In alphabetical order below! Google calendar version & at menu
A radically different approach to living and learning, Free Skool Santa Cruz is a grassroots educational project beyond institutional control. It is an opportunity to learn from each other and share what we know, to foster communities of mutual support and autonomy.
Here’s information for 30+ classes of the 2024 Session of Free Skool Santa Cruz that goes from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox. And here’s link to website page with google calendar class information – https://freeskoolsantacruz.wordpress.com/free-skool-calendar/
In early August, we will open process for additional classes through autumn equinox. Please email questions to: freeskoolsantacruz@gmail.com
Here’s a downloadable hand drawn version of some of the Free Skool Santa Cruz classes (with more info to come). And download chronological list of classes for the other side! Note: info subject to change and please check FSSC online list for any updates.
-Aulinta: An Introduction to a Critical Utopia – Saturday, June 29th / 11am – 1pm AND Monday, July 8th / 6pm with Blaize Wilkinson (stblaize@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: The Aulinta Project is a multi-year social art practice, involving over 100 contributors. The project posits an alternate-present timeline, where decisions made in the 1970s have resulted in a nearly-post-scarcity, more decolonial, and more liberating world. This event will have the project founder, Blaize Wilkinson, give an introduction to the project, its history, its current status, its goals, and its future. Audience participation in the questions of goals and future will be solicited. Both past, current, and future participants are welcome and there will probably be something for nearly everyone?
Note: This event will take place inside. Masks are encouraged.
-Aulinta Tour: Flood of Memories – Friday, July 19th / 6:30 – 8pm with Blaize Wilkinson (stblaize@gmail.com)
Location: Meet at the Chestnut Street Entrance to Neary Lagoon
Description: The Aulinta Project is a multi-year art practice that imagines a parallel timeline for Santa Cruz, where many things are different. This tour takes place in that timeline. We will be exploring the floods, earthquake, fire, and opportunities for decolonization that made the town of Aulinta decide to move most buildings and infrastructure out of the floodplain. We will be imaginatively exploring the trauma and opportunities for healing that this complex urban planning project have afforded.
Accessibility: This is a walking tour. The planned route is not wheelchair accessible. It will mostly be on sidewalks, but we will be crossing railroad tracks, going over a dirt area, and going up a somewhat steep hill (on a sidewalk).
-Aulinta Tour: The Mission in an Decolonial and Anti-Genocide Era – Wednesday, August 14th / 6 – 8pm with Blaize Wilkinson (stblaize@gmail.com)
Location: We will meet in front of the Catholic church on Mission Hill.
Description: The Aulinta Project is a multi-year art practice that imagines a parallel timeline for Santa Cruz, where many things are different. This tour takes place in that timeline. We will be exploring the histories and legacies of the settler-colonial past and present in our town. We will look at what programs, ideas, and activities have worked (and not worked) to address and incorporate white complicity, and what we can do in the future to recognize and ameliorate the trauma of colonialism and genocide. We will end the tour at the Anti-Genocide Working Space and Museum (formerly a Mission barracks) and discuss the past and future of this innovative initiative.
Note: Before event recommended to read Martin Rizzo-Martinez’s “We Are Not Animals”
Accessibility: This tour will take place on city sidewalks with normal curb cuts. It is a walking tour, but there will be some places to sit down on, say, a brick wall.
-Bees! – Thursday, July 11th / 3:30pm with Olivia Sandoval (liv) (instagram @liverbugs email olivialovesbumblebees@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Learn about the life of bees, all that they do for us, and how to care for them through beekeeping.
-Bicycle Frame Bag Workshop – Sunday, June 23rd / 4 – 7pm with Kelly Archer (thebikechurch@gmail.com)
Location: The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Learn how to sew your own bicycle frame bag! Experienced biker-sewers will provide a pattern, instruction, and assistance as you sew your own custom frame bag. BYO-bike. Limited to 6 people max for sewing machine station (first come first serve for station, others can watch instruction). All materials will be provided. Donations welcome, but not required. Brought to you by The Fabrica and The Bike Church.
Requirements: a bike with space for a frame bag (e.g., no rear suspension), and experience with a sewing machine (visit Fabrica open hours on Saturday before event for intro).
