When: Friday, April 25th 7PM-9PM Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 RSVP here! It’s April and time for the Season 10 finale of How to Build a Fire. The installation at Open Source this month is Kathleen McDermott’s Repair Shop, an exploration …
When: Friday, March 21st @ 7:00 PM Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Last month we heard stories about the whirlpool of events in our news feeds, about our efforts to hold onto our hearts and spiral upward. It’s a month …
When: Friday, February 28th @ 7:00 PM Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Angela Glover Blackwell, talking about chaos and despair more than 10 years ago, focused on the weird inertia that can settle on you when you live in such …
HTBAF: Impending… When: January 31st @7pm Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St., Brooklyn RSVP Now! Here we are, friends and neighbors, waist deep in the big muddy, as Pete Seeger sang. Caligula 2.0 will have come online by the time we meet for How to …
HTBAF: In Communion/In Community When: December 19 @7pm Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St., Brooklyn RSVP Now! “Without community, there is no liberation.” – Audre Lorde We’re breaking bread this month at HTBAF. Come join us for an Open Kitchen edition, share a meal prepared …
HTBAF: How We Evolve When: September 27 @7pm Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St., Brooklyn RSVP Now! “All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change.” – Octavia Butler Where do we …
When: Friday, October 25 @7pm Where: Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St., Brooklyn RSVP Now! This month, we’re in the gallery on the eve of Marlene Hausegger’s exhibit, “Scabby: A Rat About Town.” Scabby, the giant rat who stands as herald, as town crier outside non-union …
Friday, August 23, 7pm The dog days of summer … and of civilization as we know it? Well, maybe that’s a bit heavy for a Friday night, but the temps are high, the oceans are rising, the reefs are bleaching, the golden frogs are nearly …
HTBAF: Beauty is as Beauty Does When: Friday, July 26, 7pm Where: Open Source Gallery (306 17th St, Brooklyn) RSVP Now! Mirror, mirror on the wall … What do you see when you look at yourself? Do you see your shine, your cleverness, your empathetic …
How To Build A Fire: Transformers When: June 21, 2024 Where: Open Source Gallery RSVP Now! For June, we’ll be in the gallery with Zé Kielwagen’s BAFO! Beauty Temple, an exploration, a celebration, an installation, a veneration. Our theme is Transformers, and we’ll be surrounded …
How To Build A Fire: Stitches When: May 30th, 7pm Where: Open Source Gallery RSVP Now! What holds us together, binds us to one another? What dissolves us into side-aching laughter? How do we put ourselves back together after trauma or tragedy or adorn ourselves …
Welcome to Season 10 of How to Build a Fire! Season 10! Hundreds of stories have been shared around the Open Source campfire, and this new season will continue the tradition of sharing and love created by poet Terence Degnan and fostered by Monika Wuhrer …
STORYTELLING Thursday, February 29th, 7-9pm @ Puffin Cultural Forum 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666-4111 (167 Bus from Port Authority) Register now! Themes: Leap of Faith and Leap into the Void It’s the final show for Season 9 of How to Build a Fire. …
STORYTELLING Thursday, January 25th, 7-9pm @ Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 January at Open Source feels like hibernation. There is no show in the gallery this month, so we look inward, wrapping ourselves in our stories and ideas. The theme for …
STORYTELLING Thursday, December 21st, 7-9pm @ Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Theme: Kujichagulia: Self Determination December at Open Source is How to Build a Fire and Open Kitchen, a simple dinner for community members spiced up with storytelling! The HTBAF hosts …
STORYTELLING Thursday, November 30th, 7-9pm @ Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Theme: Grace This month, How to Build a Fire will be surrounded by Gwenyth Chao’s, Compos(t)ing Spaces. Chao is interested in biomaterials, in taking what is seen as refuse and …
STORYTELLING Thursday, October 26th, 7-9pm @ Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Theme: Compose This month, How to Build a Fire’s stories will be told as Gwenyth Chao’s project, Compos(t)ing Spaces is installed in the gallery. The exhibition will include an experimental …
STORYTELLING Thursday, September 28th, 7pm-9pm @ Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 Theme: Unity – I Am You, and Vibrations The exhibit at Open Source this month is “Valley of Unity,” which is based on a passage from Attar of Nishapur’s The …
