“The purpose of the LIVE Weekend Bazaar
created by the Firehouse Art Collective under the direction of Tom Franco in
collaboration with ‘23Monkeytree-productions’ is to have a space for our
community to come together LIVE and co create a culture of sharing leisure,
great food, drink and art of all disciplines one weekend at a time. “
A brand new venue for artists of all disciplines to bring
their goods directly to the community they live in. This includes fine art, metal works, jewelry,
antiques & collectibles, paper works, food, natural beauty and health
products, ceramics, magic, photography...really all the things people adore at an
indoor bazaar. With live plus DJ music and our stellar food vendors from the
former Underground Food Market of San Francisco, it's a cool party and cultural
event every time, with a Firehouse Art Collective slant.
Tom
Franco, director: “With the Firehouse Art Collective LIVE Events Bazaars, we are
really pushing the envelope in creating a cutting edge space that is beyond any
“arts gallery formalism” on one extreme and the “hippy love fest free for all
music faire” on the other extreme. We are scheduled to happen every
Saturday in Berkeley, fusing basic human values of being seen plus sharing
creative ideas made manifest. Giggling at the paradox, that the cutting
edge art scene of today sports all the elements of ancient traditional cultures
of coming together as a community at the market place and sharing leisure, resources
and the arts.
One
of the specialties of the Firehouse Art Collective is making the collective
dreams, the shared dreams of the community, actually come true.
People
often come to me and say, "thank you for making this event happen! I had
the same idea and wanted to do it too." My experience, in this
process of putting on events, is that each person is not very far away from a successful
happening of sorts. The steps between having a community dream and actually
living it, maybe only 3 or 4 steps at the most, coupled with the art of
commitment and endurance. After that, there is such a momentum generated from
support and good wishes, that frankly, we as the Firehouse Art Collective, are
strictly hooked on having a good time!”
Julia Lazar, assistant director: “The difference in our
approach to live events is that each person in the room becomes an active participant
in the event. Versus being a consumer, passive bystander or excluded by an
exclusive event, everyone is included and prompted to personally contribute to
the experience, by sharing, listening, speaking, mingling, and being introduced
to each other. The art of basic social connection is enlivened. This is how
culture happens on a community level and we get that distinct feeling that we
are part of each other’s lives and share the same world…it’s a way to get a
buzz, like Tom said, we live to enjoy!”