Reliable Street

Join us at Reliable Street for some super fun belly dancing with Sara Merritt. This is the first workshop of the Reliable Street Play Time Theater. So if you can’t come to this one, or it’s not your thing, check back, there will be more!

Just $15 - you can pay through Venmo here:

https://forms.gle/rMD23pY3tAUzpTnt8

Belts and scarves will be provided. For all peoples, no experience necessary.

Thursday, Sept 30 @ 6:00

📷 Mirage Belly Dance Troupe

🤯🔥💗🙏🏽 😊Street Art and Graffiti: Somewhere in between...We’re still meditating on our privilege of space and how these art forms relate.

Graffiti evolved from “‘taggers’ part of street gangs concerned with marking their territory.” It began mostly with symbols and names but also included images. It had long been seen as vandalism and viewed very negatively. But many graffiti artists eventually developed such amazing artistic styles that they began to be recognized by the fine art world, like Black artist Jean-Michael Basquiat. It was a way for underprivileged artists to have a shot at an art world that excluded them.

Street art was born out of graffiti but is usually done by trained artists who are given permission or commissioned by property owners. Street art pieces are typically curated or approved by property owners or city officials.

So there has been an ongoing battle between graffiti and street artists. Graffiti artists are fighting for space, fighting to be seen, fighting for expression without control of content or censorship. To have space to make art, to make the art you want to make, to have your art be seen are all a privilege.

Graffiti existed here when we bought the building. Now there is unwritten consent for graffiti and street artists to use our space. This takes away an original element of graffiti, the rush of possibly getting caught but preserves the freedom of expression, there’s no submitting your proposal. So we get a huge variety of what some would consider art and some would say is definitely not art. Either way, just the opportunity to share your voice, be seen, be heard, make a mark, can affect someone positively🥰So before you write off graffiti as being vandalism, consider if this is a discrimination against the roots of it, against a population that has been oppressed and space for art that they were not given.

The Always Open Free Thrift is bursting right now 😂 Sometimes it’s incredibly clean, thanks to the angels who have made it their personal mission and sometimes it’s an absolute mess. But it’s the perfect example of what a community effort looks like. We’ve been meditating on our privilege of space here at Reliable Street and how our mission is driven by treating our space, indoors and out as more than just a public space.

We get lots of crazy looks and cautionary voices in our ears about allowing our private property to be utilized by anyone. It is radical in the sense that we are putting our trust into people we don’t know, yet 😉 Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes it seems easier to try to be in control. But the relationships, the growth, the opportunities to provide care for one another makes it all beyond worth it 🔥💗🔥

We’d be happy to talk to anyone interested in using their own private property for community space. It’s a magical thing and it’s clearly needed 🙏

Dear Community,

We apologize to all who are hurt and suffering right now. We apologize that we have not done enough to change a system that is broken, yes, even in our small city. We apologize for all the violence and loss. We know at Reliable Street we can do better. We are so sorry.

Right now we are listening. We are having personal conversations and trying to hear everything. We are reading and facing our own faults. So when we move forward with a plan it is respectful and educated. We need this to change the system permanently.
We love y’all and we want to hear your voices. We are listening. We are here. I’m so sorry.

Always Love,
Lyndsay and the Reliable Street Team @ Reliable Street