs to feed on average 14 people for half a year. With forays into can-ning, freezing, and other preservation methods, we are continually striving to extend that reach to a full year’s worth of produce. All ‘overflow’—that is, food we grow beyond what we need—is sold at our farm stand on Cottage Hill Road, through farmers’ markets, or donated. And we are growing! In 2013, we will be partnering with one or two small busi-nesses in the Thousand Islands Region to provide seasonal support with organic produce and eggs as they are available and in-season.”

Relationship to local community Most longtime residents of Better Farm work jobs within the community to support themselves. In addition, the current director of Bet-ter Farm, Nicole Caldwell says that, as an organization, Better Farm is committed to main-taining a significant relationship with the larger Redwood community through workshops and other events.

Address 31060 Cottage Hill Rd, Redwood, NY 13679

Phone Number (315) 482-2536

Email [email protected] Farm

Better Arts

25

ART

“[To] adhere all disciplines to the Better Theory, a belief that every experience offers an opportunity for immense personal growth. With this in mind, Better Farm is dedicated to enhancing the local and regional community by offering each individual the opportunity to expand, grow, and flourish sustainably, artfully, and in tandem with the living world around him or her.”


Sources & Further Reading• http://vimeo.com/61424791• “The Gardens - Better Farm.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.betterfarm.

org/#/the-gardens/4554050153.• “About Us - Better Farm.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.betterfarm.org/#/

about-us/4533311616.

Arcosanti 1970—CURRENLY ACTIVE

60 RESIDENTS7,000 VISITORS/YR

NPO 501(c)(3)*

Live-in “Experimental Tow

n”/education center

Location Mayer, Arizona

Founder Paolo Soleri

Funding Donations, grants, profits raised through sales of their famous handmade Copper Bells.

Description A live-in community and education center based on Paulo Soleri’s idea of Arcology (see: Philosophy). People live and work there, making art, teaching workshops on green-building and design. “The Town has the goals of combining the social interaction and accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles, such as minimal resource use and access to natural environments.”

Architecture Buildings are designed to mimic ecological forms and are extremely ef-ficient and made out of natural materials such as clay. All buildings are close together. The goal is to build densely—vertically, not horizontally.

Infrastructure There is a new effort to build greenhouses whose trapped heat could be used to heat living spaces during cold seasons. This project is still in its beginning stag-es.

Food System There are greenhouses and orchards for on-site food production.

Successes Arcosanti is now more of an education center, rather than the self-sustaining community it aspired to be.There are far fewer people living there now than Soleri envi-sioned and some feel that the mission and general spirit of Arcosanti is a little outdated. Many of the buildings are also in need of restoration and are not as efficient in reality as they were designed to be.

Challenges Arcosanti remains an attraction and inspiration for those interested in green design all around the world. They hold workshops, retreats, and events which help sustain the residential community and Cosanti Foundation. They also hold tours for school groups and individuals.

Quote “Arcosanti is an urban laboratory focused on innovative design, community, and environmental accountability. Our goal is to actively pursue lean alternatives to urban sprawl based on Paolo Soleri’s theory of compact city design, Arcology (architecture + ecology). Built by over 7,000 volunteers since the commencement of the project in 1970, Arcosanti provides various mixed-use buildings and public spaces where people live, work, visit, and participate in educational and cultural programs.”Arcosanti

27

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Soleri’s inspiration was to build housing for up to 6,000 people at an 860 acre desert site.The idea was for people to be able to live, work, shop and experience leisure all within Arcosanti and within walking distance of it: to create a reduced-scale city that was fully functional and far more ecologically sustainable than any cities in existence. Central to Arcosanti is Soleri’s concept of Arcology, which combines architecture and ecology and which suggests designing cities with ecological forms and processes in mind. Arcologies (in theory) are carless and pollution-free. Any individual need not be more than 15 minutes away from any point in the city by foot.

MISSION

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Phone Number 928.632.7135

Fax 928.632.6229

Address: Arcosanti, HC74, Box 4136, Mayer, AZ 86333

Sources & Further Reading• “Arcosanti - An Urban Laboratory in the Arizona Desert..” Welcome. http://arcosanti.

org/ (accessed November 22, 2013).• Tortello, Michael. “An Early Eco-City Faces the Future.” New York Times. http://www.

nytimes.com/2012/02/16/garden/an-early-eco-city-faces-the-future.html (accessed August 24, 2013).

• Wikimedia Foundation. “Arcosanti.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcosanti (accessed November 22, 2013).

• Wall, Donald. Visionary Cities: The Arcology of Paolo Soleri. Praeger Publishers, NY, 1971.

• Wilson, Marie, Paolo Soleri, and Michel F Sarda. Arcosanti Archetype: The Rebirth of Cities by Renaissance Thinker Paolo Soleri. Fountain Hills, Ariz.: Freedom Editions, 1999.

