Alternatives workshop at Free University NYC, Cooper Union, May 1, 2013. 7 days before the school was occupied.

Time: Wednesday February 11, 9:00 am—1:00 pm
Event: Participatory Workshop & Discussion with invited artists and activists (TBA)

Location: College Art Association Annual Conference 2015
New York Hilton 1335 6th Ave, 2nd Floor,  Media Lounge

The economic and structural realities of art schools as they exist today can often be a source of anxiety and frustration for art students, faculty, and staff alike, so what might an alternative school of art look like? In this workshop the participants will familiarize themselves with over 30 alternative economic models that are in practice throughout the world today.

More info here…

More info here:
http://artsandlabor.org/alternative-economies/alternative-to-what/imagining-future-models-alternative-to-what-session-3

What do we mean by Alternative Art Economies?
And what are we looking to find an alternative to?

Artist-Organized Alternative Spaces:
Reflections on the 60s–80s

Sunday July 6, 2014 – Walking + Reading Tour
4:00pm – Meet in front of  Carriage Trade**, 62 Walker St.
5:00pm – Meet in front of Artists Space**, 32 Green St., 3rd fl.

** We are making stops at these locations. 
** These locations are NOT affiliated with Arts & Labor or this Summer Series. Sorry for any confusion.

In this first session we will attempt to trace the history of “alternative spaces.” Through various site visits, essays, primary sources, news clippings, chronologies, and personal reflections, we will try to understand the context, possible motors, shifts the landscape, the people involved and their intentions. It’s also important to note that what we know about alternative spaces is still unfolding[…]

read more and download PDF readings:
Artist-Organized Alternative Spaces, July 6

Save the date!

What Do We Do Now?
Arts & Labor Alternatives Fair

October 18th & 19th
Friday 6-9PM – OPENING EVENTS
Saturday 12-4PM – TABLES + MORE…

EYEBEAM 540 W 21st St, NYC
Free / Wheelchair accessible / Childcare available (please inquire for details)

We are accepting:
–  table reservations for alternative economies related groups
– proposals for workshops, skillshares, presentations, discussions, panels
– facilitators & organizers for an artists/artworker assembly
– & other experimental formats that compliment the fair are welcomed

Email us to get involved! al.altecon@gmail.com 
website: WhatDoWeDoNow.info
facebook invite: What Do We Do Now? Oct 18-19

What Do We Do Now?
Alternative Economies Resource Guide
Edition 1, Fall 2012

booklet launch at:
Building The Commons
Making Worlds Commons Forum 2
March 29th & 30th
Fri 6-10pm / Sat 10am-8pm

The Commons Brooklyn
388 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

*Children Welcome / Wheelchair Accessible / Free & Open to the Public*

Join us this Friday & Saturday for the first edition release of What Do We Do Now? Arts & Labor’s Alternative Economies Resource Guide. Input for subsequent editions is welcome; we plan to update periodically!

Over the course of several months in 2012, members of Arts & Labor’s Alternative Economies group decided to research and compile a list of alternative resources for living in New York. This resource guide contains examples of barter for health care programs, times banks, workers coops, community social services, alternative transportation advocates, and more. We are now ready to distribute the resource guide throughout the city at various events and with friends whose work forms part of building an alternative economy in New York City.

**A brief introduction to the guide will be made during Friday’s potluck Dinner 7-8pm & Saturday’s potluck Lunch Noon-1pm.**

Pop-up Occupation with Mutual Aid (unpermitted)
8am–2pm, Bryant Park, Manhattan
Occupy Wall Street
more info

Bike Bloc
9am, Union Square, Manhattan
Strike Everywhere
more info

The Free University: Lectures, Workshops, Skill-Shares and Discussions
10am–3pm, Madison Square Park, Manhattan
more info

May Day poetry!
LUNCH POEMS
11:00am–1:00 pm, Bryant Park
MAY DAY POETRY ASSEMBLY
3:30 pm, Union Square

High School Student Walkout Convergence
12pm, Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
more info

Repeal Employer Sanctions Law March
12pm, 26 Federal Plaza
more info

Guitarmy: Guitar Workshop and Rehearsal with Tom Morello
Permitted Gathering Space for May Day Festivities
12pm, Bryant Park, Gertrude Stein Statue (east side), Manhattan
OWS Music working group
more info

Day Without Workers/Día sin los Trabajadores: May Day March and Speakout
2pm, 5th Ave. at 54th St. in Brooklyn, marching to 36th St & 4th Ave. to take subway at 3:30pm to Union Square rally in Manhattan
Occupy/Ocupemos Sunset Park
more info