Accessibility: Masks required at The Fabrica. Wheelchair accessible.
-Building Feminist Futures: Lessons from Palestinian and Kurdish Women’s Activism of the 1990’s – Saturday, July 20th / 1:30 – 3pm – with Ariella Patchen (ap73999@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Join in to learn about the role of women’s autonomous organizing within the Palestinian and Kurdish movements for liberation. While both movements began as Marxist-Leninist nationalist struggles, women’s increased participation would radically affect the emerging liberationist ideologies and practices. This was especially apparent in the early 1990’s as Palestinian and Kurdish women problematized their position in nationalist politics. Despite their participation in revolutionary politics, oppressive patriarchal gender dynamics persisted, ultimately leading Palestinian and Kurdish women to organize among each other. As we discuss these autonomous women’s spaces we will explore similarities and differences of Palestinian and Kurdish feminist struggle by examining the various social, economic, and political factors that shaped both struggles. We hope that by reflecting on the successes and failures of the Palestinian and Kurdish women’s movement we can open the space to build feminist solidarity in our own communities.
-Cyanotype printmaking workshop: Photography with the sun – Saturday August 3rd / 11am – 1pm with Giovanna (https://www.instagram.com/in2thetides)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Explore the cyanotype photographic printing process that creates a vibrant blue hued print. Utilizing pressed botanicals and other texturally interesting items, this workshop will provide an introduction to the technique. Join us as we create 2–3 one-of-a-kind prints on paper, materials provided.
Optional: Students can bring any botanicals they’d like to use on their prints.
Note: The workshop will be partially indoor and outdoors, so masking is optional.
-Ecological Literacy – Wednesday, June 26th / 10am with Angela (https://www.instagram.com/froggy.doll)
Location: Meet at Scotts Valley High School bus stop to walk together to the cougar stage – 555 Glenwood Drive,Scotts Valley, CA 95066
Description: Everywhere is a habitat! Come learn about insects and ecology with silly activities and feel free to come with your own nerdyness to share if you’d like.
Accessibility: 0.3 mile walk to the shaded stage including brief bumpy terrain, but we can go elsewhere if anybody prefers/needs!
-Exploring Feminine Rage – Thursday, July 11th / 6pm with Ariella Patchen (ap73999@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: This class will explore the idea of feminine rage through both theory and practice. We will spend the first half of class discussing the concept of feminine rage as taken up by various feminist writers such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Maria Lugones, etc. and within social movements like the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and the Zapatistas in Chiapas as we explore questions such as: how do women get to express anger? Which women can express anger? Where can this anger be expressed? What does feminine rage open up? and more. The second part of this class will be a collective engagement with our own experiences of rage through participating in improvisation techniques and mutual screaming.
Note: This class is open to anyone who identifies as fem, non-binary, and gender non-conforming.
Materials: I will have a google forms sign up sheet for students to register a week in advance for readings. Please bring a notebook, water, and a snack if you would like!
-Fábrica Open Hours – Saturdays / 2 – 5pm AND Sundays / 11am – 2pm (except 2nd Sunday) AND Mondays / 12 – 3pm with Fábrica Collective (thefabrica@thefabrica.org)
Location: The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: The Fábrica is a community workspace where folks can come to learn and share knowledge about textiles arts. This includes Sewing, Knitting, Quilting, Embroidery, Crochet, and Bookbinding, among others. The workshop is operated by volunteers and funded by donations from participants.
Materials: We have sewing machines as well as generous amounts of fabric, zippers, notions, and the other tools and supplies one needs for most sewing and yarn-based projects. There is no charge to use the shop, but please consider a $5-10 donation to help with our operating costs.
Accessibility: Classes will take place in the courtyard or shop space of the Fábrica. The shop and courtyard are level with the sidewalk, with no steps up or down. A flexible range of participation is available and no previous sewing experience is needed. If you want to participate in the hands-on part of the class, it involves sitting in a chair at a table for 10-15 minutes at a time, some manual dexterity, and moderate to high visual acuity. The class will use spoken English and there will not be a sign language interpreter but you can bring interpreters or support people of any kind you may need. The Fábrica is approximately 450 feet from the Metro Station downtown, with city sidewalks with regular curb cuts between the station and the Fábrica.