• http://arcosanti.org/• Recent New York Times Article on Arcosanti with photographs: http://www.nytimes.

com/slideshow/2012/02/16/garden/20120216-ARCOSANTI.html?_r=1&• Paolo Soleri Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXb9SoZ5YOI#t=55• Wall, Donald. Visionary Cities: The Arcology of Paolo Soleri. Praeger Publishers, NY,

1971.• Wilson, Marie, Paolo Soleri, and Michel F Sarda. Arcosanti Archetype: The Rebirth of

Cities by Renaissance Thinker Paolo Soleri. Fountain Hills, Ariz.: Freedom Editions, 1999.

Experimental Station


5 GROUPS*NPO 501(c)(3)*

Com

munity C

enter and artist residency

Location Chicago, Illinois

Founder Connie Spreen and Dan Peterman

Description “The Experimental Station is an independent, not-for-profit incubator of innovative cultural projects and small-scale enterprises. Its facilities provide essential re-sources enabling vulnerable initiatives to stabilize and flourish. These resources include: office, exhibition, and other workspace at discounted rents; information networks; tools and technical support. The Experimental Station seeks to maintain a diverse and interdisci-plinary balance of participants and activities and to generate events, lectures, and exhibi-tions which are free and open to the public. Areas of primary interest include, but are not limited to, art, ecology, cultural criticism, independent publishing and alternative models of education.”

Architecture Converted warehouse space

Food System One of Experimental Station’s main projects is the 61st Street Farmers’ Market which was the first farmers’ market in the country to accept food stamps, a model that has been adopted by many other states nationwide.

Relationship to local community The Experimental Station is located on one of the streets that serves as a border between Lincoln Park, a very affluent area of Chicago, and Engelwood, one of the most poverty-stricken parts of the city. One of the goals of the E.S. is to integrate these disparate communities and serve as a neutral space where peo-ple from each area can interact and make connections.


Phone Numbers office: 773-241-6044 bikeshop: 773-241-5458

Address Experimental Station 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Website http://experimentalstation.org/Experimental

Station

31

ART

“The Experimental Station consciously embraces a business phi-losophy that is, in significant ways, at odds with standard business philosophies. Underlying the Experimental Station’s business prac-tice is the ecological principle of mutualism. Mutualism, like com-petition and parasitism, is a form of symbiosis (‘living together’) [...] Mutualism, unlike competition and parasitism, is a symbiotic relationship that works to the long-term benefit of both parties. In a mutual relationship, each party contributes to the well-being of the other, providing one another nourishment, protection, or an array of other services and resources.”

MISSION


Sources & Further Reading• “Our Mission | Experimental Station.” Our Mission | Experimental Station. http://experi-

mentalstation.org/about/mission• “Our Business Model | Experimental Station.” Our Business Model | Experimental Sta-

tion. http://experimentalstation.org/about/business-model• “Home.” Experimental Station. http://experimentalstation.org/ • “Our Business Model | Experimental Station.” Our Business Model | Experimental Sta-

tion. http://experimentalstation.org/about/business-model • “Our Mission | Experimental Station.” Our Mission | Experimental Station. http://experi-

mentalstation.org/about/mission

RDACBX 2009—CURRENLY ACTIVE


Art C

ollective/Com

munity C

enter

Location South Bronx, New York

Founders Rebel Diaz hip-hop group: Rodstarz, G1, and DJ Illanoiz

Funding Community sponsorship, grants, donations

Description “The Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDACBX) is a Hip-Hop community center in the South Bronx.”

Architecture Located in an abandoned candy factory in the South Bronx

Infrastructure In 2012, RDACBX opened the Richie Perez Radical Library in their space:

“The Richie Perez Radical Library, an education and literacy initiative of the RDACBX, hosts weekly reading circles and political education workshops. Check out our ‘What’s Happen-ing’ calendar for Summer 2013 schedule of events, readings and workshops at the Richie Perez Radical Library.”

“[The liberty] holds educational activities promoting critical, strategic and visionary think-ing towards a society that is creative, truly democratic, equitable and free. Through study circles, we encourage community members to read books relevant to their realities and that of our communities, as we analyze, challenge and deconstruct systems of oppression, including but not limited to capitalism, sexism, heterosexism and racism amongst others. We seek to make this space a resource available to schools, organizations, and commu-nity members at large to reclaim education and reaffirm the people’s histories, struggles, movements and identities. “

Challenges In February 2013 RDACBX were forcibly evicted from their space, “They came in with armed guards officers into what is supposed to be a safe space for the community.”

“Despite the violent removal of RDACBX from its space, RDACBX will continue to work on its development, as it strives to be a resource for the community. There is a need for this organization to exist in The South Bronx,” says Claudia De La Cruz, a member of RDACBX.

Successes RDACBX they continue to host hip-hop music festivals, workshops, reading groups, and have recently opened the Richie Perez Radical Library.

