Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative

HEY FIREFLIES AND BUTTERFLIES
SUMMER IS FINISHED and It's time to unite and support our youth in the community returning to school. Fire is hosting a back-to-school bash on August 24th 2-8pm. Which is THIS SATURDAY we have bags for Youth who are in school from Elementary all the way up to Freshmen College students. PLEASE COME promptly as we have only a certain number of bags for each age group and it is first come first served. Dinner & Desserts will be catered and served at 5pm and there will be light snacks and food available up until then alongside many family friendly activities!!! Wait we aren't done we have more to offer on a first come first serve basis. We have Shaquona Espinoza doing face painting, Beauty with a Heart doing natural braided quick hairstyles and re-twists for youth up to 21 years old alongside another stylist doing freestyles for kids - 21 years old. Read and Write Kalamazoo has donated some free books that will be available for grabs! We also have Nails By Shala Rea doing a raffle for two youth between the ages of 13-21 yrs old to get a free nail set done! There will be other community events happening on the same day so please be ready to hit the hot spots as we all come together and serve our community!! Let's not forget about our open mic being held from 6-8pm hosted by EgypTrinity alongside Trellion Trell as our co/host!! Flyers are listed in this thread with details including information about our community store that will be open on that day as well from 1-3pm. That space will be open for donation drop offs, laundry use for youth 13-21, and shopping for free clothes and many other items available!
SUNDAY we have are hosting a poetry & craft activity with Fire’s Director, Destine Price-Willis during the Family Healing Day event in collaboration with Move with Joy - Dance, Yoga, Pilates! please come check that out with another open mic happening busy busy weekend before school starts make sure you come visit Fire this weekend we MISS YOU and if you're new here we welcome you to a place that has the dopest VIBE!
- EgypTrinity

Mark your Calendars for Saturday August 24th in Edison!!! Looking for a space to get free care services?? Between the Edison Neighborhood Association & Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative 12-6pm there will be free haircuts & hair styling taking place at 816 Washington Ave. ANNNDDD Free retwists, natural braid hairstyles, braided styles, manicures from local hairstylists & nail techs alongside a free acrylic nail set raffle!!

Food & dessert catered by House of Soul Seafood & Julian Sweets!!

Free Back to School supply filled Bags for elementary, middle, high school, and college aged students!!

FAMILY FRIENDLY EVENT FOR ALL!! We will have activity tables, face painting, and an open mic starting at 6:30pm to wrap the night up with some good vibes & music!!!

We can’t wait to see you!!! Pop out!!!

See you tonight!! Doors open at 5:30pm show starts at 6:00pm!!!

Returning back to school can be met with a mix of emotions, experiences, and needs! Fire is happy to hold the space in the Edison Neighborhood for back to school supplies, food, art activities, and a space to express like so many other great organizations do in this community! We are excited to offer free care services during our event and will be highlighting the stylists, nail techs, barber, and food catering that will be apart of this event!! After you spend the weekend before school starts spend Sunday August 25th from 1-8pm at a Free Family Healing Day in collaboration with & Urban Exposure Initiative (swipe allll the way for details)!

See you then and pushing you a gentle and joyous summer ☀️
-
Fire Team

Y.O. Youth artists and teaching artists are on the last stretch woohooooo! From the beginning of the summer holding space for intentional relationship building through artistry and artivism, a youth led design supported by artists have found its way on this historic bricks Fire is housed in! Stay tuned for the reveal of this piece during Fire’s Back to School Bash on Saturday August 24th from 2-8pm!

First to start us off we have Y.O which continues this Tuesday and Thursday. We are in our final stretch and the muarl will be up in the coming weeks, be on the look out👀. Y.O. is a youth-organized and lead place-based art program for ten youth ages 13-21. This year participants will be creating a mural on the building that represents what is “home” in the Edison neighborhood and to learn community organizing skills from a youth activist surrounding the genocide in Gaza. This will be facilitated by Chafe Hensley and other talented community artists, Mara and Shaquona. Participants will have the opportunity to sell their art at our community swap meet and will receive a $150 stipend. Additionally, we will have an artist in the residency program going .kenn, who will also be assisting with the Y.O. Program.

We will be having our SLAM Programming being facilitated by at the Juvenile center this Wednesday! It will be our finale workshop for this pod, were excited to continue our with the others!!!

