After meeting so many great people with great ideas around the bay, Soul Graffiti is determined to help in the process of drafting a memorandum for sustainable living communities that are artist run and a platform for the future ideas that we know we can create NOW, today. Below is a rough idea so far. Please leave a comment about what you would have in a community along these lines. We are looking for a rent to own situation for a collective in the next few years. Please help make this happen by adding your ideas.

The Small Idea:

A bay area based community focused on low income housing for an artist run collective, focusing on sound, visuals, and sustainable living practices. The idea is to allow artists to have a venue platform for debuting radical work, as well as a living situation that is exceptional with low overhead so that artists can be less profit driven and more consciously create their art from the perspective they choose.

Ideally a goal would be to have housing units, rooms going for $300-$800 per month, averaging closer to $400 per room.
Goals:

-local food growth
-off the grid power, and/or feeding the system power
-rain water catchment and grey water system in place

Ideally some separate units would be great, as to focus energy on performance space vs. living space, as well as common space vs. private space. As well, it would be great to have some alternative architecture practices, such as cob, straw bale, rammed earth.

The performance space would be run somewhere between the Revolution Cafe and the Red Poppy. Artist run platform like the Red Poppy, but also having the open doors vibe of the Revolution Cafe. Ideally a bit larger space that can hold a crowd of 250 capacity.

Day times could be used for teaching music, dance, and other cultural creative ideas including food classes, yoga classes, and spreading the knowledge on how to create more bubbles of revolution work such as the spot: “Paradito”! – Short for ‘little paradise’

June – 2012. Label, Soul Graffiti, starts by making an artist run Label, for and by the musicians here in San Francisco. Outreach in the community from large venue shows to street busking outreach. Making literature and a game plan for the future of San Francisco, starting with the arts and expressions, and reaching to liveable goals for all of us in the Bay Area.

Consensus Run Collective –

1) By incorporating the clearest thinking of all partners, consensus increases the likelihood of new, better, and more creative decisions.

2) Because all have participated in its formation, everyone has a stake in implementing decisions.

3) Consensus diminishes the possibility that a minority will feel that an unacceptable decision has been imposed on them.

4) Consensus safeguards against ego/adversary attitudes, uninformed decision-making, “rubber stamping” of decisions, coercion, self-interested, mistrust, and half-hearted agreements.

Vision Documents: Vision, Mission, and Goals

1) Vision: Shared future we want to create

2) Mission: What we’ll be doing to create it

3) Goals: Shorter-term milestones we commit to

Vision Statement: Vision Articulated Briefly