Relationship to larger community They hope to empower the community of the South Bronx through hip-hop and political activism and critical thinking.

Rebel Diaz

33

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“Through performances, educational workshops, and multi-media training, we aim to provide a safe space for cul-tural exchanges [...] Rebel Diaz aims to utilize Hip-Hop culture as a means for liberation and self-empowerment in marginal-ized communities throughout the world.”


Address 478 Austin PlaceSouth Bronx, NY 104556 train to E. 149th St.BX19 to 149th and Southern

Phone Number 718-708-4701


Sources & Further Reading• “Welcome.” Rebel Diaz Arts Collective. http://rdacbx.org/ • On getting Evicted: http://youtu.be/CTPEImOYGws• On withdrawing from 2012 Creative Time Summit: http://youtu.be/TvTGzFgobzw • “RDAC.BX: RDACBX UNDER ATTACK!!.” RDAC.BX: RDACBX UNDER ATTACK!!.

http://rdacbx.blogspot.com/2013/03/rdacbx-under-attack.html

Arizmendi Bakery


6 BAKERIESBakery

Worker-ow

ned Cooperative

Locations San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland, Berkley, and Emeryville, California

Founders Because it is a democratically run worker-cooperative, there are no leaders or managers.

Funding Arizmendi generates funding by selling delicious baked goods.

Description Named after José María Arizmendiarrieta, founder of the Mondragón Cooperatives in Spain. Their mission is to:

• “Assure opportunities for workers’ control of their livelihood with fairness and equality for all

• Develop as many dignified, decently paid (living “wage” or better) work opportunities as possible through the development of new cooperatives

• Promote cooperative economic democracy as a sustainable and humane option for our society

• Create work environments that foster profound personal as well as professional growth• Exhibit excellence in production and serving our local communities• Provide continuing technical, educational and organizational support and services to

member cooperatives• Seek to link with other cooperatives for mutual support, and to• Provide information and education to the larger community about cooperatives.”

Food System As many local, organic ingredients are used as possible to support local green businesses and healthful living.

Successes and Failures • A number of sociological studies have been done testing to see how working at

Arizmendi makes workers feel about themselves and their lives and every study has concluded that the worker-coopertative model used by Arizmendi promotes a sense of shared community and personal purpose and well-being.

• Arizmendi has won numerous awards from local magazines and newspapers for the quality of their food and their reputation for being a wonderful place to work.

• Mayor of San Francisco officially declared October 20th “Arizmendi Bakery Day.”

Quotes “The transition to a worker-owned and operated cooperative relied upon a Arizm

endi

Bakery

35

ART


shared work ethic, high standards, and the strong emotional connections among the group. Decisions were made, after much debate, either on the shift or at the monthly meetings. The new owners shared a belief that the collective process would organically create a truly democratic society.”

“Much of what we have done has come about by chance, by following our passion for food and with the support of our community. The belief that every voice is central has sus-tained us over the years. We have never wavered from the original vision of a democratic workplace. This commitment has made it possible to constantly reinvent ourselves, while remaining faithful to our political vision, and our belief in good, honest food.”

Contact informationArizmendi BakeryRafael Town Center Plaza1002 4th StSan Rafael, CA 94901(415) 456-4093

Arizmendi Bakery and Pizzeria4301 San Pablo AvenueEmeryville, CA 94608(510) 547-0550

Sources & Further Reading• Shift/Change Documentary• http://arizmendi.coop/resources• http://arizmendi.coop/files/Arizmendi_Democratic_Leadership.pdf• www.cheeseboardcollective.coop• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_Board_Collective• http://www.nobawc.org/• http://www.american.coop/sites/default/files/Cook%20-%20Self-worth%20and%20So-

cial%20Boundaries%20in%20Contemporary%20Bay%20Area%20Worker%20Coopera-tives.pdf

• http://www.usworker.coop/system/files/Does_Cooperation_Equal_Utopia%20(P)_0.pd

Arizmendi Bakery - Panaderia and Pizzeria1268 Valenica StreetSan Francisco, CA 94110(415) 826-9218

Arizmendi Cooperative3265 Lakeshore AvenueOakland, CA 94610(510) 268-8849

Cheese Board Collective1504 / 1512 Shattuck AvenueBerkeley, CA 94709(510) 549-3183

Arizmendi Bakery1331 9th AvenueSan Francisco, CA 94122(415) 566-3117

The Fixers’ Collective


~5 PEOPLENPO 501(c)(3)*

Interdisciplinary gallery and reading room

Location Gowanus, Brooklyn, New York

Founders Sasha Chavchavadze and Tammy Pittman are the owners of Proteus Gowanus. They chose the theme “Mend” for a 2008-2009 show, for which The Fixers’ Col-lective was created.

