VBC8!!

the village building convergence (VBC) is an annual event hosted by city repair, "an all-volunteer grassroots organization helping people reclaim their urban spaces to create community-oriented places." the VBC is a 2 week long convergance and celebration of neighborhood and community in portland. there are about 20 different sites all over town that are hosting builiding projects, and each day folks come out to help each other "raise the barn".

the projects run the full gamut, and are truly inspirational.

one woman is transforming her garage into a community arts garage, providing tools and workshops for various mediums including pottery, silversmithing, and fabric arts. she plans to offer some free open studio time as well as some free classes.

some other folks are giving a workshop on how to create a free-box kiosk on your corner. various neighborhoods are painting or re-painting gigantic, beautiful murals in the middle of intersections.

the runaway circus puppet theater is laying a foundation for the old boggins garage, a neighborhood theatre where the runaway circus creates and rehearses shows for the surrounding community (and beyond). another woman is building a raven-shaped cob sauna in her back yard. one guy is building a permaculture garden on a median strip.

in addition to the projects, their are tons of free workshops during the day on topics such as permaculture, natural building, medicinal plants, etc.

each night there is an evening program starting at 5pm. first dinner, then a couple of speakers, then a boogy-down to some awesome bands.

its a pretty amazing event, to say the least! there's a palpable sense of community building and strengthening as folks come together to support each other.