Held my first collaborative space and have some reflections on the flow of the party/space. I’m writing a review on MYSELF. haha. This weekend was honestly a soft launch of what a large, shared space COULD ideally look like. I definitely have some thoughts and feelings about things.
These are THOTS on hosting a party and planning an event. Read with a grain of salt. Maybe take notes if you are ever trying to throw a party at Macalester. I also would LOVE if you submitted your feedback to me directly, or WMCN.
First of all, I hold so much gratitude for the artists that contributed their work for this event. Rosie, Diquazay, Meira, Carmen, Emma, Gabby, Nicole S, Nicole H, Elliot, Sofia, Nawal, Azaria, and Xavier.
These lovely humans trusted me with their art in the Space. All of these homies are people I know at Macalester, you should be their friend. Friendship and art are magical things. Couldn’t have brought this dream to life without their help. Curating, creativity, collaboration, and community are all realms I long to be a part of in my post-graduation life.
This was a collaborative event. WMCN, Compassion in Action, and SPACES. I was relying on multiple groups of homies to show up and support me and my idea, while I also was supporting artists and their ideas. Lots of things going on that require support. It was chaotic and I heavily relied on my friendships and love.
As someone with a mixed identity amongst other identities, the purpose of this community event on LOVE was to make EVERYONE feel seen and loved.
I wanted good vibes, I put out good vibes, and I received good vibes.
The goal of this event was to reflect community love, lift artists and their artistic vision and drive. Art is the driving force and release of emotion, passion, pain, etc. It’s like EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, in a way.
At the same time, as being the organizer of the event, I really had to spend time also centering myself and deciding what kind of vibe I was trying to set. It’s difficult centering yourself sometimes, especially because imposter syndrome is real, as fuck!
I legitimately was having dreams of this party all week. I was SO excited. It was a dream come true thanks to all of you. My parents even stopped by at the beginning to see everything I put together. I felt so loved and seen.
The party was and wasn’t the same as my dreams. I guess I maybe should have lowered my expectations…but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time in my space. I got to talk to so many homies and I wish I had more time to talk to more.
Because it was all planned in two weeks, I’d credit myself for pulling as much together as I could with the most intention I could provide. Snacks went QUICK. Some people were caught red handed drinking my Hennessy… I kind of figured that activity would happen. It wasn’t too difficult to transition people to move downstairs as well. I did my best to remain calm throughout.
My ideal idea of a party is that it doesn’t end until like 2am. But I shut the party down before midnight, which was perfect honestly. I didn’t rush people out of socializing, but just turned the music off. I wanted to continue talking and creating more space for conversation and love, but I really had to take my own space to rest. Also didn’t want to deal with the cops…from my understanding, they didn’t come once.
And I had a long day, I was at a track meet at Carleton. That’s right. I was in Northfield all day. On top of that, I was dealing with some foot problems. I competed in the 4×200 relay, and it just stressed and hurt my foot event more. I really shouldn’t have been pacing around the party and dancing, but I did it anyways. Rest assured; I’m getting the necessary treatment for that guys! lol
DJ Meiraverse had to leave early after a long day as well. DJing was up to me and I just wasn’t ready, the vibes were difficult to curate at that point and I kind of just let the mass take over what they wanted to queue. I’d give Meira a 10/10 on her set and honestly a 10/10 to everyone who queued a song.
I spent a lot of time working on the zine promoting the event, which was fun, but I wanted to write more of my thoughts on the artists and make the scene not just a sweaty basement party. It kind of turned out to be like that, but it still was a vibe. People were dancing and it wouldn’t have filled up if people weren’t having a good time. There will surely be more opportunism to write, interview, and help people with their art exhibition, I think. I can’t do everything!
The space itself is not big enough to hold the amount of people that came, all who likely different intentions. Some people were there to enjoy the art, some people were there to see the live music, some people wanted to socialize and meet new people, some people were there to dance and just have a good time. I think in the spring, when things melt, it could be cool to have an outdoor situation happening during the gallery showing. but those are just some ideas I’m planting for future projects of spaces events and parties.
I also think I could have organized the venmo/donation better, so you knew what you were getting out of paying money/offerings to this event. It was a little all over the place but still okay. I’m being transparent and letting you guys know I received $50 for donations of the event. I spent about $100 on snacks/supplies and getting reimbursed for $50 from WMCN for it. I also received offerings of baked goodies, flowers, and sage. It was beautiful.
I have to BE REAL. I definitely had anxiety and stress throughout the party, but I slipped and let some substances move through me to process everything that was going on. I was drinking to celebrate love and community. I deserve to celebrate in my space too! Just a reminder that being intentional about substance use is important. I hope that people drank responsibly.
My mission as a curator and creative is to create liberating spaces through intentional curation of space. I also am always curating Rel1g1ous Th0t through my space, which is my interested in religious studies, religious thought, religious experience, spirituality, and more. I want to learn more and feel as if we could all learn more.
My definition of curation defines space not being limited to the art on the walls, but the purpose and intention of the space, AND the way people interact with each other for the event and its purpose. Holding a large, shared space or what some of you may call a PARTY, actually holds a lot more responsibility than you’d expect. We all exist in REALLY different communities at Macalester, and it’s really hard to see where we could bridge gaps and find similarities. I was very experimental and open to ideas for this project.
Once again, please let me know your thoughts, suggestions, and reviews on the event. I intend to curate more collaborative space via my online platform. I feel like I’m doing a better job airing out my thots with people in my life.
With Love,
Rel1g1ous Th0t
(Venmo is @rel1g1ousth0t)
Sara Gregor