Funding In 2010, Fixers’ ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to continue its op-erations. It asks participants to make a small donation for each object the collective fixes. iFixIt has also donated tools to Fixers’.

Architecture Fixers’ hosts its meetings at Proteus Gowanus, where it has a workshop space.

Challenges Sometimes the collective is unable to come up with a fix. Fixer Vincent Lai says, “Instead of failures, we like to think of them as works-in-progress or inconclusive. Sometimes we get enough information to give someone enough confidence to go forward in another direction.”

Successes Fixers’ is one of the most well-known “fixerspaces” today.

Relationship to local community Fixers’ operations are dependent on members of the community who bring in their broken objects for mending. In addition, part of the very mission of Fixers’ is to foster greater material literacy in the larger population.

Contact information Proteus Gowanus534 Union St., Brooklyn, NY 11215. Ph: 718-427-2200

Website www.fixerscollective.org

Sources & Further Reading • “The Grassroots Repair and Fixit Movement.” Accessed November 28, 2013. https://

The Fixers’

Collective

37

ART


repair.crowdmap.com/.• “Fixers Collective by Fixers Collective — Kickstarter.” Accessed November 28, 2013.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1701996267/fixers-collective.• “Fixers Collective: Brooklyn Workshop Fosters Art of Repair (VIDEO).” Accessed No-

vember 28, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/02/fixers-collective-brook-ly_n_788139.html.

• “Proteus Gowanus: An Interdisciplinary Gallery and Reading Room.” Accessed Novem-ber 28, 2013. http://proteusgowanus.org/.

• “The Fixers’ Collective; Repairing the World, One Lamp at a Time - The Brooklyn Rail.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.brooklynrail.org/2010/03/local/the-fix-ers-collective.

• “About | Fixers Collective NYC.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://fixerscollective.org/sample-page/.

• “‘The Curiosity Is There:’ Interview with Vincent Lai from the Fixers Collective | MAKE.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://makezine.com/2012/06/13/the-curiosity-is-there-interview-with-vincent-lai-from-the-fixers-collective/.

The Fixers’ Collective hosts monthly meetings during which the pub-lic is invited to bring any object that needs fixing or modification. “Our group includes ‘Master Fixers’ who have a lot of knowledge and experience in fixing, apprentices who are looking to learn, and drop in visitors who come to fix socially or see what we’re up to. [...] Our goal is to increase material literacy in our community by foster-ing an ethic of creative caring toward the objects in our lives.”

MISSION

Headwaters Garden and Learning Center


~10 PEOPLEClose Corporation

Intentional Com

munity, Eco V

illage Location Cabot, Vermont

Founders Gwendolyn Hallsmith

Funding Shared living costs among members

Description Headwaters is a new community comprising of several families living on fourteen acres. The members all own their houses, but share the land around them. It is an example of a community that balances shared living with independent ownership. They have a community meeting once a month, but the houses are close together so they spend a lot of time with each other. As the community develops, the members hope it to become a balance between a residential space and a learning space. Examples of past workshops they’ve held are a greenhouse construction workshop and a stone circle work-shop.

Architecture All of the houses are built with sustainability in mind. Recently, a small house was built to demonstrate the sustainability benefits of condensed architecture.

Food System The members hope to grow more and more of their own food using per-maculture techniques as the community develops.

Successes It is early to evaluate the progress of the community, but Headwaters has multiple committed residents which is a success in itself.

Address Headwaters Garden and Learning Centerc/o Global Community Initiatives12 Parkside Dr.Montpelier, VT 05602

Phone 802-223-2907Headwaters

39

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY

“Headwaters Garden and Learning Center is built around a shared ethic of land stewardship, reverence for nature, mutual support and respect, and a sustainable life. We strive to build a resilient web of relationships between our community, ourselves, nature, and spirit. We want to cultivate food, energy, and our human spirit to honor all our relations, and thereby eliminate impoverishment and exploit-ative relationships with Earth and humanity.”

MISSION ECO VILLAGE


Currently Accepting Residents Yes

Visiting Options Planned visits

Sources & Further Reading• “Ecovillage Infrastructure: The Skeleton of Community — Communities Magazine.”

Accessed December 4, 2013. http://communities.ic.org/articles/1581/Ecovillage_Infra-structure.

• “Headwaters Garden and Learning Center.” Accessed December 4, 2013. http://head-watersfarm.blogspot.com/.

Institute for Community Understanding between Art and the Everyday (InCUBATE)



Innovative Arts A

dministration

Location Chicago, Illinois

Founders Roman Petruniak, Abigail Satinsky, Bryce Dwyer, Matthew Joynt

Funding The nature of InCUBATE’s arts funding experimentation makes it hard to cat-egorize their status/funding. In their own words: “We don’t have non-profit status, instead we are interested in what kinds of organizational strategies could provide more direct sup-port to critical and socially-engaged art and culture beyond for-profit or non-profit struc-tures. [...] We are interested in developing work patterns that are capable of circumventing many of the commonly held truisms of nonprofit management, especially the incessant desire for organizational growth and the notion that institutional success can and should be measured quantitatively.”

