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( PHOENIX, AZ ) – In their continuing effort to provide relief, comfort and support to at risk communities, the Sidewalk Project will hold its next event in Phoenix on May 6th. The Sidewalk Project, Phoenix will take place from noon to 4pm near Pioneer & Military Memorial Park in downtown Phoenix. It will feature food, live music and entertainment, personal care, enrichment as well as art and interactive activities. One of the driving forces behind the Sidewalk Project, Soma Snakeoil knows how important it is that assistance and enrichment efforts include all at-risk people. “We like to think of what we do more as a celebration than an outreach event.” says Soma. “All people need to be safe, especially marginalized cultures like the houseless community and sex workers. All people need food, water and the basics for survival. We want that and more. How do we thrive? We support each other! Our community centers around creativity, kindness and respect. No judgment! There is a powerful history of people using art and music to inspire movements. Ours is the shame free Sidewalk revolution! We’re knocking down barriers between people to enrich experience.” A number of local organizations provide food to those in need in Phoenix including 3rd Sunday feedings provided by the non-profit Other Side Ministries. In addition to feeding those in needs the organization’s founder Jason Taylor is raising funds to build a fully functional teaching kitchen to help develop culinary skills and create employment opportunities. Pizza for the Sidewalk Project’s event will be provided by Jimmy Mascia’s United Assets Services, Inc. The Sidewalk Project strives to provide aid that goes beyond the usual services. “Many of the members of our organization come from an artistic background and fully understand and appreciate the power of art and music,” adds Soma. “ We believe that people need to experience catharsis while they create art & music and have a sense of community. These are the things The Sidewalk Project strives for. We believe happiness grows as it is shared. And. We love to throw a good party! We’re excited Unshakable Roots is welcoming The Sidewalk Project to Phoenix.” Live music will be provided by The Venomous Pinks a quartet of talented musicians, ready to break the rules. As one of the only all girl punk bands in the Phoenix area, they make no apologies! They will be playing unplugged. Drea Doll of Venomous Pinks states, “We’re excited our whole band is coming! We’re doing a couple of our acoustic songs, the covers Stacey Dee of Bad Cop Bad Cop suggested as well as some Alkaline Trio songs and anything else we have up our sleeves! It’s gonna be fun!” The Sidewalk Project’s Phoenix event will feature local artists and they will be joined by on the Sidewalk by Skid Row artist Crushow Herring and LA artists Libby Coy and Danny Green. There will also be opportunities for everyone to get involved with artistic expression through interactive activities. “Art and Music have always connected people,” says Stacey Dee of Bad Cop / Bad Cop. “ They heal souls and start revolutions! We believe it’s up to art and music to create the change we need to take care of each other. If the infrastructures of our societies aren’t looking out for all of us, through art and music, we are going to make sure to look out for each other!!!!” In keeping with their goal to provide a complete approach to the human experience, the Sidewalk Project will go beyond food, art and music. The event will include healing and self care provided by local professionals. Manicures/pedicures will be available as well as hair styling and cuts by the Paul Mitchell School of Phoenix. Their hope is to provide a inclusive, well-rounded outreach that goes beyond what people normally associate with such efforts and reaches communities too often forgotten. “What would happen if all saw each other just as we are? All grown children wearing life’s battle scars. No rich, no poor. No less, no more. We are all the same,” says Tami Sharp, founder of Unshakable Roots. “The Sidewalk Project team are amazing people that are able to look past the stories and traumas others carry and see into the hearts of the humans we encounter, without judgment. It’s a very important element in the healing of humanity process. It’s our goal to have The Sidewalk Project create an ongoing impact at the roots of the houseless community in Phoenix. We are cultivating catharsis through art, music and healing modalities.” “We live in tumultuous times,” adds Domina Angelina. “Far too often, marginalized communities get left out by outreach efforts. We have to make sure we care for all people in need.” A longtime ProDomme and Dungeon Owner who currently runs an erotic fine art site (http://cageofthesoul.com/) Angelina understands the healing power of artistic expression and the need for support for sex workers. “When it comes to providing assistance to those in need, we must make sure not to forget sex workers. The political climate has seen this community come under attack by the recently passed FOSTA/SESTA law which makes it harder for sex workers to safely earn a living. Other laws, such as California’s SB1204 could actually make it a crime to provide food, shelter, condoms and other basic aid to sex workers. The Sidewalk Project’s hope is that no in-need community gets left out. We need to create partnerships across different communities to ensure this happens.” The Phoenix Sidewalk Project will take place on May 6th from noon to 4pm at 230 S 12th Ave in downtown Phoenix. |
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About The Sidewalk Project:
Our Mission Statement: Through various mediums, including art, music and film our group aims to be socially active in houseless communities around the world.
