Urban Jacksonville

This isn’t just an art show, it’s an extravaganza. I’ll keep this updated as new information flows in throughout the week. There will be music from 74 Sound System (rocksteady and dub) and Burro Bags, Royal Treatment and Zombie Bikes will be open all day. It possible Al Letson may be present recording an episode of his new PBS show State of the Re:Union.

Matt from Burro Bags says:

Chris and I have been collaborating with artists here and in South Florida on making a truly limited edition run of bags. Zombie’s been collaborating on turning old frames into new wall art, the money raised will go back towards another good year of our community bike shop. I think it’ll be a very good opportunity to take care of holiday shopping and an awesome way to end the year helping out our beloved space exist in the next year.

Raffle: Tickets are $10 each or 3 for $20

Tons of bags. Many product from vendors, the Burrito Gallery, and an fresh Aerospoke! Messenger bags designed by local artists will be for sale. They are definitely one-offs. Paint, cutting, sewing and a few secrets have been thrown into these bags.

• Custom Messenger Roll Top Backpack
• Custom Messenger Bag
• 3 Hip Bags
• 1 AEROSPOKE!
• Lots of T-Shirts!
• Grocery Bags
• 3 Recycled Backpacks
• 4 Frame Pads
• Burrito Gallery Gift Cards
• Arturo Clothing – Beanies and Tees

Polo Tournament from 3pm – 6pm

3 on 3. $10 entry per team. Cash pay out and prizes to top 2 teams!

Get some Christmas shopping done

Bold City Brewery – Beer tasting
Arturo – (Jacksonville) Clothing
Heart of Gold – (Boca Raton) Clothing
Hot Life – (Orlando) Clothing
Robyn Crews – Pillowcases made of recycled materials

Current artist line-up

• Mark George
• Big Dunn
• John O’Brian
• Clay Doran
• Crystal Floyd
• Bert No Shirt
• Adam Pondozzi
• Jared Scheurer
• John Arvin
• Chad Landenberger
• Lauren Chester
• Tom Pennington
• Joe Gaskins
• Richard Reichstadter
• Danilo Quilaton
• Tony Rodrigues

There are lots of benefits to buying local: less packaging and package waste, no shipping costs, which uses less fuel and it promotes/supports the local community. Here are my gift picks for this buy local holidazzle!

The Royal Treatment Record Store

www.myspace.com/theroyaltreatmentdjs
1520 Main Street, Springfield

$30 – 3 CDs and T-Shirt make the Royal Treatment holiday gift pack! (pictured above) CDs: The N Word, Tough Junkie and Willie Evans Jr.

Deals on vinyl records too!

• Alligator (local St. Augustine band)
• The Smile Rays – Party Place EP
• Beastie Boys – License to Ill (still wrapped)
• Beck – Mellow Gold

Anomaly

www.anomalyfivepoints.com
1021 Park Street, Five Points
Recommendations from Emily, the owner

Mention you saw this on Urban Jacksonville 10% off of an entire purchase.

For the ladies
I love Molly M. jewelry. Everything is priced at $38 for the small pendants and earrings and $48 for the large. It’s laser cut wood and acrylic. All handmade in San Francisco. We’re also all stocked up on party dresses and other great sparkly jewelry!

For the guys
We’ve got great new tees from Upper Playground and Obey, as well as $20 artist series wallets by Poketo. These wallets are produced by Poketo but the images are designed by different artists from around the country and makes great pocket art!

For the kids
Allover print hoodies from Loyal Army are too cute! sized to 4T, $32.

For your friends
I really tried to get alot of $10 and under gifts this year. Our “saving up for good weed” bank ($9) is back and always funny! And there’s always the book of seriously bad baby names ($6) for the person that has everything.

Burro Bags

burrobags.blogspot.com
1520 Main Street, Springfield
Recommendations from Matt, co-owner

$65 to $130: Medium Burro Bag constructed of retired highway billboards
$12 Beard Bandana – Get your lady some facial hair for the holidays!