Description The founders define themselves as curators, researchers and co-produc-ers of artists projects. Until 2009 they were based in a storefront building called the Ori-entation Center. Now, they do not have a physical location and they work together on an ongoing project basis.

While attending School of the Art Institute of Chicago, for their Masters in arts administra-tion, they shared a discomfort with the disconnect they felt between their education and the socially engaged critical arts practices they saw happening in Chicago. This discomfort InCUBATE

41

ART RESIDENCY

“InCUBATE is a research group dedicated to exploring new ap-proaches to arts administration and arts funding. Their goals are to pose important questions, conceptualize new possible situations, document these innovations, and make this information available to everyone.”Our core organizational principle is to treat art admin-istration as a creative practice. By doing so, we hope to generate and share a new vocabulary of practical solutions to the everyday prob-lems of producing under-the-radar culture.”

MISSION

ARTS FUNDING

raised questions such as, “How to maintain the more idiosyncratic side of the art world? What does arts administration look like as a creative practice?” Their work has included projects such as the Sunday Soup Grant Program, the Artist Run Credit League, the Other Options travelling exhibit, and an artistic residency program. The Other Options Exhibit is travelling exhibit that shows examples of innovative funding projects. The Sunday Soup Grant Program is a dinner event that raises money to fund an artistic project. The money is awarded by vote at the end of the meal. The program has spread internationally.

Successes

• Sunday Soup based projects have now taken place in over 60 cities around the world.• While the InCUBATE residency program was in operation they had around 15 art-

ists-in-residence. • Other Options went to five cities between 2007-2008.• InCUBATE spoke at the 2010 Creative Time Summit

Challenges Since 2011, they have been less active. The reason is unclear.

Quotes “Through our research and continual experiences with traditional and experi-mental funding strategies, it becomes more and more obvious how directly connected these systems are to the ways in which we organize our everyday lives. These structures inform where we choose to live, how we choose to live (rent, own, squat), the foods we eat, what we buy, what we talk about, what we sell, etc.”

“As an organization, we are committed to remaining open to new possibilities; this com-mitment lies at the heart of our practice. Instead, we are interested in allowing our practice to blend with other existing infrastructures, operating either in tandem with them, or per-haps more autonomously should the need arise. The goal of such insertion and blending is to render the underlying mechanisms of today’s institutions more transparent and therefore

available to critique.”

Contact information• Roman Petruniak, Co-director : [email protected]• Abigail Satinsky, Co-director : [email protected]• Bryce Dwyer, Co-director : [email protected]• Matthew Joynt, Co-director : [email protected]

Sources & Further Reading• “Making-do: a pragmatist approach,” Artist-run Chicago Digest, Copyright threewalls/

Green Lantern press, Chicago, IL: forthcoming October 2009 (PDF)• “On Sunday Soup” included in The Library of Radiant Optimism’s Let’s Re-make the

World available at http://www.letsremake.info/ • “InCUBATE Second Year Report,” Everybody’s Got Money Issues AREA Magazine

Spring 2009• “InCUBATE | The Creative Time Summit.” Accessed December 4, 2013. http://creative-

time.org/summit/2010/10/09/incubate/.• “InCUBATE » About.” Accessed December 1, 2013. http://incubate-chicago.org/

about/.

InCUBATE

Project Row Houses


~10 PEOPLENon-Profit

Neighborhood-B

ased Non-Profit A

rt and Cultural O

rganization

Location North Third Ward, Houston, Texas

Founders Rick Lowe

Funding Donations and grants are the main funding source for Project Row. It is funded by individual donations and a long list of businesses and institutions. “Seed money came from the National Endowment for the Arts and from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foun-dation.” Examples of other funding sources are United Airlines, The Kresge Foundation, IKEA, Chevron, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and The School of Archi-tecture at Rice University.

Description “The Northern Third Ward, though home to landmarks like the Eldora-do Ballroom, where greats like B.B. King once played, has long been plagued by severe unemployment, teenage pregnancy, crumbling structures and drug trafficking.” PRH was born out of series of conversations between African American artists, who lived in the Third Ward in the early 90s, “who wanted to establish a positive, creative presence in their own community.” When the founder, Rick Lowe, discovered a collection of abandoned houses, the idea for PRH was born.

“PRH has established programs that encompass arts and culture, neighborhood revitaliza-tion, low-income housing, education, historic preservation, and community service.” PRH programs include after school art school arts education, a young mothers’ residency pro-gram, and artist residencies.