Thursday, August 17th, 7pm-9pm Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: Theme: hiatus/ breathe 4 x 15 min Stories This month, the gallery is an open space – no installation, just us and our tall tales. It’s August, there’s a chunk …
Thursday, July 27th, 7pm-9pm Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: Theme: Evolution 4 x 15 min Stories This month, the gallery is all about “Precipitate,” a project by SCOPE, and our HTBAF theme is “evolution.” How will the future unfold? …
Thursday, June 22nd, 7pm-9pm Note: HTBAF happens USUALLY every last Thursday of each month! Just this month it is a week earlier. Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: Theme: Scope 4 x 15 min Stories An open gallery.* A space …
Thursday, May 25th, 7pm-9pm Note: HTBAF happens every last Thursday of each month! Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: Theme: Interwoven 4 x 15 min Stories We continue to find ways to push back against the isolation and separation created …
Thursday, April 20th, 7pm-9pm Note: Usually, HTBAF happens every last Thursday of each month! Only April is a week earlier! Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: 4 x 15 min Stories How to Build a Fire is a community storytelling …
When: Thursday March 30th, 7pm-9pm Note: HTBAF happens every last Thursday of each month! Where: Open Source Gallery 306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215 What: 4 x 15 min Stories How to Build a Fire is a community storytelling series where a diverse group of …
When: NOTE: corrected date: Friday Feb 24th, 7pm-9pm Where: Puffin Cultural Forum 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666-4111 (167 Bus from Port Authority) What: 4 x 15 min Stories How to Build a Fire is a community storytelling series where …
WHEN: Sept 30TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY ON ZOOM (Meeting ID: 814 6461 8804) WHO: Denver Butson and Malcolm Allen Note: There is unfortunately a small break in Malcom Allen’s story due to internet problems. …
WHEN: August 26TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 848 7269 0991) but you will miss out on zoom – in person is so much better !!! WHO: Andrew Steiner Andrew Steiner won Best …
WHEN: July 29TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY AND ON ZOOM (Meeting ID: 896 8777 0185) WHO: Malcolm Allen Malcolm Allen manages a production warehouse in Brooklyn. where he lives with his wife, Sara, and daughters Ruth …
WHEN: JUNE 24TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 820 9151 4253) WHO: Erin Parsons Erin is a Real Estate Agent and Entrepreneur in Brooklyn. She spent fourteen years in event management, the restaurant …
WHEN: May 27TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY AND ON ZOOM (Meeting ID: 886 4482 5773) WHO: Keisha-Gaye Anderson I am Jamaican-born poet, writer, visual artist, and communications and marketing strategist based in Brooklyn, NY. My debut …
WHEN: APRIL 29TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY AND ON ZOOM (Meeting ID: 892 0295 3868) WHO: SANJANA NAIR Sanjana Nair is a tenured, full-time professor at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of …
WHEN: March 25TH, 2022 8:00 PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY (RSVP) AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 897 8502 1740) WHO: LANA SIEBEL Lana Siebel performs all over the US, including NYC, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, …
WHEN: February 25TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY (RSVP) AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 843 9904 7063) WHO: Terence Degnan has published two full-length books of poetry. His newest collection “I Can Wonder Anything” (Finishing Line, 2023) …
WHEN: JANUARY 28TH, 2022 8PM (LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY (RSVP) AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 892 1411 0865) WHO: Jen Fitzgerald is a poet, writer, photographer, activist and native New Yorker. She received her MFA in Poetry …
WHEN: DECEMBER 17TH, 2021 8PM (USUALLY EVERY LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH, EXCEPT FOR DECEMBER BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS) WHERE: IN PERSON AT OPEN SOURCE GALLERY (RSVP) AND ON ZOOM (MEETING ID: 864 6054 1819) WHO: Rhonda Keyser is an actress, voice-over artist, environmental educator, …
When: November 19th, 2021 8pm (Usually every last Friday of the month, except for November because of Thanksgiving) Where: In Person at Open Source Gallery (RSVP) and on ZOOM (Meeting ID: 879 8208 0855) WHO: General Judd will be the storyteller for the evening. …
