OPIRG staff and volunteers are spending their summer getting the downtown InfoShop in shape for community use! We have just started organizing a series of committees to look after different aspects of the Infoshop and we need you to lend your creativity!

So what is an Infoshop?

An Infoshop is a volunteer-run and self-managed community and social center for action-oriented activities, including a computer center, meeting space, a library with radical literature, a shop with books, zines, patches, and more. An Infoshop is a free space where people are invited to hang out, talk, meet, play and organize. Everyone is welcome!

The Committees

The following is a list of the committee we having running right now, if you are interested in joining one..two..or all of them just send us an email at opirgbu@gmail.com and let us know what peaked your interest!If you're interested in something entirely different then what we have right now send us an email and let us know-we'll help you get started!

SWAP IT Center

An exciting project that encourages communication and connection in our community!

The idea of the SWAP IT Center is to connect folk that are looking to trade stuff, skills, rides and many other swappables!We have a SWAP IT board in the Infoshop where you can put what you need, what you have, and where you can donate what you no longer need.

Next Meeting; Tuesday May 18th @ 12 in the InfoShop

Zine Library

Miss the days of white glue and cut and paste??

We do too! To deal with our nostalgia for cut and paste days we are putting together a zine making committee who will work towards producing zines for the InfoShop zine library!

Zines are self-made, independently published booklets made by cutting and pasting text and images! They can be about anything and are a great way to share information!

Bike Repair

The very exciting Bike Repair committee will be focused on a few things this summer and many other things that we will figure out with your help!

So far we’d like to build a bike tool storage space in the InfoShop that can be accessible to anyone needing to fix their bikes. Going along with this logic, we plan on holding a number of “ Know Your Bike” workshops that will take folks on a guided tour of their bikes, getting to know the parts, the tools and of course how to fix any bike related problems!

Fundraising will also be a part of this committee; we need mulla to buy bike tools! There have been whispers of putting together a “wine route bike tour” as a fundraisers!

Fundraising/Commercial

We are so excited to finally have a physical space in downtown St Catharines so it goes without saying that we are keen to keep it downtown for as long as we can. In order to keep the Shop running it needs to become financially sustainable.

This committee will be working on different fund-raising strategies to raise income for the Shop.

Activist Art Zone

Patches-T-Shirts-Murals and oh so much more! So far, the Art Center has a screen-printing station, a button making station, a ton of art supplies, and room for anything else we can imagine! Projects we have in mind include making custom t-shirts using different patches and silk screened images/text, tote bags, and murals to decorate our white walls!

This committee will also be putting on activist art workshops to share their crafty skills!

Rotating Gallery

This is a gallery for us all; if you have drawings, photographs, paintings, and in general art as you define it this is a space available to you.

This will be a great way to cover up our currently white walls with lots of rad local art!We will collectively decide how often to meet, how to run our meetings and of course what art we will feature in the Infoshop!

If you want to connect with local artists, like art, do art yourself, or want to help with organizing and helping this project start , the Rotating Gallery is the committee for you!

FreeSkool

Freeskool is a space where people can come together across communities and share in learning.
We all know things and have stories or skills to share, and Freeskool works to provide an egalitarian, radically inclusive, anti-oppressive setting for that sharing to take place.

The summer term of FreeSkool is beginning in June and we are looking for eager facilitators! Anyone can facilitate a class on any topic whether they have skills or want to meet with people that have skills! Send an email to us to propose your idea. Looking forward to some summer learning in the sun!

for more information about courses being run, check out opirgbrock.org/freeskool