SubRosa – a community space

In November, we welcome the acrylic on canvas work of Russell Brutsche to SubRosa’s walls.   Santa Cruz artist Russell Brutsche loves socio-cultural ironies.  Works such as those in his recent show “Unlawful Gatherings” make painfully apt juxtapositions that expose the social injustice of our everyday world.

One of his images shows Jesus of Nazareth chasing away very contemporary money changers from the temple, only to be descended upon by a heavily armed SWAT team. Another shows the Nativity taking place in what might be considered a modern-day manger, under the Highway 1 overpass at the San Lorenzo River.  Other paintings prominently feature images of treesits, hobo campfires, and trains.

Brutsche has been painting since early childhood, later studying under Eric Oback, Robert Freimark (student of Henri Matisse) and Sam Richardson, graduating with scholarship honors in 1968.  He has been in numerous one-person and group shows throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and in Colorado, Arizona and Japan.  Brutsche currently participates each October in Santa Cruz Open Studios, and other shows throughout the year.

“I’ve been impatient with the art world,” said Brutsche. “Artists really have a responsibility to speak out against social injustice. Instead, artists have become small businessmen. I know if I would leave out some of that social commentary, the likelihood would be a lot greater that my work would be hanging over someone’s couch.”

The Art of Russell Brutsche
Opening Reception
Friday November 6th 5pm
SubRosa, 703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

SubRosa and Guerilla Drive-In Present

Bread and Roses

A benefit for Ped X friends, whose office
was broken into 4 times in 2 months

Friday October 16th at 7:30
in the SubRosa courtyard, 703 Pacific Ave.
$5-$10 donation (no one turned away)

Jesse James Forrey, 27, was one of over 800 people arrested at the RNC protests in the Twin Cities in September 2008. He has spent the past year in Minneapolis waiting for the state to schedule his trial, while maintaining his innocence of this crime. In August 2009, he was found guilty of felony damage to property in the first degree. On September 17, he will return to court to be sentenced.

Jesse is a friend, a brother, a musician and artist, writer and student, teacher and dog lover from Santa Cruz. He spends his time helping raise his friends’ children, playing the banjo, taking and offering classes through Free Skool Santa Cruz, and volunteering his time to help create healthy communities. He has continued similar work while in Minneapolis, working with children and supporting other RNC arrestees. The past year has been difficult and Jesse says “not a day, not a single day…. have I not thought about the West Coast, my friends and my family. The struggle inside of me to accept that I can not be with them, the distance and sadness has made this one of the hardest times of my life. And I have done nothing wrong. I am not even accused of hurting anyone, yet my life has been irrevocably altered.”

In total, 818 people were arrested during the RNC. Over 100 people, including Jesse, were charged with felonies on the first day of the protest alone. The prosecutor’s office is still pursuing charges wherever they can in an attempt to justify the exorbitant amount of Keep reading →

How much is 4000 acres? Seeing it on the map and comparing it to last summer’s relatively small Bonny Doon/Martin Rd. fire is staggering. Realizing that the fire is as large as the entirety of Bonny Doon — or put another way, as large as all …of Boulder Creek, Brookdale, and Ben Lomond combined — is mind-blowing.

Lockheed Fire, 14 August 2009. 4000 acres. 5% contained. Orange = current Lockheed fire, Gray = last years Martin Rd fire, Yellow = evacuation area. Source and current info: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_maps?incident_id=361

It started me thinking how our political ideals play out in real life. As independent or federated communities, how would we deal with such a situation? And why wait for an anarchist utopia? What can we do now to be helpful and support communities that are in need now?

TEMPORARY HOUSING NETWORK FOR FIRE EVACUEES

In that vein, we created a network to help evacuees find housing at SubRosa in downtown Santa Cruz.

• Offer Housing: If you have temporary housing — a spare room, a couch, a backyard in which to pitch a tent — to offer, come down to SubRosa and list it on the board.
• Evacuees: If you are seeking temporary housing, use the housing list at SubRosa to find a place.

We’ll be looking at other ways we can help out during the fire, so stay tuned.  More info at http://subrosaproject.org