When: October 29th, 2021 (Every last Friday of the month) Where: In Person at Open Source Gallery (RSVP) and on ZOOM (Meeting ID: 848 3811 3494) WHO: Denver Butson will be our storyteller for the evening. It’s mind-boggling that we are into our 8th season …
Friday, August 27th, 8pm This is a hybrid event. 306 17th street @ Open Source Gallery. and ZOOM (Meeting ID: 840 6092 8781) for virtual participation. Join us as we go out with a celebratory bang! We invite you to Brooklyn to Open Source Gallery …
Friday, July 30th, 8pm This is a hybrid event. RSVP if you like to be there in person. Or use the ZOOM link (Meeting ID: 852 5595 4186) for virtual participation. Who or What Inspires You? Storytellers will tell us about a time they saw …
Friday, June 25th, 8pm This is a hybrid event. RSVP if you like to be there in person. Or use the ZOOM link (Meeting ID: 852 5595 4186) for virtual participation. I Have a New Attitude/Perspective Storytellers will tell us about a time they saw …
Friday, May 28th, 8pm This is a hybrid event. RSVP if you like to be there in person. Or use the ZOOM link (Meeting ID: 830 8990 2128) for virtual participation. Trusting Your Instinct Storytellers will talk about a time they trusted someone for better …
Friday April 30th, 8pm April’s theme is Harrowing Tales: Storytellers will share a series of improbable circumstances that could easily be considered acutely distressing. STORYTELLERS: Phylisha Villanueva ( Phylli V) is a mom, poet, author, and teaching artist out of Yonkers, New York. …
Friday, March 26th on ZOOM, (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83167489941), Meeting ID: 831 6748 9941 “Luck” or “Beginner’s Luck?” That is the question. Storytellers will share a series of improbable events that vary by the situation that some may call “luck”. How to Build a Fire is a Storytelling series, …
Friday, February 26th, 8pm ON ZOOM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88105551705 Meeting ID: 881 0555 1705 What kinds of love have you experienced during the pandemic? If we’re lucky, we find love in many ways from multiple sources. Storytellers will share their pandemic “love stories”. STORYTELLERS: Golda Solomon Poet, Performer, Artist, Educator and Mom, Adjunct Associate Professor at …
January 28th, 8pm ON ZOOM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88432907308 Meeting ID: 884 3290 7308 With the year 2020 behind us and 2021 off to a bumpy start, we have a long way home. STORYTELLERS: Robert Gibbons, a native Floridian, came to New York City in 2007 in search …
Wednesday, December 30th, 8pm EST on ZOOM Meeting ID: 885 0496 9436 Shariff Rodriguez studied criminal justice at John Jay college in the pursuit of a career in law. Shortly thereafter, he realized that the pursuit was more of a path of suggestion than one …
Wednesday, November 25 8:00pm On Zoom Open Source Gallery in collaboration with poet Terence Degnan provides an exhibit space that evokes truth and exudes beauty. Through humor, pain, insight and discovery storytellers will bear witness to our past, our present, and our collective futures. Co-hosts …
Friday, October 30, 2020 8pm (EST) On Zoom October is a month known for recognizing spirits and energies. Many of us are familiar with events like Dia de Muertos, All Saints Day or something similar. Many cultures have rituals regarding honoring their deceased loved ones, …
Friday, September 25, 2020 8pm (EST) On Zoom Stories are what link people to one another. Whether it’s at the kitchen table, around the campfire or whispered into someone’s ear, our stories define who we are to each other and to ourselves. In a year …
Friday, August 28, 2020 8pm (EST) On Zoom August gives us the heat of summer flowing into the start of harvest season, the time to reap the fruits of the preparation, tending, weeding and working of the farmer. Harvesting this year’s crop ensures that we …
Friday, July 31, 2020 8pm (EST) On Zoom Meeting ID: 966 0570 2153 Still on lockdown, watching the numbers across the US climb in all the categories we need and want to see them decrease … Black folks suddenly turning up hanging in trees and …
Friday, June 26 8pm (EST) On Zoom Meeting ID: 981 8414 7855 Password: 946544 The events of 2020 so far have driven us into our homes like never before, and into the streets in a way unseen by generations. We wake and sleep to calls …
Friday, May 29th 8pm EST on Zoom May first marked 40 days of official lockdown in New York City … with millions of people nearing upwards of 8 weeks in isolation, grief, and endless cycles of Friends reruns. There really was nobody to tell us …