Row House Community Development Corporation is the sister organization of PRH. Row House CDC’s mission is: “To develop housing for low-to-moderate income residents, pub-lic spaces, and facilities to preserve and protect the historic character of the Third Ward.” The work of PRH has been heavily guided by the artist Dr. John Biggers’ theories for creat-ing effective community and Joseph Beuys’ theories of social sculpture.

Architecture “PRH’s campus has grown from the original block and a half to six blocks, and from 22 houses to 40 properties; including twelve artist exhibition and/or residency spaces, seven houses for young mothers, artist residencies, office spaces, a community gallery, a park, low-income residential and commercial spaces.” The shotgun houses were built in the 1930s as tenant houses and were derelict by the 1990s.Project Row also works in innovative architectural design. One example of this is the XS House. “In Houston’s Third Ward community, many original shotgun-style houses were

Project Row

Houses

45

“The mission of Project Row Houses is to be the catalyst for trans-forming community through the celebration of art and Afri-can-American history and culture.

PRH was founded in 1993 as a result of the vision of local Afri-can-American artists who wanted to have a positive creative pres-ence in their own community. Working with artists and volunteer from throughout Houston, PRH renovated 22 abandoned shotgun style houses on a two block site in historic Third Ward. PRH seeks to shift the view of art from traditional studio practice to a more con-ceptual base of transforming the social environment. Central to the vision of PRH is the social role of art as seen in neighborhood revital-ization, historic preservation, community service, and youth educa-tion.”

MISSION COMMUNITY ARTS

being torn down and their dwellers displaced. RBW focused on a segment of the housing market that is often neglected: small house for one or two people. The challenge was to design and build a dwellings of modest size (500-square feet) with a small projected bud-get ($25,000) while implementing innovative design and construction techniques.”

Successes Since its founding, PRH has grown from 22 houses to 40 properties. To date, over fifty participants have “graduated” from the Young Mother’s Program. “Some are still pursuing their degree; others are professional artists, college professors, accountants, pharmacists, interior designers, teachers, bankers, business professionals and lawyers.”

Project Row constantly hosts artists through it residency programs. The great success of Project Row Houses is that it was created out of and by the Third Ward community. The project seems to grow richer every year. It has changed the possibilities the community imagines for itself.

Challenges PRH has faced increasing real-estate prices and gentrification in the Third Ward. Rick Lowe: “When we realized real estate values in the area were changing and upscale houses moving in, we knew we had to participate in the development or be rele-gated to existence as an oasis of 22 little shotgun houses in a gentrified neighborhood. As a neighborhood project, whom would we serve as an oasis? Rich kids who ran away from home?”In 2013, Katherine Shilcutt of the Houston press wrote, “Today, the Third Ward possess a dynamic mix of old and new as the area slowly undergoes a slow gentrification process:

beautiful brick homes abutting wonderfully divey restaurants like Chief Cajun Snack Shack, 80-year-old meat markets turned into vegan coffee shops, non-profit arts organizations such as Project Row Houses side-by-side with still-occupied row houses.”

Relationship to local community Rick Lowe:“We wanted to let the people around us bring up the content of what we do, and then figure out how to do it in an aes-thetic way that is different and challenging. That’s our role as artists: to think about how to make things interesting, and conceptualize them in ways that add value and meaning.”

Quotes “Mr. Lowe, a lanky, amiable, remarkably youthful-looking 45-year-old artist from Alabama, moved to Houston 21 years ago and lives here in the Third Ward, where he founded Project Row Houses. In 1990, ‘a group of high school students came over to my studio,’ he recalled. ‘I was doing big, billboard-size paintings and cutout sculptures deal-ing with social issues, and one of the students told me that, sure, the work reflected what was going on in his community, but it wasn’t what the community needed. If I was an artist, he said, why didn’t I come up with some kind of creative solution to issues instead of just telling people like him what they already knew. That was the defining moment that pushed me out of the studio.”“The campus, as Mr. Lowe calls it, now includes eight houses for visiting artists, local and international. ‘We give them a key,’ he said. ‘They come for anywhere from a week to five months. They can do whatever they want. There are a lot of other places for artists to pre-pare exhibitions for museums or alternative spaces. We encourage them to figure out how to be creative within this community.”

“I asked her what she thought was the artistic part of the young mothers program, if there was one. “Well, I had heard Rick was an artist when I got there,” she said, “but I thought, what kind of art does he do? Then I realized we were his art. We came into these houses, and they did something to us. This became a place of transformation. That’s what art does. It transforms you. And Rick also treated us like artists. He would ask, ‘What’s your vision for yourself?’ You understood that you were supposed to be making something new, and that something was yourself.”’

