Artists, musicians, mutual aid volunteers and community members gathered on Saturday at First Church UCC for the first-ever “Semi-Annual Good Bad Taste Art Show.”
“We actually named it that as sort of a joke, so that we could have it as often … as we want,” said Andrew Webster, who organized the event alongside Logan Lowrey and Nocturnal the Poet.
A chorus of laughter, acoustic guitar and soft clacking filled the church’s courtyard as the sun began to set.
The clacking came from DJ Leary, a poet seated at a small table with a typewriter.
“It’s improv poetry,” he said. “Someone will give me a word or a topic to write on – it could be broad, it could be specific — and then I’ll kind of just riff, you know, write a poem on the spot.”
Alongside Leary, a variety of mutual aid groups surrounded the courtyard, giving out pamphlets and explaining their cause to anyone who would listen.
“Publicizing anarchy at a church!” exclaimed one older woman at the Phoenix Anarchist Federation table. “I love that.”
The Federation, which has only been around for about six months, describes itself as anti-capitalist, anti-private property and pro-decarceration, among other things.
“Really the group is just to get people connected with all the other mutual aid groups around Phoenix,” said Durruti, a founding member of the Federation who declined to share their last name. “It’s not too important if those things happen under our name, as long as they happen. The goal is just to get everyone working together.”
Other mutual aid groups represented at the art show included The Sidewalk Project, which aims to help create community and wellness for houseless people; the Southwest Center, which provides affordable health care to queer and LGBTQIA2S+ individuals; and Feed Phoenix, an organization that aims to end food and housing insecurity in Phoenix.
Also around the edge of the courtyard, local artists sold paintings, zines (small, self-published DIY magazines) and other hand-made items.
“I feel really passionate about Feed Phoenix and The Sidewalk Project,” said Leigh Richard, an artist who grew up with food insecurity and was selling poetry, zines and drawings. “I’m trying to get more involved.”
(As a queer person, Richard’s smallest zine, “Queer is not a DiRTY word,” being sold for only a dollar, was particularly impactful for me.)
Initially, the event was set to take place in January but was rescheduled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Flyers advertising the “Good Bad Taste Art Show” requested that attendees wear masks and bring proof of vaccination, but no one was checking people as they came in and many remained maskless at the outdoor event.
Access to the outside portion of the “Good Bad Taste Art Show” was free, but admission to the indoor live music and poetry portion was $10. All proceeds from ticket sales were donated to Feed Phoenix.
“We are focused on changing the culture in the city of Phoenix, surrounding how the city supports us,” said Half Brickley, a volunteer with Feed Phoenix. “We spend a fair amount of our time in the streets bringing support directly to folks who live in encampments.”
Three times a week, Feed Phoenix volunteers go directly to the same three places around the city to “share a wide range of support, including food, clothing, ice, water, bus passes, HIV testing — all kinds of stuff,” according to Brickley.
Organizer Andrew Webster estimates that about 35 people bought tickets to watch the six poets and two musicians perform inside, which would be $350 donated to Feed Phoenix.
Webster was also a part of the lineup.
“I’m a writer … I chose to perform, in one go, an entire essay I wrote that I’d never performed before,” they said. “We did not ask anything specific of any performer. We just gave them a [ten minute] time slot.”
The art show wasn’t the only thing being celebrated at First Church UCC on Saturday.
Just around the corner was the grand reopening of the “I Have a Dream” boutique: a free clothing boutique open to all but specifically aimed at helping transgender folk experiencing homelessness.
The boutique is run by Rebel & Divine, a community designed to be a safe place for at-risk youth and young adults.
“Because of COVID, the whole operation shut down,” said Krome Kakani, a volunteer watching over the boutique.
“I used to go to this youth center … and some of the youth there were like, ‘hey, you should come to Rebel & Divine,’” she said. “Ever since then, Rebel & Divine has been part of my life and my transition from street living to [a] sober way of life… Rebel & Divine has a really special place in my heart.”
Going forward, the boutique will be open for business one day a week, most likely Wednesdays.
“Jesus didn’t reject anyone neither do we,” read a sign in First Church UCC’s courtyard.
It was the perfect place to host an art show and boutique helping those with food and housing insecurity.
Contact the reporter at avsinger@asu.edu.
Send tips, story ideas and press releases about the downtown Phoenix arts and entertainment scene to news@downtowndevil.com!
Amber Victoria Singer is a second-year student at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication pursuing a degree in journalism with a minor in sustainability. Along with being a staff reporter for Downtown Devil, she hosts a weekly DJ shift and music show on ASU's student radio station, Blaze Radio, and interns at KJZZ. In her limited free time, Amber likes to roller skate, thrift and drink extra sweet iced caramel lattes.