APRIL 24th, 8pm on Zoom Stories hold space for our experiences to be shared, digested and held in the histories of our bodies. Cowboy hats and Cuban heels, BBQ, braids, big cars, Hillbillies, highrise skylines, million-dollar election campaigns, the all mighty cheeseburger … all of …
Friday, March 27th, 8PM -10PM We will meet on ZOOM Stories hold space for our experiences to be shared, digested and held in the histories of our bodies. To acknowledge and celebrate that very human process in this time of isolation and uncertainty, How To …
Friday, February 28, 2020 8PM What sustains you, what makes you strong, what feeds your soul? February at Open Source Gallery will feature an interactive exhibition featuring two Denmark artists, Ditte Knus Tønnesen and Ronja Svaneborg. For the Open Source Gallery exhibition, Ditte and Ronja …
Friday, January 31st, 2020 8PM Energy is “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical and mental activity.” It’s the power needed to generate light and heat. It’s the sheer force of will needed to go to work every day, to read the news, to …
Thursday, December 19, 2019 7-9PM The December theme for HTBAF is “legacy.” What does that mean? What is a legacy? There’s an old Pierce Pettis song with that title. The song ends: We learn the golden rule In separate Sunday schools In a house …
Friday, November 22, 2019 8PM Since 1990, November has been Native American Heritage Month. It was created by President George H.W. Bush. On Halloween this year, President Trump declared November “National American History and Founders Month.” The creators of The 1619 Project at The …
October 25, 2019 8-10pm In October, we will be telling stories and getting an advanced-opening view of Camillo Godoy’s installation: DEBTOR. Through this exhibition, Godoy addresses the history and politics of debt and its effects on art production, human morality, and joy. Debtor brings together …
September 27, 2019 8pm This September, How To Build A Fire is getting back to the project’s core. Our theme is, “community building.” Through the oral tradition, we defy the disconnect that our world demands, and here at HTBAF, we think that is worth some …
August 30, 2019 8pm STORYTELLERS: TBA What is freedom? How do you win it? How do you hold it? Do you dream it for all of humanity or only for you and yours? What does it mean at its most small and personal? What does …
June 28, 2019 8:00pm STORYTELLERS: Alex Scelso Jossie Ortiz Jose Lopez More storytellers TBA Inspired by artist Monica Jahan Bose whose works revolve around our bond with nature, our footprint both carbon and journeys of immigrants and refugees; and the interconnected essence of communities. Bose …
May 31, 2019 8:00pm STORYTELLERS: Jackie Reason Sherese Francis Inspired by artist Monica Jahan Bose whose works revolve around our bond with nature, our footprint both carbon and journeys of immigrants and refugees; and the interconnected essence of communities. Bose – “Water is an enduring …
STORYTELLERS: Miz Sequoia (Derrick Miller Handley) More TBA Inspired by Bronx Latino artist Ronnie Quevedo works, who believes, “A Latino Rebel is someone who is constantly defying what’s in front of them, through study, and rigorous investigation despite the possibility it could easily be erased; …
March 29, 2019 8:00pm STORYTELLERS: Marilyn Thomas King Dorotea Mendoza Katelyn Mennuto Tina Marie Dominguez “Herstory is a term for history written from a feminist perspective, emphasizing the role of women, or told from a woman’s point of view. The principal aim of herstory is …
February 22, 2019 8:00pm STORYTELLERS: Keisha-Gaye Anderson Yesenia Guerra Christina Marks Ingrid X. Galvez RECLAMATION – the process of claiming something back or of reasserting a right, i.e. “the reclamation of our shared history” The theme is inspired by Nicholas Galanin’s works. Galanin believes in …
January 25, 2019 8:00pm STORYTELLERS: Reina Miranda Nicole Daboul Steven T. Licardi Robert Gibbons RESOLUTION: Latin definition – to loosen undo settle Sort through your resolutions – What is the purpose of resolution? How can one set holistic intentions that are realistic, attainable, create a …
October 26, 2018 8pm STORYTELLERS: JP Howard Rachel Rear Alexander Cavaluzzo Kalyaní-Aindrí Sánchez Artist Khaled Jarrar explores the impact of modern-day power struggles on ordinary citizens while seeking to maximize the social potential of artistic interventions. The act of selling his blood on Wall Street, …
August 31, 2018 8pm Created five years ago, How to Build a Fire is a community storytelling series where a diverse group of individuals share real-life, personal narratives centered around a different theme each month. At times funny, at times sad, their stories weave together …
