Compiled by Jesse D. Palmer
Here are some additions and corrections to the radical contact list that Slingshot publishes in our organizer. DIY liberated spaces provide show venues, zine libraries, meeting and event space and a place to plot the next action and wash the pepper spray out of your eyes afterwards. These spaces are an evolving community effort, as is the Slingshot list. Let us know if you have additions or corrections.
In the wake of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland that sparked a government crackdown on many underground art and music spaces, we’ve been especially treasuring all of the effort that goes into carving out hand-made space against the odds and under the radar. Give these folks a hug and pat yourself on the back. Slingshot’s online contact list could have updates to the printed list, except that some computerized thing is preventing us from updating it, and our tech friends won’t email us back . . . but check there anyway for kicks: slingshot.tao.ca/contacts
Simon’s Rock Zine Society – Great Barrington, MA
An infoshop collective at Bard College. At Simon’s Rock 84 Alford Rd. Great Barrington, MA 01230
Ideal Infoshop – Jacksonville, FL
They provide meeting space and host events, screenings, poetry jams, and a free skool. Also books/zines, coffee, tea and snacks. 42 West Monroe St. Jacksonville, FL 32202 904-999-8974
Flemington DIY – Flemington, NJ
They have a gallery, performance venue and work spaces for art, music recording and rehearsal and a free library. 90 Main St., Flemington, NJ 08822 flemingtondiy.org
Bishop Dingman House – Des Moines, IA
The Des Moines Catholic Worker Community includes five houses in the River Bend neighborhood. Like Catholic Worker Communities all over the world, the DMCW tries to connect the struggle against militarism with the struggle against poverty. Aside from free meals, they also provide showers, clothing, phone usage, guests can receive their mail, canned goods and toiletries are available upon request and free groceries as available. 1310 7th Street Des Moines, IA 50314 515-243-0765
Flying M Coffeehouse, Nampa and Boise, ID
For-profit cafes that host events. Describe as “a good refuge for alternative folks in our very non alternative state.” Let us know if you visit and think we should list them in the 2018 organizer or not. 1314 2nd Street South Nampa, Idaho 83651 208-467-5533; and 500 West Idaho Street Boise, Idaho 83702 208-345-4320
SHRUB Swap & Reuse Hub – Edinburgh, Scotland
A “wonderful community hub,” primarily a swap-shop with a zero waste goal but also hosts lots of radical community workshops. 13 Guthrie St, Edinburgh EH1, UK
Changes to the 2017 Organizer
• People’s Book Co-op in Milwaukee, WI has gone out of business.
• Rainbow Bookstore in Madison, WI, a long-standing project, went out of business.
• The New Direction in Fargo, ND lost its space and closed.
• Barricade Inn in Dublin, Ireland was included by mistake – it was evicted last year.
• Flux Capacitor in Colorado Springs, CO still exists, but you can’t send mail to the address listed in the organizer.
• The correct mailing address for The Base at 1302 Myrtle Ave in Brooklyn is: 113 Stockholm Ave Storefront 1A Brooklyn 11221.
• The Minnehaha Free Space in Minneapolis lost its space due to an 83% rent increase, but they are fundraising to move elsewhere.
• The Cosmic Beauty school in Lawrence, KS closed in early 2016 according to informed sources.
• We printed the wrong address for Yeyo Arts Collective in St. Louis, MO – it should be 2807 S. Jefferson Ave. St. Louis, MO 63118.
• Le Local Remouleur in Bagnolet, France may have moved or closed — mail we sent them got returned.
• Social Center Adelante in Sofia, Bulgaria lost their space.
• We got a report that the Social Center Xaspel in Sofia, Bulgaria does not exist but we’re still trying to verify the information. Let us know if you know.
Ghost Ship fire aftermath
In the Bay Area, long-lived punk show-space Burnt Ramen was closed by the City of Richmond, and many other spaces have faced landlord evictions, City inspections, and hassles from insurance companies, etc. We’re not aware of any spaces on the Radical Contact List closed during this crackdown — we don’t have the capacity to list every underground venue and artists warehouse. All these projects are precious and should be preserved. Now more than ever we need more spaces for artists and underground music, more affordable spaces, more liberated zones.