What Now What... a series of pop-up benefits
Produced in just two weeks time- fast, furious and community-based to match the rate of the current climate.
This time is not normal, so neither is our response.
Like many, in anticipation of inauguration day, we reflected on what we could do to support the people - organizations - communities that would most immediately need support, attention and boosting up.
We decided to utilize our platform and upstanding relationship with the Industry City Distillery, to make a series of pop-up benefits, putting our organizing chops to the test by giving ourselves just 2-3 weeks to plan and fulfill each event.
We chose four themes - WOMEN (FEMALE IDENTIFIED), CLIMATE CHANGE, INFORMATION PRIVACY & YOUTH VISION. We approached each event as an opportunity to bring together, to support and to raise awareness and funds for four to six organizations working within the chosen theme. Creating a night designed to celebrate, to inform, to congregate, to stimulate, and hold space for a much needed antidote to our current situation - joy.
Each event would have live music, performance, art, pop-up presentations, a bar for food and drink, and spaces for each organization to set up and represent. We partnered with the Industry City Distillery, who graciously donated all proceeds from the bar after cost to the organizations, and we decided to change up the top-down traditional fundraising model by making the admission $1-$100.
And so... against all traditional time-frames, we hit the ground running and popped up each event in as little as two weeks. We approached 4-6 organizations- we cold-called, we emailed, we reached out. It worked. (It helped we were offering to make money for them). We asked for each organization to participate and work with us to make it happen- we would organize, produce and run the event, and they would share with their networks to help get people in the door. We asked each organization to come out and represent themselves in the best way they could, to bring printed materials, representatives to be in the space, power-points etc. to share important current campaigns, policies, or things they were working on relevant to the current issues.
We partnered with DJ Scribe, who curated two DJ sets for each of the four events on turntables borrowed from our friend Dave Geissler (thank you Dave!). We partnered with Breck Oxford, the Insatiable Vegan, who catered the food for each event, and we custom designed the bar menu for each night. We brought in artists, performers and curators whose work was relevant to the theme, hit the streets with fliers, and we were ready to roll.
We worked with our 15-year old intern Jace from the Brooklyn Community College Partnership and volunteers to transform the space, install artist's work and plaques, and information for each organization. We created an interactive syllabus for each night and a giant action wall, with research to do, petitions to sign, and steps to take.
We built a Tiny Teaspoon Brigade (alla Pete Seeger)- a giant sea-saw installation where after participants were asked to add a teaspoon of salt to the up-side of the sea-saw with each direct action they completed- and when all of our singular tiny-teaspoons came together we would collectively tip the scale and pop a giant red balloon- to show that little steps can eventually tip the paradigm.
We spread the word and opened the doors to four beautiful nights of reflection, pop-up information, action and joy. We raised over $4,000 -all given to 20 amazing organizations. And the best part was that instead of the usual competition that comes from organizations fighting over the same small funding pots- we were all in it together- each organization benefiting from the work of each organization bringing their best selves and inviting people to the room. For that night, the financial model was working towards the same shared benefit, just as their missions do on the daily.
WhatNOWwhat. It's time to make it happen.
MAY 25th
Step Aside> Youth Vision
a pop-up benefit to support organizations & collectives doing work for and by Youth.
Benefiting City Growers, Brooklyn College Community Partnership, Urban Word NYC, Day One and the True Colors Fund
Featuring youth art, live youth DJ sets, pop-up performances, Youth Spoken Word poets, Youth Hip Hop Mc's, food drinks and more !
Held at the Industry City Distillery in Sunset Park
5/25 // 6-9pm
33 35th st 6th floor, Brooklyn
D/N/R 36th st stop
$1-$100 admission - no one will be turned away for lack funds
100% of proceeds after costs goes to organizations
•••
Show your love for the future- the youth are inheriting quite a tangle
and have a thing or two to tell us.
April 13th
KNOW YOUR MEDIA
a pop-up benefit to support organizations & collectives doing work for media justice, privacy & new technology, journalist rights and archiving in the digital age.
Admission--$1-100
Benefiting Center for Media Justice, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Interference Archive, WITNESS and the Guardian Project 100% of proceeds after costs goes to organizations
Do you know your media? Does your media know you?
•••
A night of information, interactive installation, music and art.
Identity Blocker Selfie Booth and surveillance corner
Installations by PROOF & Mimi Onuoha
Digital Gallery featuring Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Ahprojects
Pop-up demo from WITNESS + information session from the Guardian Project
Interactive Digital Gallery and the Holes in the Wall Collective Action Wall
BYOA: Be your own Archivist in the real world with Anna Perricci
Pop-up Future Readings by Oracle Acts
Sets throughout the night by DJ Scribe
Food by Insatiable Vegan
Cocktails made by nerds.
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Industry City Distillery
33 35th st 6th fl. • BROOKLYN
D/N/R to 36 st
7-11p
March 9th
change the climate
Join us for a night of pop-up performance, visual art, music and libations to come together and support organizations doing work for the environment, for climate awareness and to inspire and incite our own calls to action.
It won't matter what side of the river you're on once the river's gone.
Benefiting Honor the Earth, 350NYC, Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice
With live pop-up performances from ANDREW BENINCASA, JENNIFER KREISBERG FROM ULALI & RUDE MECHANICAL ORCHESTRA
Music sets throughout the night from DJ Scribe and DJ Chela
Multi- Discipline Art exhibition throughout the space curated by Catherine Grau
Food by Insatiable Vegan
Video teaser from
With participating artists: Andrea Hänggi, Anne Percoco / Ellie Irons, Cassandra Smithie, Catherine Grau / Zoe Kreye, Christopher Kennedy, Desiree Duell, Gabriella Ciancimino, Moira Williams & Rona Rangsch
And continuing the interactive installation Teaspoon Brigade, a nod to Pete Seeger: an action piñata-seesaw to pop the paradigm through interactive calls to action.
Industry City Distillery
33 35th st 6th fl. • BROOKLYN
D/N/R to 36 st
March 9th •7-11p
Admission $1-100
February 9th
Raise up for Women
Thank you to everyone who came out February 9th
through snow and sleet and all that challenged the journey.
For those who didn't make it, please consider still making a donation to support these amazing organizations.
February 9th • 7-11p
Rain or shine, sleet or winter storms
Admission $1-100
Industry City Distillery
33 35th st 6th fl. • BROOKLYN
D/N/R to 36 st
marches don’t end at monuments.
They keep moving.
