We started Third Place Nights this past April as a way to engage our local neighborhood artists and creative-minds through a monthly community gathering. It’s an amazing opportunity to connect, create, converse, otherwise share in the passion of others, all while having a great time too, and we like that part, a lot.

We’ve been asked quite a bit about the naming of Third Place Nights, and what exactly a Third Place is, so here’s a bit more about this global movement. Our council has seemingly been focused on global movements recently, like our recent White Night festival and Third Places, as we continue to take the lead as both a community voice and cultural advocate.  

The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Oldenburg calls one’s “first place” the home and those that one lives with. The “second place” is the workplace — where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are “anchors” of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true “third place”: free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.

From WIKIPEDIA

We’ve made great commitments this past year to support completely free & open programming offerings, and Third Place Nights is yet another example of what we can do together, as a unified and proactive community.

So, all you need to do is join in, make some noise, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all at the next Third Place Nights, Wednesday, July 21st, from 7-9pm, at the ever accessible and walkable, The BrickHouse Community Arts Center.

Third Place Nights kicked-off for the first time ever, last night at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, here in Madison. There was a lot of great conversation, and even some created a few fresh pieces of art, a good time was had by all!

The next Third Place Nights will be May 19th, from 7-9 pm, and they’re always the third Wednesday of the month at The BrickHouse. Be sure to bring a few supplies, materials, or what-ever it is you need to make art happen!

We’ll provide the cookies, you provide the spirit, and together, we’ll make great things happen!

Third Place Nights is your best opportunity to be part of your local creative community, and make great art happen too, all while working with others who share the same passion to create and converse.

Painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, writers, poets, bloggers, musicians, knitters, beaders, and radicals of any kind are encouraged to join our growing community to work, share, and yes, laugh and otherwise enjoy the company of others. We’ll be taking over The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, which gives us all sorts of space to create and to otherwise inspire great works of art, or at least a good conversation!

A few simple rules for everyone to follow, no aerosols, no noxious fumes, no hazardous chemicals, and no wet clay, essentially we must all be nice to our fellow artists and to our facility as well. Sketchbooks are encouraged, along with journals, laptops, cameras, guitars, anything that inspires you to create and share!

Everyone is welcomed, and encouraged to participate, from professionals, to college students, to aspiring artists. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, feel free to join us, and share yourself with your community!

We’ll be meeting at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, on Wednesday April 21st, from 7 – 9 pm.

We’ll look forward to seeing you there, I’ve heard a rumor of free cookies too!

We’re launching our newest programming effort in the coming weeks, Third Place Nights, which will be a free & open, monthly open-studio evening, for artists of all kinds, all mediums, and all walks of life!

Painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, writers, poets, bloggers, musicians, knitters, beaders, and radicals of any kind are encouraged to join our growing community to work, share, and yes, laugh and otherwise enjoy the company of others. We’ll be taking over The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, which gives us all sorts of space to create and to otherwise inspire great works of art, or at least a good conversation!

A few simple rules for everyone to follow, no aerosols, no noxious fumes, no hazardous chemicals, and no wet clay, essentially we must all be nice to our fellow artists and to our facility as well. Sketchbooks are encouraged, along with journals, laptops, cameras, guitars, anything that inspires you to create and share!

Everyone is welcomed, and encouraged to participate, from professionals, to college students, to aspiring artists. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, feel free to join us, and share yourself with your community!

The first Third Place Nights will be held on April 21st, from 7-9 pm, and in the future will be held on the third Wednesday of each month (does that seem to make a little more sense?)

We’ll look forward to seeing you all at Third Place Nights!