HEY ARE YOU...

 See you at 214 Charles st.

 RSVP HERE

Music starts at 1 pm

Workshops begin at 2 pm

Bring something for Improv Dinner 

       And, (optional)

• a donation to free store
• Laptop to install Linux on for Open Source workshops
• Yoga mat for Acro or Flow Yoga
• Mason Jar for Canning workshop
• Cordage for Macrame skillshare
• Bicycle to be repaired
  
  
  
  
  
  

  *if the workshop has a star, its to remind you to bring  one of the above items

  
  

SCHEDULE
2pm

Self Defense	Learn the basics of awareness and become prepared for brewing trouble!
Linux	Become familiar with Open Source Software. Install Linux on your laptop or take a CD-ROM home*
Soap Making	Participate in making soap at home!
Canning	Hands-on instruction on how to can tomatoes and peppers*

3pm

Noncommercial Radio	Discuss opportunities in getting involved in noncommercial radio
Mindful Musiking	Learn to participate in a collective musical experience-JAM!
Canning	Hands-on instruction on how to can tomatoes and peppers*
Edible Wilds	Identify and eat wild greens and roots
Know your Presidential Candidates	Familiarize yourself with the basic platforms of seven 2012 presidential candidates

4pm

Macrame	Learn basic knots and begin a piece of jewelry or a water bottle sling*
Self-massage & Ergonomics	Alleviate sore muscles with ergonomic awareness and stretching
Body Paint from Plants	Learn to turn plants into body paint! Get Painted!
Mindful Musiking	Learn to participate in a collective musical experience-JAM!
Improv Dinner	Discuss contributions for the day and prepare a feast for the fest*
Microbiology of Fermentation	Learn the basic biology behind fermented food

5pm

Tai Chi	Participate in slow meditative exercise for relation, balance, and health
Bike Repair	Learn basic bike maintenance! Fix your bike!*
Slackline	Balance and walk on a slackline (similar to a tight rope)
Judicial Selection	Discuss a better way to select judges in Michigan
Open Source Mesh Networking	Find out how we can construct an internet for the people and by the people without corporate influence
Improv Dinner	Prepare a Feast for the Fest*

6pm

Fertility Awareness	Introduction to fertility cycles and alternative forms of birth control
Yoga	Participate in Yoga flow*
Finding your Religion	Explore your place in this universe
Food Sensitivities	Anecdotal discussion of food sensitivities

Also, happening all day long:

Live Art with Eli Stevick
Button-making, Spray Paint Stencils, Spin Art,  and Free Store!

DIY FESTIVAL - SATURDAY OCT 6

 Saturday October 6th

Skillshares, hootenany, and activities begin @ 2pm

214 Charles St

Ann Arbor

Edible Wilds       Judicial Selection         Fertility awareness
Soap Making        Wireless Mesh Networks     Macrame
Yoga            Self Massage & Ergonomics     Self defense
Bike Repair       Noncommercial Radio         Live Art
Canning              Garden Planning          Mindful Musiking         
Tai Chi            Primitive Survival         Food Sensitivities
Science           Guitar Fretboard Theory     Poetry
Crochet            Quitting Smoking           Make a Button
Stencils          Know Your Candidates        Improv Dinner

BRING  Something for Improv Dinner

                       and A Smile

                      

Challenge Yourself

CHALLENGE YOURSELF!

LEARN SOMETHING NEW WITH THE ANN ARBOR FREE SKOOL!

Forest Ecology

Join up for an Ecology walk and talk through the Arb!

 The topic of this class is going to be biodiversity and invasive species. What is biodiversity and how do we measure it? Why do we care about it in the first place? What are invasive species and what effects do they have on biodiversity? 

Let Molly be your personal Bill Nye and walk you through Michigan's natural beauty. We'll be learning to identify some of the invasive species as well as native plants, and running a very basic biodiversity index on some data that we'll collect. Come and enjoy the beautiful fall weather while it lasts, get outside and come play in the woods!

Things you should bring: Notebook & pen, scientific calculator, and if you just happen to have a plant field guide laying around bring that too! . 

Thursday, September 20th

located at Nichols Arboretum

meet at the Peonies Gardens at 5:00PM

(entrance on washington heights)

Get Scienced!

RSVP on

Interested in joining a Book Club?

Fill out our Book Club Inquiry today!



Drawing Class - Saturday @ 1PM

Want to improve your doodles!?

Join the Drawing Class
with Josh Kulpa
ONE to TWO PM 
This Saturday, the 8th.
@ Mighty Good Coffee
on 217 Main between Miller and W. Ann

Bring Your Own 1.Pencils, 2.Papers 3.Smile

See you there!

BEFORE

.

AFTER

An Open Letter on the Open Call

God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.

—Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

This past Friday, August 31, the Ann Arbor Free Skool, under the aegis of my roommate and dear friend, the inexhaustible Hanah Zinn, held an open call at the Basin. The goal, in administrative parlance, was meeting, greeting, and recruiting. Flyers for the event were colorful and sundry. A lineup of terrific local bands was arranged; a local shadow puppeteer and an Ypsi-based painter demonstrated their crafts. T-shirts were spray painted with handmade stencils; buttons were designed and created; acro-yoga was performed and taught in the backyard. Pirate radio, wireless mesh networks and other outrages to the commercial powers-that-be were openly discussed.

Any broken-hearted idealist (like me) would have been awakened by what the event represented, what it felt like: the marriage of ideals and action we've sought for so long.

The Ann Arbor Free Skool is that marriage. It is the free and nonjudgmental expression of the individual and collective talent. The foundational belief is that we are all good at something, all capable of teaching something, and furthermore that we all want to learn something we are not good at. It's what the internet would be if it were actually real, if it were all people. We don't Google how to tie a knot or write a short story; we ask our fellow free skooler how and, whether they know the answer or not, we forge a connection and make a friend.

There is in your community an organization that is determined to disseminate your knowledge and skill to the populace, free of fear. We have no interest in turning a profit off of your hard work. We won't sit around making excuses for why X won't work or worrying that Y will get us arrested. We're just gonna do it, fait accompli, no apologies, like good Mitt Romney supporters (just kidding).

In a sea of one-time fees and activation costs and daily deals that get the average human being nowhere, the Ann Arbor Free Skool is a floating oasis of enlightenment and freedom, and we respectfully invite you to participate, or at least dance along to the band. For our efforts, The Basin received a noise violation—another way for the police to skim a few extra dollars off of a good time. But in the larger scope of what the Free Skool could become, with the help of its community, they ain't heard nothin' yet.

                                                                                                   —Bryan Kelly

                                                                                                              Mayoral Candidate, 2026

Note from the inexhaustible Hanah Zinn:

We will be contesting the noise violation issued that night.  If you would like to serve as a witness on behalf of what was a respectful and non-intrusive gathering, be at the 15^th District Court (301 E Huron) on Monday, Sept. 10 @ 10:15 AM sharp.