September '25 Roundup
I have returned from summer break!!!!
Howdy,
It’s too bad summer breaks aren’t mandatory for all ages and professions. I took a summer vacation in August and got myself to Maine, hence the August ‘25 Trash Hiatus™. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy my first of the Fall1 finds—it was a pleasure to discover them!
oxox,
Zoe
Medical Books
Children’s Toys?
Pets
Games
Cuisine
The Inevitable Fish
My Bonus Offering!
I am a proud YMCA gym member, and through fellowship there, have become a devout zumba-er. This new exercise obsession has much to do with the amazing nature of Zumba, but it can also be attributed to the fact that one of the Y’s Zumba instructors would be a perfect cult leader. She is so damn good at leading the class, and with my membership I can bring one guest for free each month. So, if you are interested in attending, don’t be shy! I’d be happy to take you!
Over a decade ago while I was working at the JCC, a rad, moonlighting-as-a-private-chef coworker alerted me to a listserv group that has since delighted and inspired me. Sfchalkboard is a Bay Area email community that sends out local information of all sorts: housing posts, free therapy sessions, documentary screenings, kombucha scoby offerings or askings, and virtually any other quirky contribution beyond your wildest imaginings! Recently, one such contribution caught my eye from a group called Creative Mutual Aid. They had reached out to the ‘Chalkie’ community about a ‘free mall’ and I needed to learn more. So I reached out to Sara, one of the groups organizers, to ask some questions. Enjoy!
Can you tell me more about Creative Mutual Aid? What is it? How did it start? What are the organization’s objectives?
Creative Mutual Aid is an art and mutual aid collective dedicated to fostering community, connection, and support through collaborative events, resource, and skill sharing. We activate parks, plazas, and other natural gathering spaces via our Planet Caravan and Free Mall to create spontaneous communities where individuals can express themselves creatively, share skills, and engage in acts of generosity rooted in gift economy principles. Our efforts aim to build a more inclusive, supportive society beyond transactions.
What is a free mall? What does it entail and why do you host them?
Our free mall are our trash to treasure items, things in the back of your closet that you love but never wear, extra toothpaste from a coscto pack that you’ll never use, etc. On an ample day, we have the free mall (larger items), the free market (shelf stabel items for people can take on the go). We invited community members to bring anything to the free mall and if their items aren’t picked up before the “mall closes”, we ask that they bring their items back for a future free pile. We try to find things that other people would like and bring people together in conversation with some of the fun items we find. For example, we have a nice large letter “B” given to us. I know someone will love it one day!
What is the best thing you have gotten for free and why? Note: this excludes gifts.
A box of about 50 movie marquee letters; it was from a man who used to be the Creative Director for a Children’s Museum here, I think his name is John. He had these amazing cookies he was offering for free at his yard sale (think peanut butter with tuffles on top), and had a huge free pile as well.
What sorts of art projects do Creative Mutual Aid patrons tend to participate in? What’s a project that has particularly caught your attention?
I am very intrigued about how people choose to engage, for our creative options are pretty limitless and are of varying engagement levels. Lately, I have noticed more people engaging in writing prompts in some of our notebooks, some light hearted, some heavy. I was surprised to see that so many filled out the “release a memory” [prompt'], they were hard to read, but I hope by verbalizing them, those people felt a little lighter that day.
I’m currently reading Dean Spade’s Mutual Aid and I’m curious about why your group opted for the mutual aid route rather than a nonprofit or charity? What about mutual aid appealed to you all, particularly in servicing the arts?
Mutual aid illustrates that the community can come together and suport each other beyond the government, who fails to provode mutual aid in an equitable way. I have worked in many roles in non-profits; a large issue is the regulations and parameters with government funding; those deliverables may change the course of the program into something that doesn’t actually service what that community needed in the first place. With mutual aid, we are addressing needs now, week by week, not having to wait for another RFP to be announced. This is challenging for us because not all grants go to mutual aid groups, some do, but we are also trying to promote crowdsourced funding and materials. We want to stay as far away from government grants that may hinder the needs and goals of the community we serve.
Are there any Creative Mutual Aid gatherings you would like to put on people’s radar?
We try to have ~2 stations per month, locations TBD. We will be starting a sanctioned monthly at the SFPL Main Branch in August.
If you are interested in Creative Mutual Aid, want to volunteer, donate, or if you have a space, backyard, or front yard you’d like them to set up at, please call or text 252-MYSTERY for more details!
Still summer weather in SF though!