Part of creating a new world is resistance to the old one. Through this project, we want to contribute to changing the ways we learn and the ways we relate to each other. It is an opportunity to learn from each other and share what we know, to foster communities of mutual support and autonomy.
Our fall calendar goes from October 15th to December 15th. And we have more classes to add to the fall session and are busy compiling missing info! Please email questions to: freeskoolsantacruz@gmail.com
See google calendar of classes after this alphabetical list and here!
-Become a Juggler – Sunday, October 30th / 1 p.m. with Circus Family on the Road (circusfamilyontheroad@yahoo.com – 619-863-9025 – www.instagram.com/circusfamilyontheroad)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: With very simple material (rice, plastic bags and balloons) we will build our own balls and learn to juggle with a very simple method!
Materials: Rice – little plastic bags (3 each one) – balloons (6 each one)
-Bike Church Youth Hours – Wednesdays / 2– 6 p.m. (Repeats weekly) with Bike Church Mechanics (thebikechurch@gmail.com)
Location: The Bike Church
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Youth Wrench-N-Ride at the Bike Church:
-learn to fix your bike
-earn a bike
-free helmets and locks
-bike safety training
-bike rides
-free snacks and drinks
-Boardgames and Cardgames: Wizard War – Wednesday, October 19th / 12:30 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: Grant St Park Benches – 150 Grant St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Come play boardgames and such! Featuring a card game called wizard war.
Materials: No required materials but bring boardgames to play if you want! A deck of cards or more to share is great.
-Budgeting basics (capitalism sucks!) – Saturday, November 19th / 4 – 5 p.m. with Peter (Peterdeandiz@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Learn the basics of finance management and budgeting using Google sheets, excel, and other tools! Learn what a budget is, how to navigate it, and how to plan out your monthly and yearly costs consistently and accurately. Capitalism sucks!
Materials: Bring a laptop or some paper/pens!
-Building through the Cracks: Practices of Community Making – Saturdays November 5th, 12th, and 19th / 2 p.m. with Ariella Patchen (ap73999@gmail.com)
Location: Tabby Cat Cafe, 1101 Cedar St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: This class will explore the possibilities of building otherwise worlds through engaging with radical movements that organize around autonomy and direct democracy through practices of radical social transformation. Inspired by the Zapatista language of making cracks in the walls of the state/capital/colonial nexus, we will discuss how we can imagine and create alternative communities in our own spaces by looking at practices of autonomous governance, transformative justice mechanisms, cooperatives/alternative economies, and the building of women’s spaces in various social movements.
Materials: I will send out readings by email.
-Building Your Herbal Apothecary – Saturday, November 12th / 11 a.m. with Magic Nocks (madeleinelkeller@gmail.com)
Location: Grant St Park – 150 Grant St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Let’s talk about how you can build up a stash of herbal medicines to confidently use as home remedies! We’ll go over thinking about what kinds of remedies you need/want, sourcing your herbs, getting more comfortable working with herbs, and getting started making medicine. Bring a notebook and any herbal medicine you’ve made or that you love to use! Hot tea will be provided.
Materials: Bring a notebook and any herbal medicine you’ve made or that you love to use!
-Community Building to Beat Winter Blues – Monday, December 12th / 6 – 7p.m. with Magic Nocks (madeleinelkeller@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Winter can be an isolating time – but it doesn’t have to be! This gathering will include a short discussion on affinity groups, skillshare groups, and the other many different possibilities of getting together during winter. Following that, class participants will explore possibilities/interest in setting up small groups of this nature for the rest of the winter. This class’s idea is loosely based off ideas in Inhabit and may appeal to folks who like that publication.
-Cop watching – Tuesday, October 25th / 5 p.m. with frog (Copwatch number 831-217-3442)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: A basic intro to filming and observing cops to prevent, document, and rally against violence done by police.
Materials: No materials needed! Feel free to bring any zines or things youd like to share though.
-Daisy chains and family dinner potluck – Tuesday, November 15th / 5 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Come eat together and share stories about the food you (optionally) brought whether made or store bought! We will also have plants to make daisy chains with and teach ya how :^)
Materials: Bring food if you can and flower-shaped things for chains if you’d like!! Some will be provided.
