26.2 Miles 4 Africa

Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?!

It’s the title of our next First Friday event at Global Fayre.

When?: Friday September 4th 2009

Where?: Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell Ave, Springfield, Missouri

What?: Go to www.run4africa.info and find out more!

First Friday at Global Fayre….the morning after

We had a great time last night.

There was a good crowd, everyone was in a great mood – and we got a lot of people talking about Kiva too. We donated $1 for every purchase towards our next Kiva loan, and that raised $78. So we’ll sit down tomorrow to figure out which loans to make.

First Friday at Global Fayre – August 2009

It’s almost here! Just 24 hours to go and we’re getting excited!

It’s been a long month; falling on the 7th means that this has been the longest gap between First Friday Art Walks that we’ve experienced. Of course, that has just meant even more time for procrastination to set in, the ‘to do’ list to get shuffled and reshuffled, and all the ‘must do’s’ to get completed even later than usual!

We’ve got a great evening in store at Global Fayre:

1 – Kiva Awareness

We’ve been lending through Kiva for some time now, but felt the time was right to step it up a notch. We’re using the Art Walk to promote awareness of Kiva, encourage people to make Kiva loans (in or out of the Global Fayre Lending Team) and to raise funds through purchases. Each purchase (no matter how small) will generate a $1 donation to Kiva. As we reach each $25 milestone, we’ll make the loan there and then, with people in the store making the decision about where the loan should go.

2 – Beautiful Baskets from the Etsha Weavers Group of Botswana.

Friday ses the launch of a month-long show for these wonderful baskets. They are simply the finest we’ve seen since opening the store, and it’s a delight to be able to share then with our customers.

The evening starts at 6pm and will go on until at least 10pm.

Ashley Berry at Park Central Library, Springfield MO

A few months ago we hosted an exhibition of work by Ashley Berry (see Shades of Black by Ashley Berry).

We’re pleased to see Ashley has another exhibition starting this Friday at Park Central Library in Downtown Springfield.

Ashley is giving a talk TONIGHT at the Library, starting at 7pm, giving an insight in to her motivation, inspiration and influences.

First Friday Art Walk in Springfield, MO

Just two days to go before our First Friday Art Walk – we’re excited!

In truth, the summer Art Walks are a little quiter; fewer galleries take part (this month has 20 compared to our spring peak of 28) and the crowds are little smaller. That doesn’t stop the participating galleries pulling out all the stops, and the art walkers having a ball.

You can check out what’s in store this Friday by reading the First Friday Art Walk newsletter or visiting the main blog.

Global Fayre presents: An acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt

We already blogged about this coming First Friday Art Walk, so you will know that we are featuring an acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt, so we thought we’d tell you a little more about the band and their debut album “genre specific”.

Here’s how Jeremy and Daren describe themselves:

“gIvE mE a PoInT oN wHiCh tO sTaNd, AnD i WiLL mOvE tHe EaRtH”

These immortal words written by Archimedes are known today as the Archimedian Point. Hoping to personify this brilliant idea through music, the point hopes to instill positivity back into the community while staying socially aware and promoting global activism.

The members of the archimedian point (Jeremy Shelton on vocals/ guitar and Daren Hudson on drums/ vocals) aim to restore amiable experience back into existence via musical journeys with the public as the prime passenger. With the blending of styles and lyrical content that does more than s-p-e-l-l itself, the point might be able to awaken the sunshine slumbering in your soul……It all depends on YOU………

The point released their debut album, ‘genre specific’ on June 6, 2009

It was reviewed by Rice B on radioindy.com:

“genre specific” is a most curious title for the debut 6-song CD by, the archimedian pOiNt, because within its rocking but accessible grooves are the kind of stylistic shifts that render such labels as metal, progressive rock, thrash, or post grunge simply inadequate. Yes, “genre specific” can boast tasteful and well-executed excursions into these more or less identifiable genres, but such exclamations are carried only in service of the song, and never as superfluous window dressing. Promoting an agenda of social consciousness and global awareness, songs like “Overdrive” & “Relic” rock with fierce – and classic hard rock (think Rush, Fugazzi, System of a Down) intensity, while the mix of acoustic guitar with sampled George W. Bush speechifyin’ in “Hubris” recalls nothing less than G’n’R-like grandeur. But in the languid lead vocal of “Nemesis Domesticus” an echo of Kurt Cobain gives way to the sonic charge of thundering guitar riffs that Led Zeppelin began perfecting four decades ago. All in all, the CD “genre specific” by, the archimedian pOiNt, is a very promising blast of rock bravado from an undersized behemoth (it’s a 2-man group) with hard rocking roots

What: An acoustic set from the archimedian pOiNt

When: July 3, 2009, around 7pm onwards

Where: Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell, Springfield, MO 65806

More info:

Global Fayre (417-873-9792) info@globalfayre.com

Jeremy Shelton (417-830-9841) jrockstyley@hotmail.com

First Friday Art Walk at Global Fayre, July 3rd 2009

Just one week to go before the First Friday Art Walk and we’re getting EXCITED!

Why?

We’ve blogged a couple of times already about Ben Makhanya; you can read the lastest one here. His baskets arrived earlier in the week, and it has been so TOUGH resisting the temptation to put them straight out display. We’ll probably weaken by the early part of next week.

We’re also delighted to have live music again. Our guests this time around are Jeremy Shelton and Daren Hudson who together form the archimedian pOiNt. They recently released their debut album “genre specific”, and will be playing an accoustic set for us on the 3rd. You can read more at their website or on MySpace. We;ll post more about the point later.

On top of that, we’re just happy to be back! We were on a family vacation last month, and missed First Friday for the first time since opening Global Fayre in December 2007. As it happened, we were in Flagstaff and got to experience First Friday Art Walk – Arizona style!

See you on the 3rd!

More pictures of Ben Makhanya

We ‘ve already blogged a couplf of times about Ben (can you tell we’re excited about showing his work next month?)

So Cael, from Baskets of Africa, who has enabled us to plan this exhibit, has just found some more pictures of Ben.

We thought we would share them with you.

Global Fayre to feature the work of Ben Makhanya, master weaver of Zulu wire baskets

We’re thrilled to be hosting an exhibition of Ben’s work from July 3 to 31st, 2009 at Global Fayre in downtown Springfield, MO. THe exhibition has been made possible with the help of our friend Cael, at Baskets of Africa. ( a fellow member of the Fair Trade Federation)

Ben Makhanya, master weaver of Zulu wire baskets

Ben started weaving at the age of 28, in 2002. His previous job was as a bricklayer and he often had to leave his family for long periods of time to go to work on construction projects. He started weaving to earn an income and found that he thoroughly enjoyed it, experimenting with new designs, stitches and color combinations; he creates fascinating works of art.

His designs and colors are inspired from patterns he sees in things around him … it could be something as simple as a newspaper ad or a piece of clothing that gives him an idea.

Ben works very differently to the other weavers; rather than working to a prescribed pattern and shape, he is encouraged to create designs of his choosing, with his preferred size of bowl being 16 inches in diameter.

The exhibition will open during the First Friday Art Walk on July 3rd, from 6pm to 10pm.

Here are some of Ben’s beautiful creations:

First Friday at Global Fayre

We weren’t sure what kind of night we would have – the weather forecast was LOUSY.

But – the rain held off, and we had a good crowd, and the music was GREAT!

You can catch a picture of the Bluetones on James Radke’s blog

Hopefully Art Fest has got off to a good start; it’s cold out there, but dry!  We’re just 15 minutes walk from Art Fest, and the store has been busy this morning, with most people having been to the Festival already or stopping off here on their way to it.