A little bit about us: We are a social activist arts organization dedicated to the houseless community. We focus on enriching experience and building positive art-centric community directly on the street. We like to keep our work radical and without barriers.
Core Values: Sidewalk is more than a nonprofit. It’s a way of thinking. All people need food, water, and housing. We believe these things are basic human rights. Deeper than that is the right to be treated with dignity. Kindness and respect. We want to see the basics and more. How do we thrive? For us, part of that is what we hold up as our core values and Sidewalk’s mission: Art. Music. Supportive community. Service. Positivity. No judgment/no shame. Simple human connection: Listening without interrupting, without your phone. Treat everyone the same: Fuck the American caste system. We believe happiness is the property of groups of people and it grows and creates discernable ripple effects as it is shared.
There’s a long history of people using art and music to enrich experience, build community and fuel revolutions. If societal infrastructures and government systems are failing it’s up to us to create our own positive solutions. We’ve been talking it out. We want you to join the conversation, as well as the action.
Wherever one of us is standing there is capacity for a Sidewalk Project. Let’s make everyday matter. Follow the Sidewalk Project on Twitter at: @The_Sidewalk_Project Check out the Sidewalk Project in action:
Soma Snakeoil: There are different kinds of houselessness. Soma’s gotten down with several versions, including living in her car, traveling, couch surfing and some time outside. She was houseless and living in motels with her young child at a particularly gnarly juncture. Later she became a sex worker, from dancer to fetish model to ProDomme and adult film actor. She was a BDSM educator, owned a fetish magazine and made a bunch of filthy art. Meanwhile, she was suffering from drug addiction and became a real bummer to hang out with. After a series of losses, including the magazine, and a suicide attempt, she got sober and took on a daily meditation practice. Along with Emily, Stacey and support from other super rad artists she’s developed The Sidewalk Project. ROAR!
She’s been writing a musical called Home Street Home with another team of rad weirdos. It’s a story about street kids. She felt it necessary to give back to a world she spends so much time over-writing about. She believes we heal as we serve. She’s got an extra soft spot in her heart for the houseless and sex worker communities. She wants to work to remove barriers between people for a warmer, more connected life.
Emily Nielsen: I am a surfer, fashion designer, and art manager. I am a survivor… of the sidewalk, drugs & alcohol as well as cancer. I live each day to the fullest as I have had scares of this beautiful life being cut short one too many times. I am a California girl at heart from the beaches of San Diego. The Sidewalk Project is my way to give back to the streets I once lived on and to assist those with enriching their lives in whatever way possible… through art and music and anything they can dream of.
I live in my dreams and make things happen. I am here to create footprints and make a difference in this world. I am here to help those and to give back to what was given to me. I am a lover of punk rock music and art and creating anything we wish. I am the founder of ART collective Punk Rock & Paintbrushes and cancer foundation ROCK VS CANCER. Please join me on this journey of The Sidewalk Project…
Stacey Dee: Stacey Dee has battled on and off with drugs and addiction most of her life. Having been raised in a very Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll household – she struggled to have to watch her parents deal with their own drug and alcohol addictions throughout her childhood. Having come from poverty, Stacey knows what it means to have very little. But she has also figured out how to overcome the odds in order to have a great life!
As a songwriter, Stacey knows how important art and music are to a healthy spirit. Stacey believes an artist NEEDS to create in order to have a chance at being healthy, and that a healthy, creating spirit leads to positivity and self-worth.
Stacey is one of the singer/songwriter/guitar players for the Punk Rock Band, “Bad Cop Bad Cop”. When she is not working with Soma and Emily on the Sidewalk project, Stacey travels the world playing music with her band, working on her new, “Stacey’s Rad”, YouTube Show, while also collaborating with other artists to spread the joy of creation with the world. Stacey’s main focus in life is helping people find true happiness and their own self-worth, so people, in turn, find their way to a living a GREAT LIFE!
The Sidewalk Project: No Barriers Our Partners in Crime: INDECLINE
PUNK ROCK & PAINTBRUSHES
SHOWBOT PRODUCTIONS @showbotproductions on IG |