Occupy Wall Street & Guitarmy March (unpermitted)
2pm, Bryant Park to Union Square, Manhattan

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Contingent!
3pm at Regal Movie Theatre, 50 Broadway (at 13th St.) – joining rally at Union Square after
Audre Lorde Project, FIERCE, Queers for Economic Justice, Streetwise and Safe and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project
more info

Solidarity Rally with Tom Morello, Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Bobby Sanabria and special guests (permitted)
4–5:30pm, Union Square, Manhattan
May First Coalition, Labor Unions and OWS
more info

May Day Choir Convergence
5:15pm, Madison Square Park (in front of the fountain), Manhattan
more info

Solidarity March (permitted)
5:30pm, Union Square to Wall Street, Manhattan
May First Coalition, Labor Unions and OWS
more info

JD Samson & MEN Perform
7pm, 2 Broadway
After the march concludes, more performances and speakers will start the after-party!

Occupy Wall Street Afterparty
8pm, Wall Street areadetails forthcoming…

Occupy the Clubs: Musicians Must Be Paid! 
9:30pm, Sara D. Roosevelt Park, SE corner of Chrystie & Houston, Manhattan
Musicians Solidarity Council
more info

#OccupyWallStreet has cracked open a little hole in history, creating a moment where some of the very core institutions of our economy are called into question. Along with indignation and outrage, there is a certain excitement in the air. Things that have been terrifyingly stuck seem to be moving. Something seems possible today that wasn’t just a month ago. In this space, our conversations and our imaginations are buzzing. What are we doing? What should we do? What’s coming next? -Ethan Miller, Occupy! Connect! Create! Imagining Life Beyond ‘The Economy’

The second Arts and Labor Alternative Economies Teach-In looks to the model of the Solidarity Economy as a strategy for organizing new art economies. Rather than waiting for revolution, the solidarity framework allows us to begin where we are, to identify the struggles within our current economic structures, and to imagine alternatives. Built around values such as cooperation, individual and collective well being, social justice, ecological health, democracy, and diversity, the chief principle behind the Solidarity Economy is that rather than creating a new blueprint for society, our task is to identify the alternatives that already exist through the activities of seeing, naming, connecting, strengthening, and creating. How can we apply these principles of the solidarity economy to organize different structures for work, life, art, and labor? Come be part of the conversation.

Schedule: 3:15 PM
Tour of 4th Arts Block led by Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director.  Maximum Capacity: 20.  Please RSVP at owsartsandlabor@gmail.com.
4-5 PM: Presentation by Cheyenna Weber and Caroline Woolard of SolidarityNYC
5-6 PM: Discussion

Fourth Arts Block (FAB) (http://fabnyc.org/) is a non-profit organization founded in 2001 by cultural and community groups to establish and advance the East 4th Street Cultural District, between 2nd Avenue and Bowery.  FAB is leading the development of the East 4th St Cultural District, the only official cultural district in Manhattan. Home to more than a dozen arts groups, 10 cultural facilities and 17 performances and rehearsal venues, the East 4th Street Cultural District attracts an annual audience of 200,000, serves 1,200 artists and provides more square feet of active cultural use than any other block in New York.

SolidarityNYC (http://solidaritynyc.org/) connects, supports, and promotes New York City’s solidarity economy. The solidarity economy meets human needs through economic activities–like the production and exchange of goods and services–that reinforce values of justice, ecological sustainability, cooperation, and democracy. From credit unions to worker cooperatives, Community Supported Agriculture to time banks, community land trusts to participatory budgeting, it’s an economy actually worth occupying. Our vision is a vibrant and growing movement that provides greater economic security, improved physical and emotional health, and increased democracy for our communities and ecosystems.

WHERE: 10th Ave & 18th Street (starting at street level) in front of the $100,000 Billboard

WHAT: General Assembly & Photo Action (Bring smartphones and cameras to participate!)

WHY: On December 2nd, The High Line unveiled “The First $100,000 I Ever Made,” a 25-by-75 foot billboard created by artist John Baldessari. We, as members of Occupy Wall Street, ask: what is the history of the $100,000 bill and what does it mean to resurrect its image in our current moment of economic crisis? Who is this billboard speaking to? How does it speak to you? What does $100,000 mean today to workers and residents of Chelsea, along with all New Yorkers, as economic conditions continue to worsen for the 99%?