about.
the concrete.
The short and concise:
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We are an event center, a rental space, and an artists' studio space.
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In the immediate future, we will host a monthly music series, comedy night, open mic night, and a theological discussion panel - where we will be surveying the intersection of Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, and Jewish themes.
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We will work to renovate our surroundings, seeking to build our community as it helps build us.
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The longer version:
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We wish to introduce a relatively new idea to society, and in doing so, we must also introduce a new word and concept - the Creative Campus.
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The Creative Campus is a central location - housing a combination of artists, art forms, and artistic pursuits, each in alignment with one central mission.
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We have 7 areas of interest currently in development, each of them supporting the others. All areas intermingle and boost one another exponentially, both contributing to and benefitting from the networks they cooperatively build.
At the same time, we will work to renovate and rehabilitate our immediate surroundings at Sproule Avenue - namely by employing creative solutions which blend psychology, technology, spirituality, and art.
By establishing ourselves as a creative campus - and by actively defining what that is - we are uniquely enabled to empower both our community, and artists of all mediums.
For now, the following outline the beginning of our journey:
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1. Theological Lecture Center
Long-term, we will direct a considerable amount of our efforts towards uplifting the various religions of the world, providing a stage through which their messages can both spread and be challenged in an intellectually-forward manner. While we ourselves will facilitate an explorative series surrounding the societal, historical, and epistemological themes present in Christianity, we strongly desire to hold space for faiths of all kinds.
We will start by hosting an investigative ‘Sabbath’ lecture series - a theological deep-dive - consisting of an open-ended discussion panel comprised of religious and spiritual leaders throughout our community.
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2. Artist Studios
The Woods currently has 3 for-rent Artist Studios, 2 of which are still available. Each studio space comes with fully secured 24/7 access, access to our kitchenette, facilities, common areas, photography and video studio, and our concert/event yard. Additionally, studio rental also give priority access to all classes and events, and provides unique opportunities for networking and gigging throughout Sacramento's downtown community.
Our studios are perfect for visual artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, or anyone else looking for a private creative space downtown.
If interested in learning more about our available spaces, or to book a tour, click here.
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3. Music Venue
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The Woods will host a number of free and ticketed shows, geared both towards supporting local artists and attracting regional and national acts.
Our in-house series, "Lost In The Woods," will be a singer-songwriter show - showcasing artists of all genres currently producing original work in Sacramento.
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Stay tuned for updates regarding upcoming shows, open mic nights, and Lost In The Woods.
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4. Event Center and Rental Space
Not limited to just music, we intend to host Comedy Nights, Open Mic Nights, guest lecturers, and more.
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In addition to our own events, we are available for rent to the public. Our prices range depending on a range of factors, and discounts are offered for students, veterans, and full day bookings. We host everything from weddings, to graduations, and everything in between. For event questions and related inquiries, reach out to us through our contact page.
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5. Community Outreach & Renovation Center
Beginning from our location in downtown Sacramento, we'll be launching our community outreach and renovation plan in early 2023, where we will be working to refurbish the surrounding locale with murals, art installations, oversized planter boxes, solar lighting, community gardens, and more.
We will work initially in a counter-clockwise fashion starting at The Woods, and spiral counter-clockwise one block at a time until all of downtown - north of C Street - is revitalized.
Additionally, we will partner with local homeless-focused charities, aiming to host a ‘Homeless Job Fair’ on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. The fair will provide a hot meal, shower, haircut, business clothing/attire, connections with local employers, phone/mail assistance, and more.
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Stay tuned for updates, and for the announcement of our first Homeless Job Fair.
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6. Photography and Videography Studio
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The Studio at The Woods is an open-ceiling, blank-slate concept measuring 36' x 32'. Generous natural lighting pours in through two sliding warehouse doors, allowing for truly stunning shots.
Our space can power up to 100 amps of equipment, and is perfect for your next photo or video shoot.
Pricing is available at both hourly and daily rates, and booking or more information can be found here.
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7. Podcast Studio
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The Woods houses several for-rent photography/videography spaces, currently under construction. Pricing will be available at both hourly and daily rates, and will become available early 2023.
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About: closing notes.
This sums it up - for now.