-Drag Workshop – Monday, November 7th, 21st, 28th, 5th, 12th / 5:30 – 8 p.m. with RoxyMoron (Instagram: @roxxy.moron)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: An open forum for people that do/want to do drag to get together, exchange ideas, practice performing or work on making outfits together! I also envision at least one of the sessions as a group trip to a thrift store (or similar). I don’t really like the idea of calling it a “class” or myself a “teacher”, because art is so subjective, but I think it would be fun to facilitate a program like that so people can do it collectively and all share knowledge and experience 🙂
Materials: Nothing required, but if you are working on anything for your own drag art, you should bring it!
-Fábrica Open Hours – Saturdays / 2-5 p.m. and Mondays / 1-4 p.m. 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 Fabrica. 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 Fabrica is approximately 450 feet from the Metro Station downtown, with city sidewalks with regular curb cuts between the station and the Fabrica.
-Fall Creek Plant Walk – Tuesday, November 1st / 3 p.m. or bus with me from Metro downtown Santa Cruz at 1:55 p.m. sharp! with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: 3 p.m. at a church parking lot 6869 Hwy 9, Felton or Bus-pool from santa cruz metro at 1:55 p.m.
Description: Walk through fall creek and identify local plants!
Materials: Nothing needed but iNaturalist app is helpful! Bring any knowledge to share.
-Fourth Friday Open Mic – Fridays, October 28th, November 25th (canceled) / 6 p.m. with Rip Florence (projector.collector@gmail.com)
Location: The Ugly Mug CoffeeHouse, 4640 Soquel Dr, Soquel, CA
Description: NOTE: Friday November 25 canceled – go next month though! This NEW Open-Mic at the Ugly Mug Coffeehouse in Soquel (on the Fourth Friday of every month) will encourage Beginner singer-songwriters, poets, spoken-word artists to share their craft in front of a supportive audience. Those who attended the Songwriting and Poetry Free Skool classes are encouraged to come and share their creative development amongst community. Hosted by Rip Florence. LGBTQ+ / BIPOC safe(r) space.
-Getting into Foreign Cinema – Sundays, November 13th, 20th, 27th and December 4th / 4 – 5 p.m. with Taylor Gorman (Yimyamet@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Outside of class, we will watch movies on Kanopy, which is a free streaming service you can access with your local library card. We will watch a movie before each class, ranging from French New Wave to the cinema of Japan and India, and then talk about how these works fit into cinema history and influence.
Materials: Just a library card and a Kanopy account with it.
-Horror, Feminism, Anti-Capitalism in the film The Babadook – Sunday, November 27th / 7 p.m. with Johanna Isaacson (johannais68@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: The class will consist of a short talk by the instructor, a film showing, and follow-up discussion derived from the instructor’s book Stepford Daughters: Weapons for Feminists in Contemporary Horror. We will explore feminist and anti-capitalist themes in The Babadook and discuss how recent horror films help us understand transformations in how heteropatriarchal capitalism works and how we can fight back. This is a one-off class, but if the instructor hopes to offer more classes this summer.
-Intro to Astrology: the Zodiac (NOTE: CLASS RESCHEDULED UNTIL THE FUTURE) – Sunday, October 23rd / 2 – 4 p.m AND… with Kat – Loophole Astrology (loopholeastrology@gmail.com, @loophole.astrology – Instagram)
Location: Ocean View Park, 102 Ocean View Ave, Santa Cruz, CA (weather permitting)
***Class rescheduled since good fortune smiled upon Kat and they won’t be available for this class meeting. Rescheduled for some future time!
Description: Learn astrology from a local queer astrologer! This class will have 4 meeting times throughout the Fall session. We will be unpacking a chunk of the zodiac each meeting, culminating in exploring our own birth charts together. This is an entry level class with no previous astrology knowledge required- though those who are more well-versed will also enjoy the course and deepen their study!
Materials: Obtain your birth info if possible (date, time, location) so you can bring in your charts!
