Stone Soup Worcester

The community center in Worcester, Stone Soup/Olla Popular, holds a kick-off celebration on January 27th, 2007 with the solidarity of several regional and international groups.

After several years of hard work, social movements and community groups finally have their own space. And it is permanent. And it is autonomous, communally controlled.

The night of the kickoff celebration began with a community dinner in the style of stone soup, where several people brought something to eat and all ate a delicious and diverse meal. Lucelia de Jesus began the music with Latin folk tunes of justice, followed by folksinger Lydia Fortune and AfroDZak, who mixed positive Hip Hop with messages of social change and trumpet and poetry.

With full rooms and halls, we presented the banner from the Unemployed Worker Movement of (MTD) La Mantanza, Argentina – “El Mismo Fuego/The Same Fire” – and read a letter from a Brazilian ecological group, Ciclovida. This solidarity transmitted the feeling that we are not alone in this struggle, that there are communities getting organized, reclaiming spaces for collective purposes, and searching for justice.

More than 150 people came despite the cold, people of all ages, and the night included several self-organized activities for youth and kids (dance-dance-revolution, tile painting, others). Music followed by various local artists, a soulful and moving singer from Fall River, Cedric Josey, and a powerful revolutionary Hip Hop group, Foundation Movement.

El espacio ya está llenando, hay: _–un taller comunitaria de bicicletas “Earn-A-Bike” –una organización de pesas/os y ex-presas/os luchando por trabajo digno “EPOCA” –nuestro grupo de jovenes “Casa Tóxicos/Proyecto Raices de Worcester” –una biblioteca radical, una cocina comunitaria con “Comida no Bombas” –un espacio educacional que va a ser una escuela libre –y un espacio abierto por la comunidad y grupos activistas.

The space already houses:

• A community bike shop/program, Earn-A-Bike
• The office of EPOCA – Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement working for dignified work and fair employement
• An environmental justice group, Worcester Roots Project and their youth program, Toxic Soil Buster Coooperative
• A radical lending library
• A community kitchen used by Food Not Bombs and others
• An educational space that will become the very democratic Stone Soup School
• And, of course, the community center space open for neighbors and activist groups

We recognize and appreciate the solidarity and participation from all the movements in this region and in the South in this celebration, because, after all, it is THE SAME FIRE!

More photos (y este artículo en español)

Stone Soup is up and running. Well we still have a lot of work to do to make the space work for all of our projects, But Earn a bike moved in on December 17th. Ex-prisioners and prisioners Organizing for Community Advacement (EPOCA) is busy making there office work for them. Food not Bombs has been cooking in the kitchen. Worcester Indymedia has been plotting a community media center. People have been sanding the floors in the Community Center space and soon we will be able to put the lending library up on the shelves. The Stone Soup School will soon be moving into the first floor and offering a multi-generational learning community to share workshops and activities and a February Vacation Day Camp. It is a very exciting time and we are looking for more grassroots organizations, artists and activists in the Worcester area to come be part of this collective project. Please give us a call at our new phone number (508) 755-4974 or email us at stonesoupworcester@gmail.com.

Please help us find this stuff for free!

OFFICE-STUFF
Business phone system
Folding tables
Conference table
Bookshelves
Phone and ethernet cables
LCD Projector
Folding chairs
Bulletin board
White boards/chalkboards
Magazine Racks

HOUSEHOLD-STUFF
Tool sets
Light fixtures (more efficient ones)
Curtains / blinds
Bathtub/shower
Couches/Armchairs/Futons (good shape only)
Refrigerator
Big pots

SPECIALIZED-STUFF
Commercial kitchen equipment (exhaust hood, big stove, sink, knife sets, big counter)

Photo equipment (enlargers, bins, etc.)

Wheel chair ramp

ADD YOUR IDEAS AS A COMMENT!

Mission:

Stone Soup is a membership-based organization committed to three areas of focus: the arts, community, and affordable housing. Within these areas we strive for self-sustaining, economically accessible spaces and educational activities that are open to neighbors, activists, community groups, and artists. Inspired by principles of inclusion, collective participation, and universal affordability, we will be an example of how creative community development of and for the people can stimulate local economies without resorting to gentrification.

