When we first came up with the notion of doing the Punk Rock Rummage Sale here in Flint there was a big question of – will anyone care? We had been doing indie art shows, my friends and I, in Flint for several years by then but had never done something that was about buying more than art and showing. Our friend Bethany had been doing shows like this in Detroit for a few years and those had been really successful and we were basically using her template of music, arts, crafts, a bar/funky setting, and rummage stuff. It is a great notion and Bethany is a genius for doing them in Detroit so naturally we had to ask her to do this with us. To my surprise we were a hit. Not even just a hit but people loved when we had a new one. Such was the case with this latest one, our fourth. This one had a twist in that it was a day AND night event, where we had just been doing it at a bar in the evening before with a DJ (and bands once) and so it had a bit more to put together but we would up with the same results. People came out, had fun, and bought.
The whole point in doing these things is to create a fun, free event in Flint for people to come too. Sure, we want to make money but we want to make it off of the stuff we are selling. Off of our stuff, not the event. We try to pull in a variety of people to sell, people who want to be a part of it, and we do our best to make sure they have fun and whatever happens beyond that is on them. This latest event was cool for me because I 1. made enough to pay my rent and 2. I sold three pieces of art and gave a piece to friends that really wanted it. As an artist I am still struggling with the value of my art but even though I lowered the price for people I feel like it was the right thing to do to get the art in the hands of people who wanted it. That is what matters in the end, people getting your art that want and appreciate it.
I love these events. They are pretty low stress, easy to do, and are a lot of fun for everyone involved. What I like best though is that we have done a couple a year for two and a half years and we are never obligated to do them. So when they stop being fun, or there just isn’t time or reason to do it we will stop. For now though, they are still important to us and more importantly are still fun, and that’s what matters most.
c
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 