The Flywheel Arts Collective is a

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

ly run,

DIY culture "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

non-profit performance space, in

Easthampton, Massachusetts Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is on the southeastern edge of the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 c ...

. Flywheel hosts cheap and free shows as well as community events and workshops. Flywheel is governed by consensus and is run by volunteers. Its programming schedule is determined by members of the Flywheel community, which is open for anyone to join, get trained in their operations, or to schedule an event. In spring of 1998, the Valley Arts and Music Alliance (VAMA) was founded by Cindy Bow and Helen Harrison, a grassroots collective with the aim of producing shows that reflected the artists visions rather than the values of the music industry. Throughout the rest of 1998, the group put together more than two dozen shows before finding a permanent location at 2 Holyoke Street, where it came to be known as Flywheel. The doors for Flywheels first location opened in March 1999. The mission statement of Flywheel is to build community and provide artists with an environment in which creativity is valued over profit, believing that art and information should be accessible and affordable for everyone. Most of the bands that play at Flywheel are local artists, though there are occasionally performances by more well-known acts such as Kill Your Idols, Thurston Moore, and

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

. Not only does Flywheel showcase musicians, but they also provide a space for art openings, theater, poetry readings, performance art and film screenings. Flywheel held its last show at its old location on Holyoke Street in March 2007. However, April 15, 2010 saw the beginning of a three-day grand re-opening celebration of the Flywheel Arts Collective in its new home in Easthampton's historic Old Town Hall on 43 Main Street.

References

External links

Official Website
{{coord, 42, 16, 16.6, N, 72, 40, 19.4, W, region:US, display=title Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts Social centres in the United States Arts centers in Massachusetts Artist cooperatives in the United States All-ages DIY venues in the United States Cooperatives based in Massachusetts