Come by Myrtle Avenue between Grand Avenue and Emerson Place starting at noon for a mix of great music, local vendors selling unique wares, and a sampling of local food.

And be sure to visit the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market site to check out all of the vendors that will be present, and to check out audio and video of the musical performers.

Thanks to everyone who came out to Sunday’s Block Party on Clinton at Myrtle and Willoughby. With music, fashion and lots of Brooklyn flavor, it was a temporary playground for dancers, shoppers and people-watchers alike!

It takes a lot of people to pull off a party this big, and special thanks goes out to our co-sponsors Afro Punk and BAM, and especially to the gracious folks on Clinton Avenue for welcoming 3,000+ people into their lives for a day. While you count down the days until next year’s Block Party, here are some fantastic photos to hold you over:

Block Party photos on Flickr.

Party and shop locally, all summer long and into the fall! The new Brooklyn Urban Arts Market's five Sunday appearances on Myrtle Avenue near the PrattStore will blend the power and pull of Afro-Punk and BAM’s cutting edge creative culture with MARP’s community economic empowerment and small business initiatives. Envisioned as an answer to those ubiquitous NYC street fairs (you know the ones…same perfume and tube socks at every one no matter what location), this open-air market will house 50 local artisans, vendors, and entrepreneurs hand-selected for their innovative creations, fresh urban perspective and DIY spirit.

Afro-Punk returns to curate a musical line up that fuses underground sounds with old-school favorites (see full list below), which will definitely draw a crowd to the avenue on each and every date. You can be sure that we'll be working to help our existing merchants take advantage of this foot traffic – we’ve got a number of plans in the works to get our new visitors to travel the avenue, including the distribution of our new shopping guide and a sort of Myrtle Avenue shopping scavenger hunt (more on that soon).

The focus on small, local and home-based businesses includes an added dimension for the vendor participants: 20 were selected to receive free professional training covering business plan writing, marketing and growing your customer base, accounting/finance, and business law with small business development experts, Project Enterprise.

Major funding for the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market was generously provided by Deutsche Bank Foundation.

Featured musicians:

July 27th
DJ Spinna
The Earthman Experience featuring DJ Hard Hittin Harry
77 Klash

August 10th
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love
THE MOVEMENT PRESENTS:
Hollwood Holt
He Say She Say
Mike Terror
Shala

August 24th
Slick Rick with Band
The Eclectic Collective
Dub Trio

September 7th
Afrika Bambaata
CX KiDTRONiK live KraKstravaganza
w/ special guest rap pioneer "The Ramm:Ell:Zee"
Mickey Factz

September 21st
Rich Medina
Game Rebellion
Millsted
No Surrender

Check back at www.myrtleavenue.org, or visit brooklynurbanartsmarket.ning.com or www.bam.org for the more info and the latest updates.

The 4th Annual Afro-Punk Festival parties its way to a close this weekend right here on Clinton Avenue between Myrtle & Willoughby. Afro Punk, BAM and MARP have come together again to organize the 2nd annual Afro Punk Block Party, bringing the best underground local artists and artisans, tasty treats from local food favorites, and family-friendly activities directly to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill for an all-day, all-out neighborhood celebration! Not the usual street fair, there’s enough in store to entertain all day. Make sure you find time to check it out, this is definitely an event not to miss.

Here’s just a sample of what you can expect:

Live Music all day
Kudu, J*Davey, The Carps, The Caesarz , DJ Rich Medina, The Dustbin Brothers

Family-friendly fun DIY T-shirt screen printing is back by popular demand! The folks from Afro Punk will help kids make a statement by offering a quick screen-printing lesson. (All day)
Local artist Derick Cross will also be on hand for free facepainting for the young ones (or young at heart)(1pm-6pm)
Healthy Kids Van – NYC Public Advocate’s office is brining their mobile Community Healthcare Unit, complete with important information for parents and games for kids. Come spin their giant prize wheel and get free stuff like hats and waterbottles! (12pm – 3pm)
Brooklyn Botanical Garden will be on site to teach us how to compost. Put those food scraps to good use and reduce your garbage footprint! (12pm-5pm)
BikeNY is offering free bike safety classes for youth! More information and registration (not required) is available here. Please bring your own bike if you’d like to participate! (1pm-4pm)

