The primary goal of Marrowâa nonprofit community space in St. Johns that focuses on arts, education, and activismâis to offer âa hub for youth to grow and strengthen, so they can go out into their communities and provide support, education, and mutual aid, like blood cells from marrow.â Originally born in the shed behind radical community center and music venue Anarres Infoshop (which is currently without a brick-and-mortar location), Marrow has shared a building on North Lombard with offices and a yoga studio since early 2017.
âI had been working for an unschooling programâa sect of homeschooling where the idea is that humans are naturally curious, that weâll learn the things we need to learn and [that] school is sort of an outdated concept,â explains Daylynn Lambi, who founded Marrow in 2015 after that program lost funding. âI went to grad school for community arts education, so this was always the goal. My thesis looked at why traditional education isnât actually engaging for most youth.â
Marrowâs programming is geared toward ages 10 to 24, and members can enroll seasonally or Ă la carte. In addition to its youth market, gallery, and free store, the versatile event space functions as a movie theater, music venue, and classroom with drop-in hours, open mics, and workshops addressing a wide range of topics, from bridge building to dialectical behavior therapy. Next month Marrow will host its second annual âNo Thanks-givingâ potluck, and Lambi says theyâre planning a Christmas gathering as well.
âOne of our neighbors is an older indigenous man, and he was at Standing Rock shooting film photography,â Lambi says of last yearâs No Thanks-giving. âHe came and showed all of his photographs, and other indigenous and Mexican families who didnât want to celebrate Thanksgiving came and brought traditional food, and then we had all of our displaced queer kids who didnât want to celebrate whatâs usually a family holiday.â
Part of what Marrow provides is this sanctuary, a refuge from home and school, but Lambiâs vision also includes giving youth responsibilities and leadership positions in the areas theyâre passionate about: âOur core mission is to empower youth to figure out what path they want through life, and to allow them to shed the societal expectations of what a successful life looks like.â
Earlier this year Marrow began holding all-ages concerts, which are booked by a youth collective member. So far, theyâve featured performances from Portland musician Mira Death, who released several excellent albums over the past few years with her glam-punk band Sweeping Exits, and NYC-based riot grrrl outfit T-Rextasy, who released their punchy debut LP Jurassic Punk in 2016.
âWhen I describe the venue to people, I say itâs like a house show but our toilets flush, or a chill bar but we donât serve alcohol and thereâs no creepy guy in the corner hitting on your friends,â Lambi says. âA really weird thing was that about halfway through this year, bands started contacting us as a venue. Prior to that itâd just been, like, about a dozen youth who are involved in Marrow and in bands, and some of them would play here once a month.â
Though these concerts are usually open to the public, the priority is still youth performers and concertgoers, meaning no one under 25 will be turned away for lack of funds. And when adult bands are booked, âWe ask them to either give us 75 percent of what comes in at the door or they can lead a workshop, so weâve had touring bands lead beat-boxing and looping workshops,â Lambi explains. âWhen youth bands book the space, we give them all the door proceeds.â
Looking forward, Lambi has both short- and long-term goals for Marrow: to finish converting an old mail truck into a snack station to be parked outside; to provide free lunch for youth twice a month; to move Marrow into a larger, more permanent home, ideally one where they can have a woodshop and computer lab (and where they wonât have to schedule concerts around the yoga classes upstairs); and âto have a bigger group of youth leading the show.â
Like any nonprofit space, itâs a challenge finding the means to pay rent, electric, and insurance. Marrow has a board of directors in charge of fundraising, but theyâre also just adults who are invested in the organizationâs missionâone board member is the construction teacher at Roosevelt High School who, with his students, installed new flooring at the space. Right now Lambi says theyâre applying for grants, âbut weâre really dependent on people who think that what weâre doing is important.â