Custom-made 3rd Ward green bike. — Photos by Lam Thuy Vo

In honor of their third anniversary, the start of summer, and Bike Month, 3rd Ward held a blowout block party on Sunday and despite the rain (which… I’m so over), they managed to lure out the rapturous crowds. I started the day off with the very best of intentions, but didn’t make it back to Brooklyn in time for the festivities, so I spoke with Chris Henderson, of Moviehouse and Make Music New York, and Clay Franklin, also of Moviehouse and band organizer for the party, to see how the event unfolded.

	Chris Henderson of Moviehouse. Click for more.

In a nutshell, they were both extremely satisfied with the audience, event coordinators and the bands — which included The Wild Yaks, Pterodactyl, Afuche, Aa, Lam, DJ Drew Heffron, and DJ Grizzly Spears. Chris said he didn’t see an unhappy face all day while Clay was impressed by the level of performance and community spirit.

"The bands were local and easy to work with, not to mention very talented at rocking,” Clay said. “Some of the bands knew each other from the neighborhood — it was a real community get down."

Nikki Bagli, marketing and events director at 3rd Ward, was running the show and from what I’ve seen of her work, I imagine that she orchestrated the logistics quite gracefully. Chris estimated that 700-800 people were in and out throughout the day (including Chuck Schumer — who is now the proud owner of a custom-designed green bike). 

Chris said he was thrilled to bring Moviehouse, his recurring, super fun and super free event to a new audience. This weekend’s show focused on the ever-so diverse biking world, but he said there are plenty of great upcoming events at Moviehouse. 

"In July we have the hilarious Chioke Nassor and in August we’ll host it’s amazing animator and performance artist Min Oh,” Chris said. “Also we are very excited about our new series Moviehouse: Parque de Película that we’re doing in partnership with the Open Space Alliance. These will be a series of six screenings on the handball courts of Sternberg Park." 
 
Do yourself a favor and check out 3rd Ward’s huge roster of upcoming events (I’m personally excited to check out Craft on Draught and Handmade Music Night.) They do not cease to amaze me with their event planning, marketing and promotional prowess. (Case in point, the recent Poster Boy show that amounted to half a wall of moveable ad cutouts was packed to the gills and literally spilling out onto the street). 

Also check out CNN’s take on 3rd Ward and artist co-ops in the recession, and if you’re feeling like you want a part of the action, the purchase of a 3rd Ward membership comes with a complimentary green bike.
 
One last important note: I ran into Chloe Bass and Laura Braslow of Arts in Bushwick Sunday on their way to set up a table at 3rd Ward to register folks for Bushwick Open Studios ‘09. The deadline to be listed as an event participant on the web site and get your place on the BOS map is today (be patient with the server)!

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