A week of festivities awaits...

Hello Commoners!

We hope you are keeping well as you prepare for this season of festivity and thanksgiving! Since opening in mid November, the Commons has quickly become a great place for people to meet, make new connections, and experience 'community' as more than just a word. We are open for just one more week before a holiday break, and there are some fantastic opportunities to come and experience this unique place, starting tonight!

Tonight (Friday 7th) @ 7pm - Deadbeat Cafe - local original music
Deadbeat Cafe, a local pop up events group, will be running the cafe tonight, and providing us with some fantastic local music, as well as a great chill-out atmosphere. Facebook event page here.


Tuesday 11th December @ 6pm - Conversations for Change: Engineering, Reconciliation and the Murray Darling Basin
Newcastle's branch of Engineers Without Borders host a presentation by Matthew Witham and Catherine (Peps) Pepper, who will share their experiences from 2 weeks on the road visiting Aboriginal communities in the Murray Darling Basin as a part of EWB’s 2012 Dialogues on Country program. Hear about some of the highlights, challenges and inspiration gained on a road trip covering over 5000km, 15 nations and many language groups on one of the largest river systems on earth. Facebook event page here.



Wednesday 12th December @ 7pm - Jazz & Funk night with Neon Connective and Funkwit
2 of Newcastle's best and brightest young bands, Funkwit and Neon Connective join forces for the double header of the year. If you enjoy good jazz, funk and coffee, this is your destination! $10 entry. Facebook event page here

Neon Connective

Thursday 13th December @ 7pm-8.30pm - Cheesemaking 'With Miss Kate'
Local commoner Kate Ross will be hosting a cheesemaking class under the banner of her business 'With Miss Kate'. Kate will have you making amazing cheese in no time at all, just in time to wow your family for Christmas! Cost TBC. For more information and to RSVP, please contact Kate at withmisskate<at>hotmail.com

One of Kate's amazing cheeses

Friday 14th December @ 7pm - A Very Commons Christmas Party
 To celebrate our last day of being open for 2012, we're hosting a Christmas party! Yay! We are encouraging people to bring some Christmas food (international Christmas food is particularly welcome!). Miriam will be making some delicious Greek treats (baklava!!!) and Tim will concoct amazing Finnish sweets as well. There will be Christmas-themed open mic for those inclined, and for the artists/makers out there you are welcome to bring any wares you'd like to sell at our mini market. Wear Christmas attire! Facebook event page here

All events are held at the Commons - Level 1, 150 Beaumont Street, Hamilton. We're also open Thursdays 2-7pm, Fridays 2-late and Saturdays 10am-2pm, so stop by and see what all the fuss is about!

Peace and warm wishes,

The Commons Team

Tonight's Friday Night Unwind - The Lurkers, Basil/Donna/Riley and Musketeer

Hello Commoners!

Just a reminder that we have three lovely acts coming to serenade us at The Commons tonight. It will be the perfect way to unwind on a Friday evening. Stop by for a coffee, and a piece of Tim's fresh-baked macadamia, pear and cinnamon banana bread!

These delicious banana breads may not last very long...

TONIGHT! 7pm start, at The Commons - Level 1, 150 Beaumont Street, Hamilton.
$5 entry (all proceeds go to the acts!), and cafe will be open for hot drinks, sweets, etc. All age friendly!

Last week's music experience at The Commons.

The acts:

1. Musketeer - bluesy guitar and vocals care of Joseph Pogson, our coolest friend and barista at the Sourdough Cafe.

2. Basil/Donna/Riley - Basil (trumpet player) collaborates with local duo Riley & Donna to bring some lovely sounds.

3. (Some of) Sydney bluegrass group The Lurkers - Mim (fiddle) and Nick (double bass) stop by to delight us with a few of their own tunes.

For those of you who have yet to experience the Commons, this will be a wonderful and relaxed introduction - so do stop by!

Peace,

Caitlin.

Open for Business!

The eminent Wesley (in the painting) watches over the people's library.

Thank you to the 130+ people who came along to help us launch The Commons - it was an incredible night filled with good conversation, good food and good times!

Photo by Amelia Koh-Butler

A special mention to those who gave their time both on the night and leading up to the event - it certainly takes a village, and we were fortunate to have an amazing group of people to make the dream a reality!

Tim finishing one of the many coffees we sold that night! (Photo by AKB)

Enjoying the pineapple lounge - you wouldn't know it was a roadside pick-up. (Photo by AKB)

For those of you were weren't able to make the launch, never fear! The Commons is now open for business. Our hours are:

Thursdays 2-7pm
Fridays 2-late
Saturdays 10am-2pm

You can find us at Level 1, 150 Beaumont Street - upstairs in the building known as 'Fellowship House'.

Come check out our people's library, play DJ on the record player, meet a friend or enjoy a great coffee/tea/hot choc/cake. We are all-age friendly, and there's a kids' play/reading area.

We are also looking for people to join our team of volunteers - please get in contact if you'd like to join the action!

The Commons Launch - this Friday!

We're 2 days out from the launch of The Commons - People's Library, Cafe & Arts Space!

We'd love for you to join us in celebrating the opening of this venture. The cafe will be open, the library will be ready for you to explore, and we'll have a mix of vinyl records and live music.

