What’s a Summer Commune?
It’s a diverse &
temporary intentional community. It’s like summer camp but with more potlucks
and no curfew. It’s a utopian social experiment.
Summer Commune will
bring an assortment of people to a small town for two months, where
participants will collaborate & work independently to create new art, new
media, new technology, and new ideas for a new society. Summer Commune provides
attendees with an audience, potential collaborators, and an existential support network. We hope that Summer
Commune proves another world is possible, and that the alternative can be
freeing and just as much fun.
Why are we doing this?
The talent in the
community we build over each summer could incubate the next stellar start-up,
be an opportunity to meet future coworkers, or inspire the next band, novel,
web series, or film. And the conversations this experiment encourages will
inform how we live when Summer Commune is over.
We are over the idea
of starving for our art. We are over being alienated from nature and each
other. We want to live in communities where our friends live, but we’re priced
out of neighborhoods that gentrify in 10 seconds, and gentrification makes us
feel weird, anyhow. We want to live in great communities that we can also
afford; our plan is to go somewhere new, together, and to make cool happen
wherever we are. (See: This still sounds like gentrification.)
Who should come to Summer Commune?
This is a community
built by academics, architects, bakers, bloggers, chefs, designers, DJs,
farmers, gardeners, inventors,
musicians, potters, painters, philosophers, and political organizers, poets, producers, visionaries,
radicals, spiritualists, students, teachers, travelers, technologists, and visual
artists, writers, and also urban planners.
Summer Commune is
for anyone who wants an alternative.
If you can work
virtually, you can Summer Commune. The project lasts two months, so it’s not
like you have to quit your job. Start
ups and small work teams can relocate temporarily (lease your NY office space,
save on overhead), or perhaps you already freelance from home. A sympathetic
boss might let you work remotely for the summer (telecommuting can even save
the company money). We’ll be moving somewhere with strong broadband
connectivity.
This is a project in
flux; we're constantly seeking new collaborators, storytellers, and iterations.
Where is Summer Commune?
Summer Commune is
right now through August 15 in lovely Moscow, Idaho!
Have a suggestion
for Summer Commune 2013? Email us!
What will we do all summer?
At Summer Commune
you can record your next album, write your novel, develop your website, grow
your own produce, practice yoga, finish your dissertation—whatever you want to
do! Though most days and
nights will be unstructured, we'll definitely be planning potlucks, parties,
sporting events, skill exchanges, time banks, salons, happenings, readings,
concerts, field trips, and fun times. We’ll have weekly
meetings to discuss community issues & to plan events together. Both local &
visiting Communers are encouraged to suggest/plan/realize their own events. (See: How can I help?)
Like anywhere else,
the summer will be what you make of it. How you choose to participate is up to
you.
Where will we all live?
Summer Commune is
not a physical space -- participants find housing on their own via Craigslist,
AirB&B, and other online resources. Use the For Communers Only
Facebook page to find a roommate, find a rental, or share tips about
relocating to the area. If you live in the area and would like to visit, send
us an email.
Why would I want to leave Bushwick/Echo Park/The Mission/East Van/Hackney?
“The rent is too
damn high!” in The Mission, Capitol Hill, or wherever you’re paying a premium
to live.
Outrageous rents are
the result of a system that rewards greed over people. When our privileged
community gets priced out of previously-undesirable-turned-trendy neighborhoods
and moves into cheaper, currently less desirable ones, the process often displaces
poorer communities of color who already live there. Underground dive bars pave
the way for gourmet cupcake shops that turn into Starbucks franchises.
We are following the national migration
trend of moving back to the center of the country because it costs less to
live there, and we’re not expecting anyone to make a permanent change.
This still sounds like gentrification.
Though Summer
Commune is great for local economies & tourism, its brevity (only 2
months!) prevents it from impacting small towns in lasting negative ways. We do
hope, however, that our ideas linger. Our goal is to integrate with good will
into the community that exists, not to impose ourselves upon it.
What are your politics?
We love personal freedom but we’re a lot more Abbie Hoffman than Ayn Rand.
How long will Summer Commune last?
Two months. Summer Commune 2012 started June 1 and ends August 15.
Can I come for a week, a weekend, or just a month?
Yes! We understand
that not everyone can make a commitment to the full summer, so we’ve made it
possible to accommodate weekend guests and short-term visitors. But the longer
you can stay the better! If you live in the area and want to visit, email us.
Is this a cult?
Yes, but it's better
than the one that makes you work too hard for not enough money to be able to
live around the corner from your friends.
How can I help or become involved?
We’re excited that this is all happening, and that you want to be part of it!
Our goal for this summer is to connect Communers with each other, as well as with like-minded people in Moscow, Pullman, and Palouse. Check out our calendar for the time & location of the next Open Meeting & other events.
We can't do it alone! Get involved by planning an event.
So you’re coming out to Summer Commune with your magic show/reptiles seminar/dance party/knitting workshop and don’t exactly know how to make it happen? We can help you with that. We can help you find a place, a date, and any other resources you need to make a successful event go down.
Send us an email with the following information you need, and we can help you set it up.
- EVENT NAME
- DESCRIPTION
- WHEN DO YOU WANT IT?
- WHAT KIND OF SPACE DO YOU NEED?
- WHAT MATERIALS DO YOU NEED?
- HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU EXPECTING?
- DOES THIS EVENT RECUR?
DONATE
Help us get off the
ground with a donation through Paypal:
MEDIA
If you’re a journalist, write about us!
If you’re a blogger, blog or reblog us!
If you have contacts at a blog or a magazine, let them know about us!
Background photo credit: Robert Ashworth (via Flickr)
