The first-ever BUST School For Creative Living at the BUST Holiday Craftacular was a complete success, and we are still reeling over all of the positive energy we experienced at the Brooklyn Expo Center. The space was full of vendors, makers, teachers, musicians, activists, and attendees creating an atmosphere of empowerment, community, and togetherness. Whether you came to simply browse from over 160 amazing curators, try your hands at classic crafts such as macrame or marble painting, study the roots of plants with herbalism, listen in on informative lectures, or jam out to badass female-fronted music fest, there was truly something for everyone at the event. We are so grateful to each member of our community who came together to help create this magic.
The event featured seven different rooms in which attendees could shop our countless vendors, participate in workshops and classes, or listen to eight female-fronted local bands. At the center of the event was the very first BUST School for Creative Living. We partnered with over 30 local businesses and business owners from across the five boroughs who together offered over 100 different classes. Attendees received personalized attention with leading professionals in a number of different skills from crafting, and herbalism, to sex education and more!
There was no shortage of amazing feminists at the two-day celebration helping us fight the patriarchy. On Saturday, we were joined by #ShoutYourAbortion co-founder Lindy West, SYA’s founding director Amelia Bonow, and artist and activist Poppy Liu for a conversation about the revolutionary power of storytelling and how to begin building a better future in the wake of movements like #ShoutYourAbortion and #MeToo.
On Sunday, the Women & Power Panel featuring Amber Tamblyn, Jamia Wilson(Feminist Press), Alanna Bennett (BuzzFeed News) , and BUST co-founder Laurie Henzel left a feeling of empowerment in the air. The room was full of men and woman alike coming together to discuss important and necessary issues of race, gender, and unequal exchanges of power within this country.
Author of Witches, Sluts, Feminists Kristen J. Sollee enchanted the audience with her lecture on the history of witch feminism.
Jena Cumbo Photography
The event had a political undertone as well. Julia Cumming, a member of the band Sunflower Bean and a leader of the political activist group Anger Can Be Power, spoke with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic Candidate for Congress (NY-14) for an informative discussion and an inside look at what it is like to be a completely grassroots Democratic candidate for Congress.
There was also an opportunity to register to vote with HeadCount throughout the weekend.
In the wake of #MeToo, it felt imperative for us to try and help create safe spaces for the community to come together and learn. We offered a number of free workshops dealing with subjects of consent and sexual assault. Sexual assault survivor advocate and Go Magazine, managing editor, Corinne Kai, as she led a class called “How to Heal After Sexual Trauma.”
The weekend was complete with eight female-fronted bands singing their truth.
first photo by Jackie Roman Photography
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