Contact informationPhone: (713) 526-7662Address: 2521 Holman St, Houston, TX 77004Email: [email protected]

Sources & Further Reading • “About | Project Row Houses.” Accessed December 1, 2013. http://projectrowhouses.

org/about/.• “Rick Lowe: Project Row Houses at 20 | Creative Time Reports.” Accessed December 1,

2013. http://creativetimereports.org/2013/10/07/rick-lowe-project-row-houses/.• “Mission | Project Row Houses.” Accessed December 1, 2013. http://projectrowhouses.

org/about/mission/.• “Project Row Houses - Rick Lowe - - Art - Report - New York Times.” Accessed Decem-

ber 1, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/arts/design/17kimm.html?pagewant-Project Row

Houses

47

ed=all&_r=0.• Third Ward TX: A Documentary about Art, Life, and Real Estate PBS (2007)

Twin Oaks 1967—CURRENLY ACTIVE

105 RESIDENTS501(d)

Intentional Com

munity, Incom

e Sharing, Eco Village

Location Louisa County, Virginia

Founder Kat Kinkade

Funding Twin Oaks supports itself through collectively run businesses. The three largest are Twin Oaks Hammocks, Twin Oaks Community Foods, and their book indexing service. These businesses generate around $600,000 a year.

Description Twin Oaks was originally inspired by behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skin-ner’s novel entitled Walden Two. The story explores a fictional community, of 1000 mem-bers, who live by behaviorist principles. Twin Oaks’ Planner-Manager decision-making system and their labor-credit work system are both directly adapted from Walden Two.

The community has remained at around 100 members since its founding. It has no one spiritual or religious faith. The labor-sharing system and income-sharing system are the pri-mary unifying characteristics. All members work approximately 45 hours a week in a variety of positions (gardening, child care, the Twin Oaks’ businesses). There are no costs to join the community and members receive clothing, food, healthcare, housing, and other basic necessities in exchange for their 45 work hours a week. They also receive a $75 a week for personal purchases.

The community shares resources and labor, but each member has his or her own room where they keep personal possessions. None of the members original assets go into the community; they are frozen upon receiving membership. The profits of the community are pooled at the end of each year and the allocation is collectively decided.

Architecture Twin Oaks owns 350 acres made up of creeks, woods, hilly pastures and farmland. The layout includes seven large group houses, a children’s building, a commu-nity center (including a main communal kitchen), industrial buildings, a sweat hut, and a retreat cabin. Members have private rooms and many living rooms available for individual use. Solar and/or wood heat has been incorporated into almost all of the buildings.

Food System Twin Oaks produces the majority of the food they consume. The commu-nity grows food on 3.5 acres of organic gardens, in two greenhouses, one apple orchard, a large herb garden, and multiple large berry patches. They have a dairy barn, a dairy/beef herd, and chickens. Any animal that is raised for meat is slaughtered by community mem-bers.

Successes • Twin Oaks helped to establish three sister communities (Acorn Community, Living Ener-

gy Farm, and East Wind Community)• In 2009, Twin Oaks members were consuming 70% less gasoline, 80% less electricity

Twin Oaks

49

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY

“Our goals have been to sustain and expand a community which values cooperation; which is not sexist or racist; which treats peo-ple in a caring and fair manner; and which provides for the basic needs of our members [...] Our desire to be a model social system has broadened to include human-scale solutions to problems of land use, food production, energy conservation, and appropriate use of technology.”

MISSION INCOME SHARING

and 76% less natural gas per individual compared to their neighbors.• Of the 1960s communes, Twin Oaks is one of the longest surviving.• The community’s ability to sustain itself off collectively run businesses.

Challenges• The founders imagined a community of 1000 people, but the community has remained

at around 100 people since 1996.• Kat Kinkade, the founder, had aimed for Twin Oaks to fuel a large societal transforma-

tion.

Relationship to local community Twin Oaks members take almost daily trips into the surrounding area to volunteer, socialize or explore. Ex-members of the community

often settle in the nearby area.

Quotes “Inspired by the ideal society described in Skinner’s book ‘Walden Two,’ Ms. Kinkade, who was known as Kat, joined with seven other fellow believers in 1967 and took over a former tobacco farm to realize her vision of a perfect egalitarian society.

It was not easy. The farm’s well ran dry, cows starved over the winter and rammed-earth bricks did not generate the kind of revenue that the founders had hoped for. Pot-smoking hippies who drifted into the commune found themselves at odds with work-ethic mission-aries like Ms. Kinkade, whose blunt practicality and executive talent — rare qualities in the counterculture — helped the stumbling colony achieve not just self-sufficiency but some-thing resembling prosperity.”