-Kandiaronk and the Indigenous Critique of Europe – Wednesday, November 23rd / 5 p.m. with Stefania Cotei (stefaniacotei@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Learn about the untold history of how the Enlightenment draws its roots in the knowledge exchange between indigenous Americans and European colonizers. Did you know that not only did indigenous Americans often travel to Europe as diplomats, but also heavily critiqued the European way of life, social organization, and political and economic structures? By reflecting on the story of Wendat philosopher and statesman, Kandiaronk, as written by David Graeber and David Wengrow in their book, “The Dawn of Everything,” we will explore how concepts of communism, anarchism, equality, and freedom came to be part of the conversation throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Kandiaronk class is the Wednesday right before “Thanksgiving” because it’s a story about indigenous knowledge and influence, and I thought it was fitting and timely.
-Knots 101 – Friday, November 18th / 6 – 9 p.m. with Phoenix
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Learning the basics of knot tying, with opportunity to practice. Introduction will also include basic terminology and learning/reference resources. Will not include splicing.
Materials: If you have it, bring rope or heavy cordage to practice with. I have a limited amount that I can provide.
-Learn to DJ – Saturday, November 19th / 3 – 6 p.m. with Bryan Mitchell (909-461-5226)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: A beginners course on how to DJ.
Materials: Students should provide their own usb stick with their music on it.
-Let’s Chat About It – Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed – Wednesday, November 2nd / 6 – 8 p.m. with Fernanda (fepini@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Come for an informal discussion on Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It will be a space for us to engage with the text, share our thoughts, and have a conversation about education, equity, and justice. Please contact in advance if you need access to a copy of the book. fepini@gmail.com
Materials: Read as much as you can of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. If you have a hard copy of the book, bring it with you! Please contact me if you’re unable to obtain a copy, please contact me.
-Let’s Make More Buttons! – Sunday, TBA with Jacín (full.moon.rising.tides@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: I’m very fond of buttons – the round badges that you can pin to so many things! And I like making them. And I enjoy hanging out with folk. So let’s do all of this together! I’ll bring a couple of button makers and supplies and we can make buttons and share them with each other.
Materials: Bring ideas / images / and I’ll come prepared so just bringing yourself is great too!
-Let’s Talk About It with Fern – State of Brazilian Democracy and the 2022 Presidential Election – Tuesday, October 25th / 6 – 8 p.m. with Fernanda & Livia (fepini@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Informal chat about the current state of Brazilian democracy and its contentious 2022 presidential election. Brazil is the largest democracy in Latin America and, like the rest of the world, it is seeing the ascension and establishment of an ultra-conservative reactionary government. Jair Bolsonaro, aka Trump of the Tropics, is seeking reelection and his party was able to secure several Senate seats in the first round of elections on Oct. 2nd. A run-off election to choose the next Brazilian president will happen on Oct. 30th. Livia and Fernanda are Brazilian and hoping to host a space for folks to discuss, share experiences, and exchange ideas about what is going on in Brazil at the moment.
-Liberating Life Reading Group – TBD / 6 p.m. with Ariella and David of Rojava Solidarity Santa Cruz ( rojavasolidaritysantacruz@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Hosted by Rojava Solidarity Santa Cruz, this 3 week class will focus on reading through the text “Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution” by Kurdish leader and militant Abdullah Öcalan. In this important text Öcalan emphasizes the historical, social, political, religious, and material conditions that have enabled the enslavement, oppression, and exploitation of women through patriarchal domination. As we engage with Öcalan’s writing we hope to highlight the ways in which Öcalan theorizes the liberation of women as the foundation for the liberation of all- if women are not free, society cannot be free. Join us as we not only talk through Öcalan’s writing, but also explore what women’s revolution in Kurdistan looks like and imagine what shapes combating patriarchy can take within our own communities. You can find the text through the following this link:https://www.freeocalan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/liberating-Lifefinal.pdf
Following the end of our reading session, we invite you to learn more about Kurdish women’s struggles through screening the film Gulistan, Land of Roses (2016), on Friday, October 28th at 6:30 p.m. at SubRosa.
-Mini Freeschool – Wednesday, November 9th / 1 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Do you have skills you were reluctant to hold a whole freeschool on? Come share them together and brainstorm potential classes for the future!
