BloomBlog

Getting ready for tonight, I thought I’d share some of the surprise additions with you. Shantell Martin, the famous illustrator of Auras is coming in from Japan; BloomBars’ all stars Zimm and Loide will join the lineup; Jason Jasper just flew in from the Bay to hold the house down; and last night Charles Jean-Pierre brought by some amazing Obama inspired paintings that will be on display.Glad to hear so many of you are out there door knocking today. There’s nothing like a little face-to-face communication to break through the Fox News box.

See you tonight!

jc

Hello Friends and Neighbors,

Thanks to all of you who came out to the Fourth Bloom of Bloom on Saturday October 4th. It was an inspiring night with some amazingly talented artists and musicians. The great news is that we raised more than $5,000 (Thanks to an anonymous matching donor) and several boxes of food for hurricane victims in Haiti. Special thanks to Loide, Wayna, Kuku, Zimm, Ayanna Gregory, Kush, DOS, and Jason Jasper for lending their musical gifts; Charles Jean Pierre, for donating his art; and of course Regan, Kodi, Hezues, Jason and Adeela for helping to organize.

The need is still great in Haiti and will be for sometime. If you would like to donate food or $$ there is still time, please email us at info@bloombars.com. Yesterday AME-SADA executive director Robert Nicolas and I met with Chef Jeff Henderson of the Food Channel. Chef Jeff heard about our efforts and has offered to lend his voice and culinary talent to the cause. We’ll keep you posted as that develops.

Videos and photos should be up on Boombars.com sometime next week. Without betraying our spontaneity, I can tell you that November 1st will be a special day. Stay tuned. Thanks again for your support. And don’t forget. You Bloom. We Bloom.

jc

Hello Friends and Neighbors,

I want to thank those of you who were able to come to the Third Bloom of BloomBars. Every bloom has been special since we opened our doors on June 25th, but Saturday night stood out for its magic, energy, and a band that made you dance and touch your heart and consciousness at the same time.

Ramia Badris brought her cheerful smile, and through her vivid and powerful art (that will remain for sale for the next two weeks until she goes back to school), connected us to the beauty and harsh realities of her native Iraq.

Guitars in hand, Sarah Friedrich and Zimm were an amazing duo on the sidewalk and individual forces on the microphone–with background images eerily mirroring their words to music video effect (That was not planned!).

And did I mention the Makepeace Brothers? If you missed it, that’s their real last name. With their “Vote With Your Dollar” campaign, this peace loving band for the 21st Century is sure have a positive impact on the world and inspire us to be mindful of our own impact on the environment. Makepeace Bothers’ self-titled album is a must buy and available on their website www.makepeacebrothers.com . We definitely have these guys back soon. Oh, and can’t forget Makepeace childhood friend Regan Carver who played with the band for the first time and lit it up on the sax!

Again, thank you for joining us, for hugging a stranger on request, for dancing, and for taking the time to sign our email list; If you are not on the list, please do so on our website bloombars.com. Soon we will begin to  provide you with regular updates on our expanding programming and a little advance notice of the next bloom. If at any time you want off the list please let us know, no worries, you can still be a part our growing neighborhood family.

And we are growing…with you, the artists, activists, and change agents we celebrate at 3222 11th Street. You can’t miss it….it’s marked with our mantra…You Bloom. We Bloom.

BB

btw, we’ve got a great recap video of the evening on the website and we plan to post additional interviews and performances periodically, so keep checking back.