Hello readers,
I’m here with a *new thing* called PILE OF UPDATES.
I was having a hard time offering a list of save-the-dates in the same breath as a long piece of writing. Things felt cluttered. I want a place to share announcements and invite you to engage with the parts of my practice that exist in the public. So this is a more casual corner of PILES, with a little less research and a few more dates and calls to action. I like to call PEOPLE and ENERGY and PERSPECTIVES into my projects, so this will be a good place to hang out if you like to participate. The other PILES will continue to be assembled narratives of words and images. Research and feelings.
I’m giving a talk!
It has been 100 years1 since I last gave a talk. In grad school they made me call them “performative lectures.” Whatever! It’s a slideshow, it’s a presentation, it’s fun!
On March 22 at the Gospel Flat Farmstand / Showspace in Bolinas, California, I’ll give a visual lecture about Win Ng and various other tendrils of Bay Area design culture and art history. My friend Kathleen O’Neill (KO) will be presenting on her time as a graphic designer at Coevolution Quarterly in the 1980s and 1990s. This magazine was in the universe of the Whole Earth Catalog. You can browse the archive here. Let me tell you: it’s so fun to hear KO’s stories about that time. Did you know that the very first SCANNER was made for Whole Earth? My mind was blown.
Join us! It’s free, there will be soup and probably tea, bring some bread or cheese or wine! Maybe you are a fan of PLACE TALKS and you’ve been eager to attend a visual lecture?
This lecture moment is part of SPRINGFORM, an exhibition of soft sculptural work and a wrangling of happenings by Cassie McGettigan, who is a supremely talented artist. All month long the farmstand will be activated by creative people hanging out together doing creative things. Full calendar here.
Here’s me and KO talking about our talks. This cover of Co-Ev features a graphic that is in fact a giant painting by KO, situating Bolinas within the cosmic universe. Fun fact: it’s on loan to Winslow House in Vallejo at the moment, you can see it at one of their quarterly open houses!
FUNDRAISER FOR NISENAN HOMELAND RETURN: NOW TIL APRIL 1
I’m launching a bumper sticker fundraiser2 TODAY, to generate money for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe’s Homeland Return Campaign. They have the opportunity to purchase a 232-acre property in the Sierra foothills, currently known as Woolman / Sierra Friends Center and once home to an historic Nisenan village called Yulića. My friend Sophie Wood Brinker grew up deeply involved with this place, and helped coordinate this major land back effort rooted in Quaker ideals of social justice.
Please Venmo $20–$30+ and your address to @nicolelavelle to purchase an envelope of ten classic Nicole Lavelle bumper stickers (a value of $50!). You’ll receive a random assortment (sorry, I can’t guarantee you’ll get the one you want3) in a colorful Risograph-printed envelope. I may even write you a little note. I’ll start shipping next week, if I run out I’ll refund you (I wont, I have a lot), and then I’ll post donation receipts.
You can also donate directly! No need to buy stickers at all. This is a time-sensitive fundraising opportunity. Have you ever swam in the Yuba River? If so you might want to donate to this one! P.S. Did you hear the great news about the West Berkeley Shellmound returning to Indigenous ownership via the Sogorea Te' Land Trust?! THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! YOU CAN TAKE PART!
Social Studies Residency
I’m honored and delighted to be heading to the Social Studies Residency in Arbuckle, California, in June. I’ve been watching from afar as Sierra and Ross built up this residency and I’m very happy to get to attend.
In my new role as Toddler Mom, it’s nearly impossible to imagine doing most other residencies: far away, expensive, weeks or months long. I don’t apply for them anymore. Sierra and Ross probably didn’t mean to design this residency perfectly for Bay Area Toddler Moms, but… they did. I’m excited to spend time with my ongoing writing project about thriving and surviving in the Bay Area (kind of an expansion of Continuum), and do a little roadtrip version of Let’s Hear It.
That’s it for now, thank you! See you next month for another easy-breezy PILE OF UPDATES. And of course PILES will continue in its slower and surer way. Did you read the one about the vernacular yet? Every new PILE is my new favorite PILE.
Probably more like… six years?
I have plenty of feelings about fundraising for anything besides mutual aid to Gaza at this moment, but I think that it is all connected. Free Palestine is Land Back! Support your local fundraiser in support of Palestinian Liberation!
If you want to ensure you receive a particular style of sticker, remember that every day is a fundraiser in the Nicole Lavelle Bumper Sticker Store. Since 2020, your purchasing power has enabled donations of more than $15,000 (omg!) to grassroots non-profits working in community to mitigate the negative impacts of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Donation receipts are located here.
AH! Oh my gosh, I just found your substack, have been reading away and then saw you mention the native community in Nevada City and my heart melted. I grew up there, I love the caregiving, social justice and truly aware folks in my hometown. And it means a lot to see you supporting such an important community. Thank you <3