Materials: Bring anything you’d like to help you teach or learn with!
-Neary Lagoon Plant Mapping – Thursday, October 20th / 2 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: Meet at London Nelson Park (301 Center St, Santa Cruz, CA) pingpong tables to walk to Neary Lagoon
Description: We will be looking for plants to map out and peek at in Neary Lagoon!
Materials: Nothing needed to bring but iNaturalist app is great and helpful!!
-Off Menu Press presents: Radical zine making – Thursday, November 17th / 1 p.m. (subject to slight variation*) with Rebecca Gross (contact@offmenupress.com)
Location: Meet at the base of UCSC campus by the ‘UC Santa Cruz’ sign – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: This course will be a miniature-zine-making workshop and discussion about the radical potential of zine-making. Off Menu Press will briefly share selected snippets of a history of zine-making, and the power it has had on political and social movements. Then attendees will be able to make their very own zine on a radical topic of their choice!
*Also, please contact Rebecca if you have questions about the date/time/location – contact@offmenupress.com
Materials: We will provide paper, pens, markers, glue sticks, and collaging materials.
-OSINT Research — Tweetdeck – Tuesday, November 15th / 5 – 6:30 p.m. with Nik Altenberg (Email me to RSVP and get the Zoom link at nik.journalist@gmail.com)
Location: zoom – email to RSVP and get the Zoom link at nik.journalist@gmail.com
Description: Brief overview of what open-source intelligence research is and how it can be used by journalists and human rights investigators. This class will be about social media monitoring and will be focused on how to use Tweetdeck.
Materials: Yes, you need to have or make a twitter account.
-Plant Share and Swap! – Tuesday, November 29th / 5 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: Grant St Park – 150 Grant St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Come share plants, seeds, pots or whatever gardening stuff and knowledge you’d like to :^)
Materials: Bring any plants or things you’d like to offer!
-Plumbing the Psyche: Community Dream Analysis and Conversation – Sunday, November 6th / 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. with Cyrus Quan (Cyquan@ucsc.edu)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Dreams are a rich, meta-real, and often fabulously confusing channel of communication that our un/subconscious choses to express to our very own selves. The practice of dream analysis can be a potent means of understanding our anxieties, our wishes, our selves, and perhaps even our futures. This course aims to enrich our relationship to our dreams and practices through sharing knowledge, exegesis, and experiences with one another. Exploring the substance of dreams and share our current and aspiring practices to relate to our nocturnal flights with purpose and hopefully new understanding.
Instructor shall bring a small collection of texts concerning dreams and their symbology, and facilitate a conversation around memories of dreams, interpretations, and best practices in relating to our dreams.
Materials: Bring any dream journals, memories, and insights to share with.
-Poetry Workshop – Sundays, November 13th – Dec. 4th / 5 – 7 p.m. with Taylor Gorman (Yimyamet@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: In this class, we will write poetry (both in and out of class) and workshop our pieces to work on editing, tone, voice, style, and constructive criticism. We will also analyze the work of other contemporary poets. You don’t need to have written any poetry before–the class is open to everyone.
Materials: I will bring all the stuff, or steal it from work.
–The Principles of Pleasure Film Screening and Discussion – Fridays, December 2nd, 9th, 16th / 5 – 7 p.m. with Stefania Cotei, Ariella Patchen (stefaniacotei@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: Join us for a three part screening of the documentary, “The Principles of Pleasure”, to learn more about how patriarchy and capitalism have oppressed, racialized, gendered, and classed pleasure of the body, mind, and spirit. With a documentary that explores the relationship between social phenomena and scientific research, we will learn about not only how to cherish and celebrate our bodies, but also how to use our access to pleasure as a weapon against the oppressive social, political, economic systems in which we find ourselves today. Screening (50 mins)+ Discussion (30 mins).
-Queer Poetry in the Forest – Wednesdays, November 2nd, 16th, 30th / 5:30 – 7 p.m. with River Eisenbach (510-612-3931 or my instagram space.balloon)
Location: Alan Chadwick garden at UCSC – 245 McLaughlin Dr, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: We will be reading the work of various queer and trans poets in nature. We will discuss said poems and write our own poetry as well. This is a space for open discussion and a chance to foster queer community.
