April 1, 2025 marks fifteen years since the Fábrica opened its doors. Thanks to all our friends and supporters who turned out to help us celebrate. We had lovely weather, delicious food, screen printing, banner sewing, music, and chances to reconnect with friends and community members. Here are some of the photos from our party.
One of the Fábrica Collective members, Elaina, wrote the following, reminiscing on 15 years of existing with this project:
Some of you will remember the tiny space we shared with Pedx–the bicycle courier cooperative. It was a small office to begin with and we had just half of it. We had two sewing machines and four collective members: Ann, B, Stef, and Elaina (that’s me). We spread the word by leaving flyers at cafes and craft stores or by posting classes in the Free Skool calendar. Before long, people showed up to donate fabric and supplies, to help us fix machines, and to learn new skills.
What were the early days like? A few more volunteers joined us right away: Sarah taught us how to fix sewing machines (what a gift!), Marie taught embroidery and held down the Tuesday morning open hours for years, and Blaize taught crochet and established our tea set-up. We listed lots of structured classes in the Free Skool calendar and participated with Radical Craft Nights at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. We had annual craft sales at the Downtown Farmer’s Market that helped us raise rent money. We helped a whole lot of Bike Church patrons patch holes in the seat of their pants. B wasn’t with us long–they moved away (I still feel thankful for their energy and enthusiasm, a spark that got the Fábrica rolling!) We became a fiscally sponsored project of the Hub for Sustainable Living. And someone sewed an entire canvas cover for a yurt on an old Singer (that he would pull into the courtyard to make more space for the never-ending yards of canvas).
When our neighbors in the Computer Kitchen closed up shop, we took their spot, more than doubling our space. We were joined by more volunteers, some of whom became important members of the collective, while others supported things behind the scenes. All became good friends: Joanie, Randy, Vince, Linnea, Lisa, Anja, Jeroen, Jenn, Steve, Aja, Molly, and others. Steve and Vince hosted the fáBROca (ya know, to encourage bros to try fabric arts!). We got involved with the Crochet Coral Reef project. Some of us took time off to go back to school or to devote more time to parenthood. And it was in that space that we hosted our first banner-sewing event: in 2017 for the General Strike on Inauguration Day. The banner read: ALL ARE WELCOME, a statement that continues to feel politically relevant and aptly descriptive of the Fábrica.
Over the years, some volunteers moved away or retired. And there were always fresh faces, new friends, new challenges, and reliable community that showed up to support us when we needed help. At some point we were consistently receiving enough financial donations to reliably cover our rent expenses–previously, collective members would fill in the gaps.
When the old bike advocacy organization, People Power, evolved into Bike Santa Cruz County and moved into a bigger space, the Fábrica shifted over into the current location facing Pacific Ave. New friends joined us: Zoe, Clarice, Carlos, Brandon. We started hosting art shows for First Friday. Aja and Clarice organized art markets on those nights. We continued making banners, inviting the community to sew with us: NO BORDERS, STRIKE, THE TIME IS NOW, CAPITALISM IS KILLING US, MEND, THE FUTURE, SOUS LES PAVÉS LA PLAGE. Inspired by a similar project created by Aram Sifuentes, we opened our Protest Banner Lending Library. Yes, you can borrow the banners!
As we started to plan for our 10th birthday, the Covid-19 pandemic erupted and everyone’s plans changed. We lost our friend Anja, who had been fighting cancer for years. We grieved for her. We grieved for all that was lost, missing, and uncertain during that time. The workshop was dormant for almost a year, buoyed by financial support from our friends, near and far. Eventually, we found ways to safely distribute fabric and supplies and we set up sewing machine stations outside in the garden. Our friends at the Tabby Cat Café helped support us financially by hosting a table of crafts and a rack of vintage clothing where their indoor seating used to be.
Slowly, cautiously, we started emerging from that period of isolation. The shop was open again, but it felt different than before. It has been a time of constant ebb and flow, between loss and growth. Yasi and Devan joined the collective, bolstering our staff at a time we when we really needed some new creative energy. One of our earliest volunteers, Marie passed away. We started doing art shows again. We made a banner: FREE GAZA. Some of our collective struggled with mental health, addiction, the cost of rent in Santa Cruz. We lost our friend, Jeroen, to a car crash; he was on his bike. Free Skool was revived after a long hiatus: friends hosted bag-making workshops and shoe repair classes at the Fábrica. Robin, Ivy, Nina, and others joined the Collective, helping to staff open hours, coordinate events, and manage the space. We’ve collaborated with sibling organizations, such as Santa Cruz Herbal Mutual Aid and Subrosa. We have been regularly joining the artist markets at the Museum of Natural History. Little Giant Collective invited us to collaborate on a series of community engagement projects, for which we have earned a grant from the Community Foundation. And the Hub is coming together to prepare ourselves for the inevitable change that confronts us, as the City of Santa Cruz shifts towards a denser and more bougie downtown.
It’s hard to know what our future holds, for the Fábrica, for the Hub, for Santa Cruz. However, after celebrating with nearly 200 joyous, crafty, hopeful people at our birthday party last month, it is clear that Santa Cruz still cherishes quirky, anti-capitalist community arts spaces. Whatever the future holds, we’ll be there, stitching trash into art.
Oh, and we just started another banner: TOGETHER. Will you help us finish it?
The Fábrica 