WE ALSO HOPE TO SEE THIS FRIDAY IS OUR FIRST FRIDAY OPEN MIC August 2nd. Doors open at 5:30, and the show starts at 6. We are excited to showcase the talented.

Fire’s Program Staff have been holding intentional intimate space at the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home delivering Slam Program Workshops with groups of youth every week this Summer and now into the Fall. Shoutout to EgypTrinity & Hananiah for the instrumental ways you hold space with youth and creating brave spaces for expression! Shoutout to Transition Specialist, Leonard Shelton, for all the work you do and for bringing Fire’s team to the space!

And just like that Week 7 of Y.O.!!🎉🎉🎉 we have two weeks left to complete this collaborative mural designed by youth and supported by amazing local artists; Chafe Hensley, Mara Minott, and Shaquona Espinoza!!!
They got something beautiful in store for the community and we cannot wait to for the end of summer before youth return back to school!

We had such an amazing time at Arcadia Elementary!!! Thank you to local artists, Quincy Ellis & Alexander Long for joining Fire staff!

Thank you to our guest presenters from Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative for joining our Think Summer program this week!

As part of our STEAM art and math week, they worked with both elementary and secondary students. Check out some of the photos!

The CIS After School and Think Summer! program is supported by federal dollars awarded through the Michigan Department of Education, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers.

Fire’s Staff have been having a graaannnddd time connecting with youth at other spaces! Thank you for having us and hosting space for poetry this summer again during their Creative Summer Series! Check out the Youth & Teen Talent Show on August 16th! Register by this Thursday July 25th to perform at www.kzooparks.org/talentshow

Pictured above: Fire’s Executive Director, Destiné & Fire’s Slam Program Coordinator, Egypt, with a group of creatively awesome youth!

Tonight!! 6-8pm at 1501 Fulford Street!! See you there!

First to start us off we have Y.O which continues this Tuesday and Thursday. Y.O. is a youth-organized and lead place-based art program for ten youth ages 13-21. This year participants will be creating a mural on the building that represents what is “home” in the Edison neighborhood and to learn community organizing skills from a youth activist surrounding the genocide in Gaza. This will be facilitated by Chafe Hensley and other talented community artists, Mara and Shaqoua. Participants will have the opportunity to sell their art at our community swap meet and will receive a $150 stipend. Additionally, we will have an artist in the residency program going .kenn, who will also be assisting with the Y.O. Program. We still have SPOTS left so it's not to late REGISTER!!

We are back at it again THIS TUESDAY with our Youth led Open Mic Jam Session with !! We are so excited to host this space with Director of Kalamazoo Youth Jazz Orchestra & local Drummer/Composer/Educator, Josiah DeNooyer! Young folks 21yrs and under identifying as artists and have some music and words to share are welcome to scan the QR code or visit the link in our bio to sign up to join the Performance Set List!! Artists will also have the opportunity to display art work that will be showcased during the space in between performances & the jam session! Doors will open at 6pm, show starts at 6:30pm and Jam Session will follow after around 8pm! 

This event is offered to ALL AGES! Come out and support local talent & youth expression and hop on the mic yourself!! Come for good vibes as we will bring Fire Open Mic vibesssss✨✨✨

ALL DONATIONS WILL GO TO YOUTH PERFORMERS♥️

We will be having our SLAM Programming being facilitated by at the Juvenile center this Wednesday!

Also, come on out this Saturday, July 20th for SLAM PROGRAMMING with and our July open mic feature . If you or a youth you know, desire a space to create poetry, rap, songwriting, and more. This is the workshop for you!! Regular SLAM will still be on pause until further notice, so we can be intentional with other amazing programming this summer. We hope to see you there!! Ha

Shoutout to Fire’s Youth Organizers Cohort, amazing local artists, and Fire staff this summer!! We had the pleasure of holding space with a youth activist, Indigo, who uplifts and supports many social justice efforts in the West Michigan area! Indigo held space with peers to share their activism journey so far and brought interactive activities centering Artivism to the space to support our cohort in finalizing their mural design. Fire’s current Artist in Resident, Kennedy, showed youth a sneak peek of her upcoming gallery event at Fire this Saturday and shared inspirational points to encourage youth to keep going in their art endeavors! We can’t wait to continue creating and continuing the mural process next week alongside the opportunity to hold space at the Clover Room on Tuesday July 16th 6-8pm for a youth led open mic with Edison Jazz Fest and a gallery walk! Check out the link in our bio to join the open mic list and to sign up to display your art work!
It is still not too late to join the cohort this summer and we would love to have you! Youth ages 13-21 years old are welcome to use the link in our bio to register for Y.O. or come to Fire to register on site :)

