By David John Chávez, with Jeffrey Lo
Substrate Arts co-founder David John Chávez sits with Bay Area theater maker Jeffery Lo about his career and the state of local arts producing.
Category Archives: Arts Instigators
Alternative Comics Are Beautiful
By Nicole Gluckstern, with Avi Ehrlich
Substrate Arts co-founder Nicole Gluckstern spoke with the instigator of Silver Sprocket, Avi Ehrlich, about the balance between community benefit and commercial enterprise, and how the comic book industry can learn from the indie music scene.
Mission Possible
By Nicole Gluckstern
Mission District Filmmakers Mike Kuchar, Maria “M” Judice and Naomi Garcia Pasmanick are keeping the DIY spirit alive.
Representing three generations of filmmaking, these three artists have carved out their own creative niches; each one embodying a neighborhood that embraces its original thinkers and gives them the space to manifest their own liberation.
A Spaceship, A Vessel, A Portal
By Julius Rea, with with Michael Arcega, Paolo Asuncion & Rachel Lastimosa
An American-mad motorcycle transforms into a healing container for Filipino lives.
Substrate interviews the creators behind TNT Traysikel, a mobile installation uplifting history, shared grief, and collective joy.
September 2, 1990
By Hiya Swanhuyser
Nazi punks, fuck off! The night of a small-town rebellion.
Bad trouble came to Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater in the form of skinheads wearing military-style jackets, tall boots, and armbands with swastikas. That night, a group of teenagers banded together to resist that racist violence—culminating in an intense but nearly forgotten confrontation.
Crafting a Narrative Inside & Out
By David John Chávez, with Sean San José
As part of Substrate Arts’ Launch Party held at Magic Theatre in June 2023, Substrate Arts co-founder David John Chávez spoke with Sean San José, artistic director of Magic Theatre and co-founder of Campo Santo.
Sweet Heartache Landscape
By Hiya Swanhuyser, with Yea-Ming Chen
As part of Substrate Arts’ Launch Party held at Magic Theatre in June 2023, Substrate Arts co-founder Hiya Swanhuyser spoke onstage with songwriter, composer, and actor Yea-Ming Chen.
No EXIT
By Nicole Gluckstern
No EXIT, a post-mortem.
What will become of EXIT Theatre’s vision of an expanding Tenderloin arts district now that they’ve closed up shop at 156 Eddy Street?
Fence Me In: A Sonoma County Story
By Hiya Swanhuyser
“Sonoma County children both growing and grown share memories of the Running Fence…They don’t notice it lining the community center ceiling to baffle sound. They sell the livestock they’ve raised in front of it. If they do notice it, they wonder why it’s so huge, and what it’s made of, and why it’s so oddly unlikely to catch fire, although if you really try you can set it on fire a little.”
Lowriding with J.J.
By David John Chávez
“The burgeoning Chicano culture, lowrider cars and bikes, Lowrider Magazine, which published for the first time in 1977 and a firm commitment to a whole new fashion for brown kids everywhere made for the perfect time for the 18-year-old Amaya to move his fledgling audience in a whole new direction.”