Local Dish
Homemade sweet treats by The Bakery (their peach cobbler is one of our favorites!)
Tamboril puts a Nuevo Latino twist on some of your favorite eats
Restaurant New Orleans brings their delicious crab cakes and vegetarian red beans

DIY Fashion, Accessories and Artisan Merchandise
Buy direct from some of the hottest, edgiest local DIY designers! We’ll have clothing, accessories an other goodies for adults and kids alike. Or, beautify yourself with stuff from some of the neighborhood’s best all-natural product-makers. Definitely a shoppers delight!

For more info, visit afropunk.com and bam.org.

The 4th annual Afro-Punk Festival kicks off at BAM on Friday, July 4th with films, a skate park setup in the parking lot next door, a concert in Fort Greene Park on July 12th, and the 2nd annual Block Party on Sunday the 13th from 12 to 8 pm on Clinton Avenue between Myrtle & Willoughby. Be sure the check out the entire schedule of events and more on the Afro-Punk community.

Party over here! At Tamboril restaurant at 527 Myrtle Avenue, that is. Event begins after the fireworks, at 10:30pm. Stop in at any time from 10:30pm-on, to get your art fix, dance, drink, music and grub ON. Only $5, or $10 after midnight.

Tamboril is located at 527 Myrtle and can be reached at 718.622.5130.

Local school Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters invites the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill community to celebrate the end of a fantastic school year with them at their first annual SummerFest, this Saturday, June 21st from 12:00 to 3:00!

Join them in the schoolyard (225 Adelphi Street) for the festivities, including: - student performances and exhibitions - games for all ages - face painting - arts & crafts

SummerFest will be a party for the palate too, with a “Taste of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill” that includes delectable treats from local faves Bacchus, Chez Lola, Chez Oscar, Habana Outpost, Graziella’s, and Little House on Clinton.

The event is open to the public, so bring your family and friends, and spread the word! This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know one of our own neighborhood schools, to support their efforts to build community, and to celebrate the achievements of local youth! Opened in September 2006, Arts & Letters embraces the philosophy that in the best upper grades schools, students are transformed from children who have benefited from a general education to young men and women who have discovered their unique gifts and are prepared to put them to use in the world. Through rigorous academic study, extended projects in the “real” world, and a sharp focus on the creative communication strategies students need to succeed in college and in life, they will graduate tomorrow’s “ones to watch,” individuals who communicate and lead with courage, confidence, creativity, and clarity. If you are interested in volunteering your time or donating, please contact Allison Howry at 718.222.1605 ext 3042 or ahowry@uaaal.org.

Hope to see you there!

Get your tickets now for Soketah Salon's (378 Myrtle) 'Rip the Runway Hair & Fashion Extravaganza' which will take place at the Masonic Temple on Friday, June 27th from 8pm 'til midnight.

The Masonic Temple is located at 317 Clermont Avenue (corner of Lafayette Avenue). Tickets are $20/advance; $25 at the door for this event. Call Soketah Salon (718.875.6845), Keisha (646.261.0945) or Kaddy (646.785.2340) for tickets or further detail.

Come out and join the Fort Greene CSA as it kicks off its inaugural 2008 season at Fort Greene Park! Distribution of fresh produce to the CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) 60+ members will begin on Wednesday, June 11th at 4 pm at the Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park corner of the park. Music, cooking demonstrations and composting workshops will also be offered and are free and open to the public.