We aim to aggressively expand, pending successful implementation of our first iteration. Snowballing forward and picking up momentum from project to project, we are on track for full execution of our goals within one year’s time.
If anything here interests you and you would like to help expedite that process and timeline, click here.
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Otherwise, stick around, and watch as we endeavor to build Heaven on Earth.
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mission.
the abstract.
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In all ways, choose ‘That’ which is on the side of life, and give proper reverence to the fact of Creative Intelligent Design.
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While at first glance they might appear a bit hieroglyphic, the above lines were purposely chosen to remain simple in their construction, and open in their interpretation.
We’ll dive only a bit deeper, below.
line #1:
“In all ways, choose ‘That’ which is on the side of life.”
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To paint the context within which our broader mission fits, things must first unfortunately get a bit bleak. We believe that most things around us are deteriorating - social cohesion, infrastructural and economic stability, broader sensemaking abilities, etc. - and that accordingly, understandably, it is easy for someone to fall prey to ideologies (methods/systems of interpreting reality) that leave them feeling hopeless, fearful of the future, and in a state of mental and moral decay.
In order to combat these admittedly attractive ways of seeing reality, we must make continuous conscious decisions to choose those things that are on the side of life - i.e., the Philosophical ‘That,’ anything which improves and creates - over anything which makes things worse. Today, the modern western mind must fight the ever-present temptation to turn to Nihilism, Cynicism, Determinism, or any other ‘complete’ form of interpretation which robs people of their ability to think freely, and which tilts them typically towards bleak depression, or worse.
If unable to make sense of things, we need only to look at the choices immediately present in our given situation, and choose whichever improves things the most. If we apply this simple concept to ourselves, our families, friends, immediate communities, cities, etc., patterns of progress and improvement will accumulate momentum, spiraling upwards and outwards, creating contagious positive reinforcement loops of people fixing themselves while fixing the situations around them.
line 2:
“Give proper reverence to the fact of Creative Intelligent Design”
If you wish to call It something, you might use the word God - but whatever you choose , it is of paramount importance that one arrives at a place of logic-based belief in the idea that Something is responsible for Everything. Whatever you wish to call this nameless intelligent entity, to a certain degree, it matters not - removing oneself from the throes of abject Nihilism and Atheism, and getting to a point of belief in Something, must be regarded as a monumentally important step in one's development, with a short list of other realizations comparable in magnitude.
Psychologists, Social Scientists, Evolutionary Biologists, and a litany of other disciplines agree that there exists a “God-Shaped Hole” within every individual; a place in the psyche or the ‘soul’ that yearns for a complete understanding of the universe, reality, and creation; an area that emotionally aches for a sense of meaning, and to know our placement within all things; a core to our being that wishes to know where we come from, and What made us.
It is our belief that this area identifies perhaps one of the simplest ‘circuits’ or ‘logic gates’ present within all people - that belief in Intelligent Design tilts one’s development towards neutrality or better, while belief in Nothing tilts one’s development towards hatred and decay.
It is necessary, then, to firmly cement belief in Something as the starting point in one’s mental maps and sense making, and to continuously re-evaluate and develop one’s logical faculties until this is achieved.
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Mission: final thoughts
We believe it necessary to fuse these two principles together, for neither can stand sufficiently on their own - to only focus on improving things runs the risk of establishing an improper foundation, for ‘improvement’ can be defined relative to the goal at hand; not all goals at human disposal are those worthy of our attention, as history evidences. At the same time, however, to only acknowledge an awareness of God, without the appropriate and according action, is not enough - for even Evil forces acknowledge the existence of a God, yet choose to act serving entropy and decay. It is only through a firm focus on the Infinite, and a commitment to improvement - filtered through that lens - do we have a chance of finding a way forwards for Humanity. Anything else, given our present dire circumstances, and we will build a future far worse than any we have yet imagined.
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Our mission statement is, modestly put, a bit ‘different’ from the traditional slogans one might find at other ventures. We are, defined more in-depth, a Creative Campus - a mixture of different, related interests, all united around a set of related principles, functioning in harmony to support creative individuals and their surrounding communities. Those principles themselves, however, can be boiled down to two overarching ideas:
