Behind the scenes of the new group show 'Love No Border' with Scooter LaForge at the Lower East Side Girls Club

On Monday evening, "Love No Border," a new group show, opened at the Lower East Side Girls Club on Avenue D at Eighth Street.

Per the official description:

How do we cope in a world with almost a billion refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons? How do we respond in a country that separates families, puts children in cages, denies basic human rights and dignity to tens of thousands of desperate people seeking refuge at our doors? It’s been said “Strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others.” Love No Border is an artists’ call to action.

In this show, "Love No Border," artists from throughout the United States and Mexico are using their time and talents to give voice, to give witness, to give love and support to those who, like them, are standing up for others.

East Village resident Scooter LaForge, known for his sculptures and large-scale graffiti-inspired paintings, is among the artists showing work here.

Leading up to the event, LaForge worked with members of the Girls Club and staffers Mary Adams and Amarilis Jimenez to create his contribution, a 12-foot sculpture created out of donated stuffed animals that were turned into "immigration-enforcement monsters." LaForge and the members also made signs for the protest installation.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy joined LaForge and the Girls Club members for two art workshops, first in April then in August...

April

August

And here's the final work, as seen on Monday...



"Love No Border" is on view through Nov. 30. There will also be events throughout the run of the show to raise funds for immigrant aid organizations. Find the schedule at this link.

Holiday Fair at the Lower East Side Girls Club today

It's #Holiday Fair time 🎁📣☃️Sat Dec 3rd from 12-5pm we will be selling #fairtrade #girlmade beautiful products and yummy treats! #madebyus 💪Give the #gift that keeps giving 💖 Each sale goes towards supporting the development and #empowerment of young girls and women worldwide 😍#entrepreneurship #womeninbusiness #craft #craftfair #girlsrock

A photo posted by Lower Eastside Girls Club NY (@girlsclubny) on Dec 1, 2016 at 11:30am PST

Noon to 5 p.m. today... entrance is on Eighth Street near Avenue D...

Girl ComicCon today at the Lower Eastside Girls Club

Via the EVG inbox...

Girl ComicCon, Sat., Oct. 17 from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Lower Eastside Girls Club, 402 E. Eighth St. at Avenue D...
Free admission

Girl Power Comix, Mini Zines, Comix Jewelry
Presentations and Panels at 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., featuring the legendary Marguerite Van Cook

There will be venders tables in the Gallery space with super hero sandwiches and girl power bars available

Moms speak out about guns with the help of an illustrated book

This morning outside PS 188 on East Houston and Avenue D, a group from The Lower Eastside Girls Club’s (LESGC) Moms Speak Out campaign — women who have been affected by gun violence — joined City Council Member Laurie Cumbo, and reps from the Middle Project of Middle Collegiate Church to launch the distribution of 3,500 copies of William Electric Black's illustrated book "A Gun Is Not Fun."

LESGC's Moms Speak Out participants plan to distribute the books in front of every public school and day-care center with Pre-K through 2nd grade classes in the East Village-Lower East Side.



"I wrote this book because we are losing too many young people of color to gun violence," said Black, aka Ian James, who received seven Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on "Sesame Street." "It is a plague facing our nation and something must be done so I decided to use the 'Sesame Street' target audience and start educating them about this timely, and too often deadly, issue."



Photos by Stacie Joy

Holiday Craft Fair tomorrow at the Lower East Side Girls Club

Via the EVG inbox...

Why there's an Airstream trailer inside the new Lower Eastside Girls Club home

Several years back when we posted about the new Lower Eastside Girls Club HQ on Avenue D, we sort of recall hearing something about an Airstream recording studio ... one of the many amenities such as a fair trade bookstore and gift shop, a library for after-school tutoring and a commercial kitchen and culinary training center. But we didn't give it much more thought.

Now let's fast-forward to this past Friday on Avenue D.

Oh.

Say, isn't that a'58 Overlander?

Girls Club Executive Director Lyn Pentecost passed along these photos with an explanation.

"The radio lab/recording studio in our new building will be housed in a repurposed '58 Airstream — on the second floor," she said.

And on Friday, workers brought in the Airstream ... which had to be installed inside the building before they closed up the façade ...

[Aaron Lee Fineman]

[Aaron Lee Fineman]

[Aaron Lee Fineman]

"The recording studio will be used to run a local digital radio station, produce youth podcasts and long-form audio pieces, and for classes in DJing and audio mixing," Pentecost said.

The Airstream recording studio is the brainchild of Dave Pentecost, Lyn's husband, who has more than 25 years of experience in television production and editing.

The Pentecosts have a summer cabin in the Adirondacks. Dave had apparently spotted it for sale at an old gas station nearby. "Quite the bargain, although we did have to gut it, reinforce it and put the shine back on," she said. "And then get it from there to here."

A note for the Prune brunch crowds

We've previously noted the weekend brunch lines outside Prune on East First Street...

...something that Prune's next-door neighbors — the Lower Eastside Girls Club — are now politely noting ...

Of course, not everyone is paying attention just yet...

Beaming up at the new Lower Eastside Girls Club home

We've noted the progress on the new Lower Eastside Girls Club home going up on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street... You can see a lot of the progress on the Seventh and Eighth Street sides... However, a walk by this past weekend revealed the first beams going up on the Avenue D side ...

Previously.

Year-end updates: The new Lower Eastside Girls Club

As I reported earlier, 2010 is winding down, or something... I'm just checking in on the progress of a few high-profile developments that we discussed this year... Today, here's a few (pre-blizzard) shots of the new Lower Eastside Girls Club building going up on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street...





Here's the official news release with more details on what the HQ will house.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Passion and progress at the new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club

At the Lower Eastside Girls Club groundbreaking Friday

On Friday, the Lower Eastside Girls Club held their official groundbreaking for their new home on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street .... aside from local politicians, East Village native Rosario Dawson was on hand...

I couldn't attend the ceremony, unfortunately... For more on the groundbreaking... here's a piece on NY1. The Lo-Down has coverage... as does DNAinfo....

Here's the official news release with more details on what the HQ will house.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Passion and progress at the new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club

Passion and progress at the new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club

Big day today for the Lower Eastside Girls Club... they'll be holding a press ceremony for their official groundbreaking for their new home on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street .... aside from some local politicians, Rosario Dawson will be on hand...

And there is significant progress here to note....




Meanwhile, Girls Club Executive Director Lyn Pentecost told me about the five murals on their construction fence along Avenue D ... painted by some of the leading women in the graffiti movement: TooFly, Lenora Jayne, Marthalicia and CeCe. (You can read more about it on Lenora Jayne's blog here.)







All very good news...

People waiting in line outside Prune don't read signs

You've seen the big lines here at Prune on First Street for weekend brunch....



While you're standing there, then you may want to read this sign next door outside the home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club....



Not that people are really paying attention to the sign....

Girlzilla!

You may have seen this towering robot yesterday in Tompkins Square Park during the Howl! Festival... It's Girlzilla, created this summer by the Lower East Side Girls Club. The Times has the story on how she came to be. Very cool story.

Construction under way for new Lower Eastside Girls Club home

On Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street... read about about it here.






I also meant to mention Celebrate Café, which operates inside the Bowery Poetry Club... The Lower Eastside Girls Club runs the Café as an entrepreneurial and job training program that employs local youth and young adults. They just had their official grand opening... BoweryBoogie has more here...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Lower Eastside Girls Club's "urban paradise" closer to reality