#groundworks

DIY Paving: Dream vs. Reality

@cozypinguin and I went back to the desert from 1-10 January. We meant to be there longer, but grief got in the way again. We spent the first few days in Flagstaff, and I hiked rim to river at the grand canyon with some friends, my first time doing it in one day:

But I don't want to write about that. On 9 January, we took a day trip from Tempe -> Tucson, driving the hour forty-five on the I-10 like we used to do 2x or more per week going between our places. We went to Tucson both because we miss it, and to see our friend Logan. Logan runs Groundworks, a non-profit DIY music and arts community space, which he started about six years ago.

We had been to Groundworks once before (in 2023) to see a show headlined by awakebutstillinbed and (the sadly now defunct) Closet Goth, but I was impressed by how much the space had grown. Perhaps the cutest part was the dueling zine libraries:

Also, @cozypinguin's embroidery she made for Logan is still on display:

During the tour that Logan gave us, I realised what an incredible labor of love curating this space is. Not only does Logan book, promote, and host shows as well as classes at the space, but he is the general contractor for the space, fixing up the walls when they get busted from rowdy shows and making sure the plumbing works (side note, the plumbing is broken, donate to help them fix it here). This is technically a "part time" job for him, but he pretty clearly spends the bulk of his time at the space, including spending his afternoons recording local artists. At brunch Logan told us he is the "Ken Jennings of the Tucson DIY scene," and I couldn't agree more.

Tucson is a city that people leave. Almost everyone @cozypinguin and I knew from our time there has left, especially artists (many of whom moved to LA to explore career opportunities) and of course students/postdocs. The one constant since I moved there is Logan. He was the one who welcomed me into the scene within two months of arriving, drove me around the desert in his beat-up old touring van, and has stuck around to make Tucson a better place. I'm just another person who left. Every time I come back I gain a deeper appreciation for Logan's dedication to community, and especially the next generation. Maybe I should try to stay somewhere and be more like him.

amazon