The details:

Friday 16th November
7pm-9pm
The Commons - Level 1, 150 Beaumont Street, Hamilton
$5 at the door - includes wine/juice and light food.

Yay! Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, take note that we will be open Saturday 17th from 10am-2pm for you to check the space out too.

Excitement abounds!

How to find The Commons: 

We are located next door to Hamilton Wesley Uniting Church on Beaumont Street (opposite the Hamilton Exchange Hotel). We're on Level 1 (UPSTAIRS) inside the big brick building - 150 Beaumont Street - also known as 'Fellowship House'. Go in the doors, up the stairs on your left and you've reached The Commons' front door!

A Grand Old Furniture Upcycling Day

Another day, another working bee!

This time we were hanging out at Caitlin and Tim’s backyard in Holmesville, dodging the hot sunshine and the occasional chicken as people sanded, scraped, hammered, glued, washed, painted, lacquered and all those handy type things.

Wooden chairs (roadside pickups) all newly oiled!

Oh the joyous disarray.

We had a few people working hard on our amazing bookshelves made from old doors. Others were oiling and preparing furniture. Andy, our upholsterer overlord, did an incredible job sewing pineapple-patterned cushions for one of the lounges we found on the side of the road.

"I've been working for 4 hours on this sewing machine! I love pineapple!"

 It is amazing how much furniture we have accumulated from council pick ups or donations by friends and family. Or from Tim's grandparents' shed. Actually, let's be honest. Most of it is from Tim's grandparents' shed, which we believe may in fact be Eden, from whence all things come. We have hardly bought any furniture for The Commons at all! 

Mandy and Paul. And Tim's knee.

Caitlin and Tim, the hosts with the mostest.

It was a relaxed day and we enjoyed more than one tea break along the way. Thank you to Paul, James, Tristan, Tim E, Vicki, Tony, Tim G, Caitlin, Andy, Bel, Mandy, Glen, Aidan and Jasmin who, it can be agreed, are the best furniture upcycling team EVER.

Tea time! Tristan, Andy and...looks like Aidan's asleep again.

Bel and Jasmin, pondering. Or looking at the roof. Either or.

I (Caitlin) was thinking today that the best part about all of the work we put in is that we all own a part of the Commons – we will be able to look around the Commons and say “I painted that wall!” “I sanded that table!” “I catalogued those books!” We all have a stake in the outcome, and it belongs to all of us, and we built it from nothing. And that is VERY. AWESOME.

Worker Bees Assemble!

It's all happening! Photo by Luke Oliver

We had a working bee in early October! We hoped people would come, and were humbled and inspired by the amazing people that showed up to toil away washing and painting walls.

Second coat of cream going on.

The day before the bee, it was the most ridiculously hot day, and we were worried that it would just be too muggy to work comfortably. But hallejulah! Clouds and a cool breeze turned up and we worked a full day, with people coming in and out, lending a hand.

Go Anneleise! Thank goodness no one opened the door at this moment.

 Our expectations were that it would take a day to wash and clean the walls, and it was our hope that we could start painting at some point too. But our amazing early morning team zipped through and washed the walls in an hour! So we were able to get two coats of paint by the end of the day – YES! What a team effort! It definitely helped that we had smooth tunes care of the record player and Tim and Caitlin’s vinyl collection – Chicago, Beach Boys, The Who Ella Fitzgerald and Dixieland jazz all made an appearance!

Goodbye ugly mural...hello olive library wall!

By the end of the weekend, we were able to finally see the space start to take shape. A huge thank you to Andrew, Amelia, Anneleise, Mandy, Tim, David, Rob, Caitlin, Chris, Alex, Ramona & Terry, and for moral support: Luke, Mim, Emma & dog Millie. Next stop, furniture upcycling day!

The First Look...

We are terrible at writing regular blog posts! Obviously. So much has been going on at The Commons and there is so much to update you all on!

As Andy mentioned in the last post, the most momentous happening of late is that we secured a space (woot!) – the lovely folk at Hamilton Wesley Uniting Church on Beaumont Street, Hamilton have provided us with the upper level of Fellowship House. The building is next door to the church, and we have a lot of space to work with, which is exciting! Yeah!

Oh that mural...what to say...

We were a little hesitant at first; were really hoping to find a non-church space, as we know that there can be a lot of stigma/bad experiences for some people in regard to churches. But in the end we realised that, after a year of searching unsuccessfully for a space, sometimes you work with the resources at hand. 

Mural and boardroom behind, looking towards the front door.

And what a resource it is! The folk at Hamilton Wesley have been amazing, and we have been given freedom the likes of which we would never have known in an official ‘commercial’ space. 

The kitchenette - needs some love! And a lot of paint.

This funny little nook will be the library office/admin space.

We are guaranteed the space for somewhere around 12 months, or longer depending on their plans to redevelop the building.

The Boardroom. Note the appropriately stern looks and patriotic decor.

As you can see from the photos, the spaced requires a lot of love, and we have been well busy doing TLC. We’ll show more pics in the next post.

So yes! Exciting, exciting! Watch this space. We’ll be posting all sorts of things on here in the coming weeks.

Peace out x