Materials: Might need help with making copies of poetry possibly.
-Really Really Free Market – Every second Sunday, November 13th, December 11th / 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. Really Really Free Market – 11am-2pm. 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. ¡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.
-Renters Rights and Legal Protections – Monday, November 7th / 6 – 8 p.m. AND Monday, December 5th / 6 – 8 p.m. with Zav Hershfield (tenantsanctuarysc@gmail.com, 831-200-0740)
Location: Tenant Sanctuary’s office, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: This course will offer two classes on different renters’ rights subjects. The first class will cover tenancy termination and eviction. The second class will cover security deposits and how to protect your deposit.
-Santa Cruz Spiral Dance & Samhain Ritual – Saturday, November 5th / 7 p.m. with Temple of the Waters (templeofthewaters.org/samhain2022)
Location: 3085 Porter Gulch Rd, Aptos, CA
Description: Come one, come all! Happy Halloween! Which is to say, blessings to you in this moment between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice that Celts celebrated as Samhain [SOW-in]. The Celts felt that this was one of the two times of the year, alongside Beltane/May Day, where the veil between this world and the Otherworld of Spirit was thin. How thin? Thin enough for those that dwell in the Otherworld to cross over. Thin enough for beloved ancestors and future descendants to come visit their families, thin enough for those faery beings that wouldn’t normally be out and about to make themselves known with treat and with trick.
We will gather together to mark that walk of faith, and of surrender to spirit, and of gratitude to this great Earth in our own way. And we will mark it at a time when the moon is hurtling towards both fullness and a total eclipse just 3 days after the ceremony. There will be an ancestor altar there. All ancestors welcomed, and particularly those who have been lost since last Samhain. There will be singing there, and there will be prayer, and there will be mourning and celebrating our beloved dead. And there will be a spiral dance, a way for us to wind our way into and out of the center of our circle, a way for us to see our community of spirit, a way for us to lose ourselves in movement and tone and spirit for a moment.
You don’t need to RSVP, but if you send us an email at monk@templeofthewaters.org it’ll help us get a head count. More info at http://www.templeofthewaters.org/actions-events
Materials: Please feel free to spread the word, please feel free to bring items for the ancestor altar (a beloved’s picture, or perhaps something that reminds you of them), and please feel free to bring snacks or refreshments for afterwards (all snacks welcomed, and anything home-made will be especially celebrated).
-Stick crafts and fairy houses – Friday, October 21st / 11 a.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: Fall creek! Meet behind the White Raven Cafe in Felton 96253 Hwy 9, Felton, CA) to walk to the river.
Description: Making little structures out of sticks and leaves and flowers for fun!
-The Way of Tea – Sunday, November 20 / 2 p.m. with Michael Flora (masarurasam@gmail.com)
Location: SubRosa Courtyard, 703 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: The simple act of preparing a cup of tea can reveal “greatness in the smallest incidents of everyday life.” In this class we will focus on tea as a means to foster harmony, promote a sense of peace, and discipline the mind. Using Chinese and Japanese tea traditions as starting points we will examine the aesthetics and philosophy of Cha Dao, the Chinese “way of tea” and it’s application in modern life. Includes sampling of rare and artisanal teas from Michael’s tea collection and light snack.
-Using Library Free Printing – Tuesday, October 25th / 3:30 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: Outside the Santa Cruz Library, across the street from city hall – 224 Church St, Santa Cruz, CA
Description: A quick class teaching you how to use the free printing that is available at many libraries around the county in color and black and white.
Materials: Optional have a file you’d like to print in mind that you can find on a public computer.
-Zine Share and Staple – Tuesday, December 6th / 1 p.m. with frog (@froggy.doll instagram)
Location: “Plaza Lane” alley near the teahouse & the Tabby Cat.
Description: Come share zines, pamphlets, and fliers you like or have written, or come see what others have to offer! We can work on and brainstorm ideas for zines of course too!
Materials: Optional bring zines or art supplies to make zines.
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