Cali Commons started as a collaborative project between Molly Nicklin and Luke Armstrong that has evolved into a creative community space that supports local creatives who are exploring and sharing their ideas. We have designed everything inside this space - we've immersed ourselves in this project, both living and working in the space.
Uncommon Core is the 2018 brand for the kinds of members we'd like to attract to Cali Commons. We are looking for those who've always been driven to think about things a little differently. If you feel uncommonly creative and you want to find a community to help you explore your creative output, then we are here for you.
In 2018 we launched our first version of CaliCommons.net a shared storytelling and communication platform for our creative community of makers and idea explorers. We think quality communication tools we can control are at the heart of empathic community communication and support. RenMind was a great partner organization to build out our first set of tools.
As we grappled with the many challenges artists and independently employed creative people faced we became convinced that we would need to provide access to digital as well as physical resources for these value makers to succeed.
In 2016 we added a moving wall with 2 wall mounted easels to our main performance space. These easels allow performance artist to invite spectators in and outside the space to watch as custom work comes alive.
In 2016 we built our first round of custom stacking frames we called "Swap". These Swap frames were designed in Adobe Illustrator and cut out of acrylic sheets with a laser cutter.
This early flyer shows our space layout and original co-working concepts.
Our earliest vision of the space was simply a shared gallery and a place to work. The front of our business card featured what we are most, a physical place for creative people.
Cali Commons was founded by both Luke Armstrong (myself) and Molly Nicklin. As cooperative performance artists and co-founders of this space we decided to share a business card to get started.