Event details
Cooking Live: The folks from Just Food’s Community Food Education program will be on hand with their portable grill to deliver live cooking demonstrations using some of the vegetables from the season’s early harvest! Add a new recipe to your catalog, learn some useful tips, and taste the results!

Collecting Food Scraps: The CSA is collecting food scraps (no dairy or oily foods, please) for the Clifton Place Garden compost heap. Do you part to reduce your weekly garbage footprint by dropping off your food scraps every Wednesday!

Composting 101: If you’d rather save your food scraps for yourself, CSA friends Sung Yung and Annie Hauck will be at the site to show us how to transform those scraps into nutrient rich compost for your home garden.

About our Farmers
The Fort Greene CSA was formed with the mission of creating affordability and accessibility to its shares, and has partnered with farmers who share that vision. Sergio Nolasco (pictured), the CSA’s vegetable-share farmer, originally comes from Mexico and has been farming in the United States for the past three years. All of his vegetables are produced without any pesticides or synthetic fertilizers on his 10 acre farm in Andover, NJ, a small town approximately 55 miles away from Fort Greene. Sergio grows more than 40 varieties of crops, including carrots, beets, lettuces, potatoes, a number of different types of squash, beets, tomatoes (including heirloom varieties), collards and other cooking greens, broccoli, callaloo, and even cantaloupes and watermelons.

His wife, Paz, also helps him on the farm and often prepares lunch for Sergio and his workers. Paz and Sergio have four children (two boys and two girls) and their family resides in nearby Hackettstown, NJ. Sergio also provides vegetables for CSAs in the South Bronx and Bushwick and sells goods at markets in Inwood, the South Bronx, and Long Island City. Sergio is committed to providing affordable, high quality food to people of all ethnic backgrounds regardless of income, which is why he chooses to deliver to these particular areas of New York City. In 2006, Sergio was featured in a New York Times article about a recent effort to preserve farmland in Westchester County, where he once farmed.

Red Jacket Orchards, run by the Nicholson family in Geneva, NY, will provide fruit shares. If Red Jacket sounds familiar to you, that’s because they sell their produce right here at the Fort Greene Greenmarket every Saturday, in addition to many other locations in all five boroughs. Red Jacket grows a variety of berries and stone fruits, and yummy ciders and juices. It is very difficult to grow 100% organic fruit in the Northeast, so Red Jacket operates an Integrated Pest Management System. With IPM, farmers work with natural methods of controlling pests in order to minimize the use of chemical pesticides. Some of these methods include proper soil preparation and testing, pest trapping, and conserving natural, beneficial enemies of pests.

An egg share is also in the works, and will come from Amantai Farm, located in Breinigsville, PA. Amantai is owned by Jorge Carmona, a Columbian immigrant, who produces a diverse vegetable crop, honey, and pastured eggs.

A Community Effort
CSAs represent a small but real solution to the problem of food access and security that so many neighborhoods in New York City face. It has been truly inspiring to see so many diverse elements of the community come together to help make this program a reality! A number of local organizations have provided invaluable support to the Fort Greene CSA, including Independence Community Foundation, Citizens Committee for NYC, Fort Greene SNAP, NYC Parks Department, Councilmember Letitia James’ Office, Greenmarket, Ingersoll and Whitman Tenant Associations, Fort Greene Association, and the organizing group of the Fort Greene Food Coop. The CSA is happy to return the favor – they will donate all leftover food items to Food Not Bombs, a local group that prepares meals for low-income and homeless individuals in the neighborhood on Saturdays. As mentioned earlier, the CSA will also be collecting food scraps that will be used to create compost the Clifton Place Garden.

Stay tuned for more food-related programming at the CSA distribution site this summer, including films, health screenings, and workshops on food education and advocacy! Information will be available at www.fortgreenescsa.org.

The 11th Annual Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Walk this coming Sunday, June 8th, 11a to 5pm. Rain or Shine. $15/advance; $20 the day of. Contact 718.219.2137 or ph.brooklyn@gmail.com for further detail.