-Festival of Broken Needles – Wednesday, August 21st / 6pm with Blaize Wilkinson (stblaize@gmail.com)
Location: The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: This Festival is to honor and celebrate the pins and needles who did their work for us and are now bent and broken. We will be feeding them, lauding their strength, acknowledging their death-as-tools, and interring them underground. It’ll probably be real weird and you should come!
Accessibility: This will take place indoors and requires masks. At the end there will be a procession on regular city sidewalks, without curb cuts but with driveways that can be used like curb cuts though it means going in the street for 30 to 40 feet.
-Guinea Pig Care: The Queerest Pet – Saturday, August 3rd / 4pm with Juniper Brown (junipercavybrown@icloud.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Guinea Pig Care: The Queerest Pet will teach you a brief history of Guinea pigs and the foundations of Guinea pig husbandry, including habitat, diet, and socialization, in the most beginner-friendly form possible. With this knowledge, you can determine whether or not Guinea pigs are the appropriate animal for you to keep, or just learn a wealth of fun, new information.
Note: Masks are optional but advised.
-Hand Stitch Club – Friday, June 28th / 3 – 5pm AND Monday, July 15th / 5 – 7pm with Elaina (https://www.instagram.com/the_fabrica_)
Location: The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Hand Stitch Club! Social stitching circle for mending, hand quilting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, etc. bring your own project or find supplies at the shop.
Accessibility: there are no stairs at the Hub, but there are some small bumps at doorways. The doorways aren’t extremely wide, but do accommodate many wheelchairs. There is a restroom with grab bars. The shop has plenty of seating. The closest bus stops are Front & Spruce (2 blocks) and Laurel & Center (4 blocks), or about 0.5 miles from the Metro Center at Front & Soquel. Masking optional, masks provided.
-Herbal First Aid – Sunday, August 11th / 2 – 4pm with Hart & Zoe of SC Herbal Mutual Aid (scherbalmutualaid@gmail.com)
Location: Santa Cruz, exact location TBD (email for more info)
Description: We’ll share a zine with several common local herbs and some recipes to help you establish a basic herbal first aid kit. We’ll prepare 1 item in class together to take home.
Note: Mask required for accessibility. More accessible info to come. Please reach out with any specific access needs or to brainstorm how to accommodate!
-Intro to Bikes! – Wednesdays, June 26th & July 31st & August 28th / 6 – 8pm with with Kelly Archer (thebikechurch@gmail.com)
Location: The Bike Church, 703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Come learn about basic bike mechanics and maintenance! We will go over the fundamental systems of a bicycle (e.g., wheels, drive train, brakes) and practice basic repairs. Facilitators will tailor the session based on the interests of who shows up, so bring questions, or even better, your bike!
Note: wheelchair accessible, mask optional.
*** –Intro to Stick and Poke Tattooing – Tuesday, July 2nd / 10am – NOTE: rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances (likely rescheduled for later in session!)
-Knowledge & Society (Intro to Feminist Epistemology) – Wednesday July 31st / 6 – 9pm with Minh-Tu Van (minhtuv9@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: My class introduces the idea that you are a philosopher in virtue of living life! I’m just here to provide a space and some guidance on how to conceptualize and understand these experiences. In the class I will explain the aims of my course and what feminist epistemology is, then go into identity and its relation to how we acquire and develop knowledge, and finally explore the knowledge we deem as scientific. This class is intended to be informational and participatory and interactive. Let’s discuss, explore, and share together!
Materials: If you wanted, you could bring a pad and writing utensil for notes! I will also be getting an email list and will provide a dropbox of all the texts discussed in class. It’s NOT a requirement to read the text, I’m providing the text in case anyone wants to read further!
Note: Masks are appreciated but not required. If you are feeling sick, please opt out!
-Laughing Circle – Sunday, July 28th / 2:30pm with Ariella Patchen (ap73999@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Spread joy with fellow community members by joining in on a laughing circle. Participants will gather to laugh with one another and explore expressive practices of collective joy. We will engage with both our laughter and movements to release tension and build mutuality.