Our Vision is to collectively own a building in which artists, activists and community members can create a space that meets and honors the needs of the community. We envision office space for non-profits and small businesses, studio space for artists, venue space for musical and theatrical shows, an art gallery, a cooking space for Food Not Bombs and community dinners, a place for The Firecracker lending library, a place for groups to have meetings, affordable housing for artists and community members, as well as a home for projects such as Earn a Bike and the Worcester Free School and Worcester Independent Media Center. Another part of our vision is a community center that really belongs to and meets the needs of the neighborhood in which we are located.

Where we are in this process:

Stone Soup has been meeting and planning how to implement our vision and mission since April of 2005. Around fifty people have been actively involved in the project. A core organizing group of fifteen people has been meeting between two and four times a month to work on the planning and organizing. An events committee has been working on fundraising and outreach events. This committee has organized three events in the last few months. A community outreach committee has done outreach in the Main South neighborhood as well as in artist and activist communities in the city. The outreach committee has asked what people would like to see in a community resource center and we have built those ideas into our mission and vision. We have many commitments from people who would like to have space within the Stone Soup project who would make monthly monetary contributions to the project (see Commitments document). We are in the process of negotiating for a building that fits our needs near Main Street . We are in the final stages of working with Lawyer Burton Chandler to incorporate as a 501-c3 non-profit corporation.

Where Stone Soup Comes From: A History

Worcester’s artist and activist communities have been a vibrant source of creativity for many years. Since 1979, when the Grove Street Gallery opened, the city has experienced the benefits of having a strong connection to the arts. The Grove Street Gallery lasted 15 years, offering classes, studio space, events, musicians, film festivals, sculpture, and political theater. Grove Street Gallery was squeezed out of its space by the increase in rents.

The Worcester Artist Group began in 1985 with performance art, lots of theatrical events, and studio space for all types of artists. WAG has been through a number of incarnations and forced moves caused by increases in rent and restrictions on performances.

In 2003 “The Spacement” was formed in the basement of the Heywood Building to provide a safe space for Food-Not-Bombs, a free lending library, the Worcester Independent Media Center,film screenings and performances. “The Spacement” was forced to close in 2004 due to the lack of ability to get necessary permits.

Around this time many activists and community members were experiencing a need for easily accessible meeting and office space within the city. Groups such as Worcester Global Action Network and Worcester Indymedia Center started talking with artists and other community groups to figure out how to meet these needs.

Community non-profit groups and entrepreneurial start-ups have also struggled to find adequate space. Earn-A Bike, a six year old program providing bicycle repair, maintenance, and used bikes has been growing steadily since it opened in the summer of 2000. And Re-Use It, a business offering good quality used building supplies, continues to seek affordable space in downtown Worcester.

Out of the Heywood evictions, the WAG dislocations, and need for a community space, disheartened (but not disillusioned) members of these vibrant groups have formed Stone Soup — a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing a permanent space for arts, activism and community projects.

Stone Soup is a membership based organization committed to three areas of focus which are the arts, community and affordable housing; within these areas we strive for self-sustaining and economically accessible spaces and educational activities which are open to neighbors, activists, community groups, and artists. Inspired by principles of inclusion, collective participation, and universal affordability, we will be an example of how creative community development of and for the people can stimulate local economies without resorting to gentrification.

Our Vision is to own a building in which artists, activists and community members can create a space that meets and honors the needs of the community. We envision office and studio space, venue space for shows, an art gallery, a cooking space for food not bombs and other groups, a lending library, a place for groups to have meetings, and live/work space for artists.

Right now we are in the process of narrowing building choices which are located in the Main South area of Worcester as well as incorporating as a 501-c3 non-profit corporation in hopes that we will buy a building in the upcoming months.

If you are interested in joining the process we meet the first and third Wednesday of the month at 7pm. The location varies so stay tuned.

OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE Wednesday October 19th @ 7pm at 9 Castle St, Apt. #3

For directions or info call or email Anne: 508-561-1164 anne@riseup.net