INTERVIEW: The Lemon Bowl

January 27, 2016

It's impossible to have a conversation about the DC creative community without that conversation leading, often with exceptional quickness, right around to CREATIVE SPACE. More specifically: where is it, who has it, and what can we do to get/make/own more of it as a community at large. And so our eyes are o p e n w i d e for examples of people making it work in unconventional locations across the city, whether that's at 411 New York Avenue, the Arts Walk at Monroe St. Market, and – most recently – at The Lemon Bowl, a former deli and current workspace/collective in the Park View neighborhood on Georgia Avenue.

(An aside: the fact that we just referred to a series of art studios + workspaces as unconventional means that as a city, we've got sleeves to roll up/work to put in, both on promoting + educating that these spaces add value and are vital, and on creating more, more, more. But back to the Lemon Bowl!)

Washingtonian had an amazing first look at the space last month, and we were excited to check out The Lemon Bowl for ourselves, and follow up with co-founders (and three of six women working from the space): artist Kate Zaremba, Sill Life founder Holley Simmons (you know her!), and artist/designer Linny Giffin for their perspective on (and the practice of) finding + running a creative space in Washington, DC.

There's five of you total working in the space, yes? But you three are the proprietors?

HS: There are six [of us] total! [Including] Sai Souphom, floral designer extraordinaire, Amy King, kick-ass designer for The Washington Post, [and] Gracy Obuchowicz, yogi and spiritual goddess.

KZ: Linny, Holley and I...are responsible for all the nitty gritty and general running of the space like keeping track of the bills, making sure our on-line calendar is looking sparkly and super fine, responding to inquiries, and planning workshops. Our members pay monthly to have access to use the space. We use a shared calendar so everyone is privvy to what people are planning or needing the space for. However, anyone can submit a workshop to host, you don't have to be a member for that.

You had serious vision when turning the former deli into a workshop + studio - - - and we love the retail aspect of the front room. The Lemon Bowl gets our brains working towards other community-centric, mixed-use spaces in the city like Nomad Yard and Maketto, and we see it less as a trend and more of a response to need. What are your thoughts?

LG: The Lemon Bowl invites people in for an opportunity to be playful. I think we as a community really need creative, community-centric spaces that help us feel connected to each other. Everyone in DC works so hard, but to have a chance to sit down, make something, have an in depth conversation and feel a connection to this place is invaluable.

KZ: People want to get out and be with people! This is our version of a DIY creative space that is solely based on the idea that as makers in this city, we are all here to support each other and find ways to engage in our own unique ways. We've tried to create a communal space (albeit small) where others just like you are quietly trying to make their ideas come to life. Through maker-led workshops we can engage with the community and maybe even bring out those makers who didn't know they were makers.

HS: People tell us all the time, “I’ve been looking for something like this!,” which makes us think we’re onto something. What I think the Lemon Bowl — and these other rad communal spots you mention —provides is a space where people can interact with likeminded folks in a judgment-free zone. That last part is important, especially when it comes to learning a new skill or tackling a DIY, because it’s so easy to get discouraged or doubt your abilities. You messed up that stitch? Rip it out! Paint dripped on your canvas? Cite Pollock as an influence! Dropped a stitch on your knitting? Welp, you’re fucked. Just kidding. Every snafu is a learning opportunity. Let’s figure out a solution together.

Creative workspaces absolutely exist in the city - they feel less few-and-far-between than in years past, but acquiring - and sometimes, even being in the know about them - does feel a little more difficult in DC as compared to other cities. The Lemon Bowl is a great example of strength in numbers - besides splitting the cost amongst a collective, what's your advice to fellow DC creatives ready to take the next step and start looking for a space?

HS: This kind of fell into our lap. None of us were looking for a joint studio, but when a friend reached out to me about a vacant property, it got the wheels turning. I’d say just being open and ready for an opportunity is key. And you have to see potential in a raw space! When we first saw the building — which used to house The Lemon Bowl Deli — there were pretty bad linoleum floors; a full bathroom with a random shower; and a staircase to nowhere that was straight from my childhood nightmares.

KZ: The Lemon Bowl is definitely our response to the lack of affordable workspaces for artists and even more so, it's about making a space whereby the people in it are really just hoping to support one another as creative entrepreneurs in a city that has recently begun to nurture its creative community. I think because the three of us are makers we aren't looking at this as a business more like an umbrella, a network of people who make the thing happen by working together and having an affordable space to host workshops, do product photography, screen print, have a gathering, etc. Our members have the same benefits within the space as the three of us do. That shouldn't be unique, right?!

LG: Good question- this was crippling for me as I'm a new business owner with so many big aspirations and all of the usual fog on how to get from here to there. I have always envisioned myself working in a community with inspiring women and was able to make that a reality when the Lemon Bowl was being conceived. I think you have to know what you really want, what motivates you and then put yourself out there. Let people know what you're looking for and say yes to the opportunities that align with your vision. Stick to your guns, stay open and get creative.