-Mending Party at the Fábrica – Sunday, August 25th / 2 – 6pm with Nina Berry (9aberry@gmail.com)
Location: The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: The Mending Party at the Fábrica is a free, collaborative event that will teach participants how to mend their clothes and other textile goods through hands-on individual instruction in a location accessible to many. I have hosted 4 mending parties out of my home since 2021 to great success (40+ participants at the Summer 2023 event), but the event has outgrown that location. The Mending Party at the Fábrica will be open to the general public, with special effort put toward engaging communities who might not have access to sewing and mending equipment otherwise. The Mending Party will also feature snacks, beverages, music and instructors (at least one Spanish speaking) who are able to help participants with their various mending projects.
Materials: Bring your clothes and other textile goods in need of mending.
Note: Masks are required inside the Fábrica, but most of the event will be held outdoors on the patio with masks optional. There will be a Spanish speaking facilitator at the event.
-Midsummer Eve Parade – Friday, August 2nd / 6 – 9pm with Mid-Summer Sprites (scmidsummer831@gmail.com)
Location: the Santa Cruz clock tower (downtown)
Description: Midsummer is a time associated with magic and fairies. It is said that the little folk (the elves and fairies) can be easily seen on Midsummer’s Eve because this is one of the days when the veil between the two worlds is thin and can be easily trespassed.
Let us convene an unruly rabble and careen in cacophonous frivolity through our town. We will convene at the Clocktower and end with a fire and gathering at Seabright beach.
Materials: If you feel so inspired, please bring: Costumes Banner or pennant Large puppets or mascots …or anything else you would like to add to the merriment.
Accessibility: Family friendly event. Please email us ahead of time if you need any special accommodations or with any other questions.
-Natural Plaster Work Party – Sunday, July 7th / meet at 9am and work/hang out until 5 or 6pm! with Rooney (alucidglue@gmail.com)
Location: We will meet in Boulder Creek town to caravan/carpool to off grid land further up in the mountains.
Description: Learn how to mix and apply earthen plaster to the interior walls of a strawbale/earthbag home. Lunch will be provided! AWD/4WD or carpooling is required – please email for details – alucidglue@gmail.com !
Materials: Gardening gloves and masks if they have them!
Note: The land is steep and there is a lot of uneven ground. We will consider wearing masks inside if attendance is over a few people, or if anyone attending requests that we do. Please reach out for special requests surrounding Covid or otherwise!
-Queer Radical Parenting Picnic in the Park – Sunday, July 7th / 3 – 5pm with Britini and rad queer friends and you (scouter_caches0m@icloud.com)
Location: Frederick Street Park – 168 Frederick St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Description: Are you seeking a broader community of queer & radical parents in the Santa Cruz area? Come join us at Frederick St. Park on Sunday July 7th for a potluck picnic in the park! We aim to fortify our network of parenting people, to share experiences, knowledge, resources, and most importantly, food! We especially welcome folks who are about to become parent – be it through pregnancy, adoption, or any other means of family making. Bring your kin & a potluck item to share if you’re feeling resourced.
Accessibility: Please bring blankets and chairs as needed. The park has restrooms and paved walkways with no steps. Please contact us if you have an accommodation request.
-*Queer Soccer Club! – Thursdays, July 11th & 18th / 5pm AND Sunday, July 21st / 10:30am with Hunter and Nicola and friends and you (meowkitten@duck.com)
Location: Frederick Street Park – 168 Frederick St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Description: We encourage everyone at any skill level, 18 and up to come try playing around with us a bit! We will have a couple days of practice (Thursday July 11th and 18th), followed by a game or little scrimmage on Sunday July 21.
We hope to start building a queer soccer team to play in a local adult league at some point!