Join us Saturday July 13 for the WAACC - Washington Ave Art+Culture Crawl Move with Joy Level Up dancers will be performing at 1:30pm in the Parking Lot across the st. From Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative ! 🌟💞🌞

First to start us off we have Y.O which continues this Tuesday and Thursday. Y.O. is a youth-organized and lead place-based art program for ten youth ages 13-21. This year participants will be creating a mural on the building that represents what is “home” in the Edison neighborhood and to learn community organizing skills from a youth activist surrounding the genocide in Gaza. This will be facilitated by Chafe Hensley and other talented community artists, Mara and Shaqoua. Participants will have the opportunity to sell their art at our community swap meet and will receive a $150 stipend. Additionally, we will have an artist in the residency program going .kenn, who will also be assisting with the Y.O. Program. We still have SPOTS left so it's not to late REGISTER!!

We will be having our SLAM Programming being facilitated by at the Juvenile center this Wednesday!

This Thursday, July 12th we are honored to be tabling at the Black Arts and Cultural Center. So come on out and vist us, we will have a fun poetry activity. Plus informational flyer and good vibes, we hope to see you there!!

To finish us out we have The Free Community Swap Meet at the Washington Art Crawl. Hosted by Fire Arts Collaborative and the . July 13th from 12-4, come buy, sell, or trade used items and resources by exchanging or swapping. Sign up in advance with the QR code link and / or the link in the bio. Our Free Community Store will also be open during the swap meet!!
Also, don't forget to check out our artist in the residency's .kenn , showcase titled "IS THE GRASS GREENER?" during and after the swap meet on July 13th from 2 - 7 PM. That will be hosted in your open mic space!! Spread the word to family and friends for an amazing opportunity to connect with your community.

Happening next week!
https://facebook.com/events/s/show-up-write/901780611946883/

Closing out another joyful and creative week at Fire during Y.O. (Youth Organizers) Place Based Art summer program! Thank you to Fire’s staff & the teaching artists involved curating this space for youth to engage in Artivism and skills based in visual arts! We are returning next Tuesday and Thursday featuring a youth activist and are excited for the content they will be sharing with us! It is not too late to sign up and register for YO this summer if you are between the ages of 13-21 years old! Please visit our website and link in our bio for more information :)
Want to directly talk to someone at Fire about it? Dm this page or email [email protected]!

LASTLY…lock in July 16th on your calendars for a night of expression, music, and art at the clover room in the Jerico building!!! Open and free to all! Youth led and in collaboration with !

Free Community Swap Meet at the Washington Art Crawl. Hosted by Fire Arts Collaborative and the . July 13th from 12-4, come buy, sell, or trade used items and resources by exchanging or swapping. Sign up in advance with the QR code link and / or the link in the bio. Our Free Community Store will also be open during the swap meet!!
Also, don't forget to check out our artist in the residency's .kenn , showcase titled "IS THE GRASS GREENER?" during and after the swap meet on July 13th from 2 - 7 PM. That will be hosted in your open mic space!! Spread the word to family and friends for an amazing opportunity to connect with your community.

Heyy everyone jammed packed for y'all!! At FIRE!✨️💫

We are in full swing of our Y.O. Program. Which continues this Tuesday. Y.O. is a youth-organized and lead place-based art program for ten youth ages 13-21. This year participants will be creating a mural on the building that represents what is “home” in the Edison neighborhood and to learn community organizing skills from a youth activist surrounding the genocide in Gaza. This will be facilitated by Chafe Hensley and other talented community artists, Mara and Shaqoua. Participants will have the opportunity to sell their art at our community swap meet and will receive a $150 stipend. Additionally, we will have an artist in the residency program going .kenn, who will also be assisting with the Y.O. Program. We still have SPOTS left so it's not to late REGISTER!!

We also hope to see you at our next First Friday open mic this Friday, July 5th. Doors open at 5:30, and the show starts at 6. We are excited to showcase the talented

Mark your calendars for the Washington Art Crawl on Saturday, July 13th. We will be hosting a community swap meet in partnership with the Edison neighborhood association. More information will be available in a separate post coming soon!!

There is so much to do this week and month! We hope to see you there!
Have a grand and elevating day✨️🏄🏿‍♂️✨️