Address 138 Twin Oaks Road Louisa, VA 23093

Phone 540-894-5126


ECO VILLAGE

CORPORATION

Currently Accepting Residents Yes

Visiting Options Tours or a three week live-on experience

Sources & Further Reading • A Walden Two Experiment: The first five years of Twin Oaks Community by Kathleen

Kinkade (1973)• Is It Utopia Yet? by Kat Kinkade (1994)• Living the Dream: A Documentary Study of Twin Oaks Community by Ingrid Komar

(1983)

Twin Oaks

Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers

1844—19913,450 MEMBERS (1860)

Consumer cooperative

Consum

er Co-O

perative

Location Rochdale, Lancashire, England

Founders 28 Members

Description The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was started by a group of 28 working men (textile trade, flannel weavers, cloggers, shoemakers, joiners, and cabinet makers). As the Industrial Revolution rapidly mechanized production, skilled workers were rapidly impoverished. Many people were out of work and the goods for sale were over-priced and of poor quality. In reaction, inspired by the writings of philosophers like Robert Owen, the 28 founding members formed the Rochdale Society to create a cooperative. Anyone could join for one pound, regardless of gender, religion, or income. Each member had one vote and the shop dividends were distributed collectively. After establishing the objectives of the co-operative and the famous-to-be “Rochdale Principles” they opened a store in an old warehouse. When the store opened the supplies were meagre, but within a few a months the store was a well-stocked success.

Successes• After one year, they had 74 members. By 1860, they had 3,450 members and six new

stores.• “By 1854, the British cooperative movement had taken up the Rochdale Principles and

over a 1000 such stores were open.”• The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers is hailed as the basis for the modern coop-

erative movement.

Quotes “The worldwide links of 31 Toad Lane started as early as the 1860s. As they became better known, the Rochdale Pioneers received visitors from all over the world, who wanted to witness how a co-operative was being successfully run. A visitors book was kept from the 1860s and shows the range of their influence. One of the first names listed, in 1862, was that of Edward Vansittart Neale, the co-operative leader and Christian Socialist, Rochdale

Society

53

PATRONAGE DIVIDED

“The original rules of conduct as published in the Pioneers’ annual almanac were:That capital should be of their own providing and bear a fixed rate of interest.That only the purest provisions procurable should be supplied to members.That full weight and measure should be given.That market prices should be charged and no credit given nor asked.That profits should be divided pro rata upon the amount of purchases made by each member.That the principle of ‘one member one vote’ should obtain in government and the equality of the sexes in membership.That the management should be in the hands of officers and committee elected periodical-ly.That a definite percentage of profits should be allotted to education.That frequent statements and balance sheets should be presented to members.”

MISSION

CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT

and later General Secretary of the Co-operative Union. The same year saw German, Span-ish and Russian visitors. The following year Alexander Campbell, the Scottish Owenite and originator of the dividend signed the book. The first Japanese signatory was Tomizo No-guchi in 1872.”

Sources & Further reading• Self Help by the People: The History of the Rochdale Pioneers by George Jacob

Holyoake (1858)• The Rochdale Pioneers 2012 (Biographical film)• “The Rochdale Principles - Rochdale Pioneer’s Museum.” Accessed November 30,

2013. http://www.rochdalepioneersmuseum.coop/about-us/the-rochdale-principles.• “BBC - How Rochdale Pioneers Changed Commerce Forever.” Accessed November

30, 2013. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/history/news-id_8838000/8838778.stm.

• “New Pioneers - YouTube.” Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYPe5xJAm5w.

• “About The Pioneers - Rochdale Pioneer’s Museum.” Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.rochdalepioneersmuseum.coop/about-us/about-the-pioneers.

Contents (in alphabetical order)

Arizmendi Bakery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Arcosanti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Better Farm / Better Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Black Mountain College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Experimental Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Fixers’ Collective, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Futurefarmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Flux Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Headwaters Garden and Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 InCUBATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Mondragón Cooperative Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Paris Commune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Project Row Houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42RDACBX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Temporary Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Transition Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Twin Oaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Digital Arts faculty and our tutorial advisor, Robert Ransick, for his generous support and creative input. We would also like to thank the Director of Crossett Library, Oceana Wilson, for allowing us to use the entrance to the library for our installation and event. Her enthusiasm for student projects makes Crossett a truly supportive resource. We would like to extend our thanks to Jaime Idea, a former Flux Factory community mem-ber and artist-in-residence and Nicole Caldwell of Better Farm for taking the time to talk to us about their respective organizations. Caroline Woolard of Trade School and OurGoods supported the project and input at an early stage in the tutorial.

Finally, endless credit is due to those organizations we did not manage to include in this edition of the book, especially the Brooklyn-based Not An Alternative, whose name and spirit inspired us originally to look beyond the limits of a “conventional” intentional com-munity and toward a whole range of organizations and movements advancing a 21st cen-tury countercultural impulse.

Onward!

Anaïs Duplan ([email protected])Kione Kochi ([email protected])

Maev Lowe ([email protected])Forest Purnell ([email protected])

Casey Wait ([email protected])

12/05/2013

First EditionFirst Printing

Printed at Bennington CollegeDecember 2013

Cover and interior design by: Forest Purnell and Kione Kochi

assoi book

Documents

arts education

arts dramatics

black mountain college18

black mountain college27

black mountain college46

project row houses6

project row houses14

project row houses26