Arturo Clothing

http://arturoclothingco.blogspot.com
Find Arturo at Anomaly in Five Points, Kona Skatepark’s Pro Shop, and at Art Walk every first Wednesday of the Month

Arturo Clothing Co. is a DIY company that produces original, hand screened shirts and bags on the highest quality materials available. Shirts run at $15 and bags at $10. You can find our products at Anomaly in Five Points, Kona Skatepark’s Pro Shop, and at Art Walk every first Wednesday of the Month.

December 20th is the perfect day to buy local at the BBB Complex Art Show at 1520 Main Street where you can get Arturo, Burro Bags and The Royal Treatment Records pack. Along with local art and these other vendors:

• Heart of Gold – (Boca Raton) Clothing
• Hot Life – (Orlando) Clothing
• Robyn Crews – Pillowcases made of recycled materials

I first met Arturo in the streets of Jacksonville where I noticed their distinctive designs over and over. Shortly after that I received and email from them, followed by a package in the mail with tshirts and stickers. I finally met them in person at the Partisan the Sea poster show. They’re an awesome group who make quality clothes so I wanted to spread the word.

Who is Arturo Clothing and what’s up with the name?
Arturo Clothing is a underground movement based around the Jacksonville street scene. The name was inspired from a small bundle of joy who we befriended at a local summer art camp.

What types of clothing are you making. What are you planning to make?
We basically make clothes for everyday use. Things like tshirts, bags, and beanies….because everyone wears clothes.

Where can I buy Arturo?
Well you can’t really buy Arturo himself, but you can buy our clothes at Anomaly in Five Points, Artwalk the first Wednesday of every month, and we will be launching an online store early next year.

You guys are currently using a lot of insect symbolism in your clothes. Is there any meaning behind that?
Well, our product isn’t necessarily based around bugs, but around the pests of society.

What would you say distinguishes Arturo from other local clothing brands
We make everything at our house, all of our images are original, and we only print on the highest quality of shirts. For instance our screens are hand crafted instead of the popular photo emulsion process that most local clothing companies use.

You say on your myspace all your shirts are hand screened. Why did you choose to screen shirts yourself instead of outsource it to a digital printer?
We are a diy company. We do EVERYTHING ourself.

Why do you choose to use American Apparel instead of another brand of shirt to screen on?
American Apparel makes the highest quality fitted tshirt that we can get our hands on.

What is your next big project or promotion coming us?
Well coming up quick we have our booth at the Art Walk. Big event wise we are hoping to put together something along the lines of a fashion show, and have urban jacksonville be part of it!

myspace.com/arturoclothing
arturoclothingco.blogspot.com

I spoke with Logan Rink, a partner at Design Cooperative, LLC, and asked him a few questions about Uptown Market, the grocery component of the 3rd and Main development.

This is the most exciting project going on in the core right now. Springfield has not seen new retail development on Main Street in 50+ years. I just made that number up, but it’s something like that. In addition, this project is progressing rapidly and already changing the skyline of Main Street.

Tell me a little about the company you work for
Design Cooperative, LLC is our Architecture and Interior Design firm and we’re trying to service the urban design niche. Obviously that is where our passion is and we think that we have a good understanding of the urban design market and the specific challenges related to urban projects.

More of the standard issue info is on our website www.designcooperativefla.com, clearly we are not the standard issue design firm. The traditional “how many hours is this going to take and when I have reached the hours budgeted for the project I give no more effort” does not work for us. We like to approach the project with the idea that we are going to give the job the attention it deserves to get it done properly. We have the benefit of being a small lean firm with the resources to scale ourselves properly for the task at hand and still control the quality of the design.

Describe the project you are working on for the 3rd and Main project. How is this project different from City Market downtown and how is it the same
Uptown Market is a tenant of the 3rd and Main mixed use development. The project is being developed by the Cesery Companies. We have designed the Uptown market to have a connection to City Market (The Library).

The connection is both aesthetic and operation. In other words the Uptown market should feel like and operate much like a scaled down version of the City Market, thought the program is slightly different. The space is approximately 2,600 sqft. with a full kitchen, deli and grocery components.