Suggested: bring water and snacks, and good running around shoes and cleats or whatever gear you have… soccer ball if u got one 😉
Note: We probably won’t be wearing masks due to the heat and high exhurtion nature of the sport. If you think your sick wait till next time and maybe take a test in between if you can (also feel free to contact us to show your interest if you wanted to come but couldn’t because you were sick and/or wanted to be cautious… we really hope to meet you some time! <3)
-Really Really Free Market – Every second Sunday, July 14th, August 11th, September 8th / 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. with the Really Really Free Market Crew (SubRosa@riseup.net)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Tianguis Realmente Gratuito. Todo es gratis. No money. No trades. Everything is free. This gathering is not about the “stuff” we give and take, but more about how we can freely give and receive from each other. This is a form of anti-capitalist mutual aid where everyone is invited to participate and share care. ¡Todo gratis! No intercambio de dinero, no negocios, no trueques. Trae lo que gustes, toma lo que necesites. Este mercado gratuito es basado en una economía de regalar. Learn more about the Santa Cruz Really Really Free Market (RRFM) and RRFMs in general – go to linktree in bio https://instagram.com/rrfm_
-Solidarity in Resistance: The Palestinian, Armenian, and Kurdish Struggles Against Genocide – Sunday June 30th / 3 – 5pm with Rojava Solidarity Santa Cruz (https://www.instagram.com/rojavasc)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: In this discussion we will explore the interconnected struggles and shared histories of these marginalized groups facing oppression and conflict. Bring your questions and curiosity as we aim to deepen our understanding of the geopolitical forces at play and the resilience of the Palestinian, Kurdish, and Armenian communities. Together, we will gain a better understanding of the current historical situation and strategize ways to amplify their voices and support their fight for justice and human rights.
Note: Masks preferred.
-Soupshare – Tuesday, June 25th / 3:30pm with Angela & pals (https://www.instagram.com/froggy.doll)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA – aka Goth Denny’s aka Post-Punk IHOP aka New Wave Jeffrey’s aka Folk Punk Bea’s Koffee Kup
Description: Let’s build systems of interdependence and community! Come hangout at this potluck and share food together. Don’t feel like you have to bring anything though! Solidarity is not transactional. Outdoor and indoor space available with lots of seating options.
-Stronger Together – Sunday, August 18th / 10am with Alex (chmod000@gmail.com)
Location: Felton: Contact for location.
Description: Getting (physically) stronger can make you a more functional human. It will become easier to carry a baby, easier to help your friends move, and easier to defend yourself. It might also, over time, cure your back problem. We will squat, we will (safely) deadlift, we will press, and we will talk about general strategies for strength adaptation. This is a positive and safe space for all and all fitness levels.
I got excited about powerlifting when I spent a year training alongside roller derby athletes at a strength gym in 2017. People often associate “lifting weights” with Arnold Schwarzenegger style bodybuilding but there’s a completely different side to strength training that isn’t based on aesthetics and is 100% based on functional strength.
Note: Class is held in a semi-outdoor gym. Please do not come if you are sick.
-Why Knot? A Knot-Tying Class – Saturday, July 27th / 10am – 12pm with Will Parrish (willparrish2016@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: We’ll practice tying several basic knots for outdoor use, and, just as importantly, we’ll overview when to use them! We will cover the clove hitch, bowline, trucker’s hitch, taut line, double figure 8, and alpine butterfly – and more if there’s time. Students are invited to bring their own rope, twine, etc. I will provide enough for everyone to use, though.
Note: We will meet outside; bring a mask if you wish.
-WTF! (women, trans, femme) Bike Days – Every Tuesday / 5 – 8pm with WTF Bike Church mechanics (thebikechurch@gmail.com)
Location: The Bike Church, 703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: We will be open to anyone identifying as female, trans, femme, non-binary and gender-queer ❤ if you do not identify as any of the above, come by the shop a different day! Note: The Bike Church is a community bicycle shop and tool collective where people can learn to repair their bicycles with the help of knowledgeable mechanics. https://bikechurch.santacruzhub.org/
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***Members of the SubRosa collective are involved in this revived and not entirely new, not all too different version of Free Skool Santa Cruz – a project in mutual aid learning and sharing. And SubRosa/the Hub is a site of a significant amount of classes (although not all!). More info about SubRosa at http://www.subrosaproject.org/ and the Hub at http://www.santacruzhub.org/
Free Skool Santa Cruz 