And how did your art/businesses/crafts change once you had a workspace outside your home?

KZ: I honestly feel myself experimenting more with new ideas and thinking more about how I can engage with the community teaching workshops. I went to art school for undergrad and it feels like I am back there in my studio space sometimes. Just knowing there is a fantastic person in a similar place that I can bounce ideas off of or reach out to with a question or idea is pretty amazing. We are also meeting amazing creative people right and left who are reaching out to us excited and interested in what we're doing.

LG: I live in Bloomingdale and I walk along the reservoir up the hill to Georgia Avenue where I camp out at the Lemon Bowl. After working from home for awhile it has been my favorite thing to come home feeling accomplished from a full days work to really relax. Walking away from work feels impossible when your studio is in your bedroom so I am loving the separation.

Walk us through a typical day at The Lemon Bowl, and on your stretch of Georgia Avenue. Who's stopping by and where are you stopping in?

HS: The Lemon Bowl is a completely flexible space, so the six of us come and go throughout the day. It’s rare that we’re all there at the same time — but we absolutely love it when that happens! Myself, I’m usually there in the morning checking on plants and spray-painting things gold (it’s a problem) before heading to my day job. On weekends, I can’t start the day without some coffee from Colony Club. Lunch is usually poutine or some other fried goodness at SmallFry or a plate of vegan mac and cheese from Woodlands. We love being in Park View and have serious crushes on all of the businesses nearby.

LG: I get my cup of coffee at Colony Club. If I have computer work to do, sometimes I'll stay there because it's so relaxing. Then I head to the Lemon Bowl to either fill orders, design something new or experiment with project ideas. If the girls are around, then we're probably off to the races rattling off ideas for The Bowl or for future collaborations. People drop in here and there for order pick ups, to buy a last minute gift or just to say hi. There's a really warm community of neighbors and businesses who we are fortunate to have around us. When the weather is nice I like to go to the park and swing on the swings or try to convince a friend to play basketball with me. re- does anyone want to play basketball with me?

H O L L E Y S I M M O N S
instagram @holleysimmons | twitter @holleyunedited
K A T E Z A R E M B A
instagram @kathrynzaremba | twitter @kathrynzaremba
L I N N Y G I F F I N
instagram @linnyfriend

T H E L E M O N B O W L
instagram @thelemonbowlDC | facebook
#thelemonbowldc

INTERVIEW: Malaka Gharib of The Runcible Spoon

June 30, 2015

As founder and editor of The Runcible Spoon, a "food and fantasy" zine that's d e l i c i o u s l y analog, Malaka Gharib has been bringing national attention to the D.C. creative scene since 2010 – and she's done so while balancing a career about which she's equally passionate. Weekdays she works as a digital campaign strategist for (education activist Malala Yousafzai's charity) The Malala Fund; early mornings, late nights, and weekends she's at her kitchen table in Capitol Hill, putting together zine pages with her team, and sending out national calls for recipes, collages, illustrations, and stories related to whatever amazing theme The Runcible is currently working with (recent issues have revolved around all things "GROSS," "BLAND," and "CHEAP"). The fourteenth edition of Runcible is out soon, and we were glad to catch up with Malaka to chat all things career path, balancing passion projects with weekday responsibilities, and THE INTERNET:

I've had a zine since I was 14. It was called Sever and we had interviews with bands like !!! and LCD Soundsystem, and I think at one point I published Ice-T's phone number. Anyway, it inspired me to join the high school newspaper, then go on to journalism school, where I was an editor at the student music magazine.

After college, moving to DC as an intern, I felt naked without a magazine - so I started The Runcible Spoon. It was a way to make friends and find D.C.'s creative community. The first few issues were pretty tame - just recipes and restaurant reviews. But somewhere along the way things got really weird. And we kept going with the "food n' fantasy" theme we have today!

You guys have 13 issues! That's amazing. They're dense, too - I can only guess the number of contributors/collaborators you worked with so far. Any highlights (or dark days) that especially stand out? One of the major highlights happened over the last year, when Dazed and Confused recommended us in an article on their website. As a teen, I worshipped that magazine, and I think I made the 17-year-old Malaka proud. There was also that time that Matt Groening bought every issue of The Runcible Spoon at the LA Zinefest.

Figuring out our finances was really tough - and still is. Thankfully so many people in the creative community in DC were able to share great advice - you, Cathy from Treasury, the lovely ladies from Ginger Root, Paul Ruppert - about pricing, taxes, retailing, etc.

I'm the digital campaign strategist for education activist Malala Yousafzai's charity, Malala Fund. I come up with creative digital campaigns and content to champion Malala's work in girls' education. I knew I had to work for her after I heard her speech at the UN in 2013 - then saw her get the Nobel Peace Prize the very next year. I was like, DANG. This girl rocks!