The kitchen will serve breakfast and lunch with café seating for 40 and outdoor seating for an additional 28. The deli will serve the standards plus prepared foods (rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, salads and some other special creations from Eddie Escriba, Burrito Gallery chef). The deli items can be eaten in or taken out. The grocery component will carry wine, beer, dairy, dry goods as well as some specialty items like sauces, spreads and some Uptown Market proprietary items.

Related Links
Podcast Episode #16: Update on 3rd and Main, Bill Cesery is a Riverboat Gambler
Podcast Episode #9: Talk with Bill Cesery about Third and Main
Video: Slideshow of City Market Jacksonville renderings
Metro Jacksonville take on The Library
The Library Official Website

It took three years, but Karen Mathis’ predictions for Springfield retail relief have finally arrived in the form of a new Walgreens store at 8th and Davis. Seen here as just an empty lot, the Walgreens will be a welcome addition to the the neighborhood. I could see that placing being mobbed by snack starved Shandsies. What a great place, in walking distance, to get basics.

One thing Karen Mathis didn’t see coming was the Downtown Winn Dixie renovations, which I also see as part of the Springfield retail mix. Personally the Walgreens won’t be as game-changing as it would have been had it arrived before the Winn Dixie upgrades. The Winn Dixie experience has improved so much that being halfway between the new Walgreens and the Winn Dixie will result in a case-by-case decision on when to go to either.

Blueblocker Sunglasses as Walgreens?
Check.
Point Walgreens.
Walgreens draws first blood.

So far no word on opening day festivities.

More Photos

Thanks to Brian Gray and The Outerbox for tipping us off to this bad ass show in Springfield this Friday.

This upcoming Friday is the River City Soul Company kick off party at Shantytown. Music, art, and good time to be had by all…did I mention this event is free? No cover? What? Thats what Im talking about! Featured artists include Squiddust, Toy Crusher, Grant Thornton, Leader 1, Brian Gray, Ellie Hoffman, Bo Dillard, Edbot5000, and more TBA. Check out the line up of bands too! For more info check out the myspace account for The River City Soul Company.

SAMBA Meeting Thursday the 12th

Cathy Hagan, Area Director of the University of North Florida Small Business Development Center, and Joe Whitaker of the JEDC, will be the main speakers for this month’s Springfield Area Merchants & Business Association general meeting. The speakers will share information on programs and incentive opportunities for small business development in the Springfield area.

6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
1748 North Main Street
Carl’s Main Street Restaurant
The corner of Main & 8th Streets.

Make reservations yo! Call 219-7499 or e-mail urbansouth at hotmail.com by 3:00 p.m. Thursday, June 12th.

Royal Treatment Records, Burro Bags, Zombie Bikes and gone, but not forgotten, Inertia. That’s what most people call 1520 Main Street in Springfield. Hardly anyone ever calls it The Buyers Market Lodge, but that was the original name, current name, future name, who knows. Tony Allegretti gives a nice history of The Buyers Market Lodge. Long live Main Street! Here are a few excerpts:

The Buyers Market Lodge was a concept/brainchild/idea that Triclops (owner of some bar on 6th – Shantytown) and I and our benevolent landlord (SRG) came up with to do three things. (1) Create a “place” on Main St, (2) create a few no to low paying green collar jobs, and (3) create a shopping experience of simple yet sometimes hard to find things the new urbanist (really any body, but it sounds sweeter) would want and need.

Matt and Chris (Burro Bags) hand craft these custom bags to your specs (if you wish) and they use recycled materials. Right now they’re kickin vinyl from billboards. Who said clear channel was rubbish? Now you can wear clear channel’s rubbish! They also pad bags for electronics/computers etc.

the real soft spot in my heart is the zombie bikes. These guys are solid. My daughters bike was swiped and she is just learning to ride. I dropped in to the shop (its like the taxi teevee show only greasier) and walked out with a spider man special. Under $20 and built to spill.

Thanks for the history lesson Tony!

More on The Buyers Market Lodge Complex
Polo Is My Life – Bury Your Bike Festival