The Runcible Spoon has taught me to think totally outside the box, and always go with the unconventional approach. The same person who brought you "Food Fantasies And How to Execute Them" and "Fun Recipes Using Disgusting Chinese Leftovers" also brought you "#DearSisters: Write a Message of Hope to the Kidnapped Chibok Schoolgirls" and "The Honesty Oscars: Honoring The Best in Global Anti-Corruption Activism." I'm all about mixing salty with sweet.

My day job has taught me that being creative is really hard work. To get the most out of it, you need discipline, resilience and not be precious about needing to own an idea. You also have to be a practical - can this idea work in real life? Do we have the money and resources for that?

The Runcible Spoon is a passion project – you've always balanced it with a full-time job, and not just a job, but a CAREER. Can you talk about that? I sometimes regret not doing more with The Runcible Spoon and exploring its full potential. When we were featured in a New York Times story in 2013, there was lots of media buzz around our zine, and a couple of agencies reached out to us about publishing a book. But things were just starting to pick up in my career, and in my gut I felt the timing wasn't right, so I let the moment pass.

Over the past few years, I've seen people shed their awesome day jobs in DC to transition over to their full time projects, and I get jealous and think about my missed opportunity. But then I think about how much I love my career. I've gotten to work at some really cool places - Al Jazeera, ONE and now the Malala Fund, and I get to do work on issues I believe in and causes that benefit the greater good. I also get to use my strongest skill sets: writing, editing, being creative and working with visuals. I can't give up one for the other, so I make both work. To swing The Runcible Spoon, sometimes I work weeknights and mornings and weekends - but it never feels like work!

"I think that's what has kept The Runcible Spoon running for so long - our team has a specific way we put issues together, and we have high standards for our fake recipes and zany stories."

You've done an amazing job of drawing national attention to the DC creative scene. Runcible has been featured all over the place. What's your perspective on national perception of creativity in D.C.? When we first did zinefests in Brooklyn, people would always say, "D.C.!?" like they couldn't believe such a weird magazine could be born from a town full of Ann Taylor and Jos A Bank-clad conservatives. But that reaction doesn't happen as much these days. Restaurants like Little Serow and Rose's Luxury and Toki Underground, which have gotten critical acclaim from national media, have helped show the rest of the country that subculture exists here.

There's a reason why people come to DC and not New York. They are - as The Magnetic Fields describes it - "doing something real." But that doesn't mean all these economists, journalists, policymakers aren't creative. I know that from the people who pitch to The Runcible Spoon. I'm always like DANG thanks lawyer-who-works-for-the-White-House for drawing this amazing recipe for black magic-flavored ice cream!

The "Internet" Issue is out soon! Oh man, you're in for a treat. We hosted the first US mukbang, led by journalist Alica Forneret - and she'll be sharing her experience in a feature story for the zine. Jon Chonko of Scanwiches created a sandwich out of internet food trends. Other things: pierogi emoji, Yelp reviews of 1-star restaurants, static images of food gifs.

Who or what should more people in D.C. know about? Change your mindset about what a creative person "looks like" in DC. You pass by dozens of creative people every day but they're not covered in tattoos or wear cool glasses. I myself am one of those "Ann Taylor-clad conservatives" and you wouldn't know I am into kpop or the LA punk band X. [And] get yourself to Annandale, there's lots of fun to be had there, from the kawaii stationery shop Lil Thingumajigs to the delicious patbingsu at Shilla Bakery.

The Runcible Spoon + FB + Twitter + Insta
Malaka Gharib + @malakagharib
RELATED: D.C. Zine Fest is coming soon

Image credits, etc second slideshow: at Brooklyn Zine Fest. Photo credit: Steve McFarland/ Brooklyn Zine Fest > Our friend Maud with her zine, Marmalade Umlaut, and our zine, too. Photo credit: Chuck Kuan > Zines. Photo credit Judy Gu > a favorite spread, photo credit Gannet and Parrot.

WORKSPACE: Charles Bergen Studios

May 13, 2015

Charles Bergen Studios is just a few doors down from our own space on the Arts Walk at the Monroe Street Market in Brookland. A sculptor specializing in site-specific public art projects, he does primarily focus on sculpting all manner of W I L D L I F E , from metal dinosaurs as part of a Capitol Hill signage project, to hand-carved wooden owls, walrus, and bears (and some as tall as people). Suffice it to say his is a fun studio to walk past, and our favorite pieces of his to spy through the window are actually of people. His Chuck Brown maquette was a finalist for a planned Memorial site, and he's currently working on a bust of Teddy Roosevelt that's so accurate it had us running to call our Dads. DADS LOVE T. ROOSEVELT.