Cherokee: Still Percolating

Have you gotten that rotten cold yet? The one that's likely felled several of your co-workers, family members, friends, etc.? Ugh. I did. I was so proud of myself, having made it through the winter with zero colds and one minor flu, and then I caught the thing. If you've had it, or known someone who had it, you'll understand why I have not posted for the last two days. I'm finally feeling normal enough to string sentences together.

So ... I've been meaning to post about Cranky Yellow's new storefront all week. (We wrote about these guys last June, in tandem with the "Stuffed Organisms" plush show.) Last Saturday at Mad Art's Mad March show, I ran into expat St. Louisan Jenna Bauer, who'd quietly come back from New York for a few days. She was headed down to Cranky Yellow for their grand opening, and I would've gone, had I not been so paranoid about some new, awful bedspring-like sound that my car had just started to make (turns out it was the struts ... not fatal, but not cheap either) so I was afraid to do anything but drive straight home. So, sadly, I do not have a straight-from-the frontlines report to give you about opening night in their new digs, or Jeff Sass' show. I can tell you, though, that they are now at 2847 Cherokee, right by Apop Records and FIrecracker Press. Their mission, as stated on their site, is "fueling a raging rebellion against horrible mainstream media works. Preventing society from ending due to creative drought. Working to bring about change through art, education and charity." And they've done a passel of really fun artist interviews, too. They have shows lined up through August, including a collage show entitled "Crap Glued to Crap." 

While you are in the neighborhood: If you are in a band, note that Firecracker's just initiated what it terms "The Quicksilver Special," which is to say they'll print flyers for bands on black paper with silver ink for the same price as a stack of photocopies from Kinko's. You stop by, pick out some stock art, give 'em the details and they'll print up a stack of 6.5x13 posters, $125 for 50, $200 for 100 or $375 for 250. One would think they'd probably also provide this service for those wanting to announce poetry readings, art shows or cake walks, as the case may be. Here's what they look like:

A little peppier than your average Xerox collage, to be sure. Now, one more cool piece of Cherokee news:

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They're a bit small, but these are renderings for Cherokee's new "ComeUnity Hub," which will be built on an LRA lot at the corner of Cherokee and Texas. If you live in the city, you know that St. Louis has a wealth of empty LRA lots, most of them home to nothing more than scrubby grass, dessicated leaves and maybe a few Wrigley's wrappers (or, well, OK - empty Night Train bottles too). This project, like pretty much anything new and exciting on Cherokee, is one that is happening due to the might of the people who live and work in the neighborhood, rather than politicos or huge development companies, and I think that's worth noting. Go to cherokeestreetnews.org and look under the "Cherokee People" blogroll to take a peek at who they are. --Stefene Russell

ADDENDUM, 1:53 p.m.: Just got note that Cherokee is having a big ol' open house on April 4 from 11am-9pm, with live music (including Alley Ghost and the Rum Drum Ramblers of Big Muddy Records) along antique row and at Firecracker Press and O'Malley's Irish Pub. Participating shops include Studio 3211, The Firecracker Press, Kakao Chocolates, Jackson’s Piano, Fort Gondo, Cranky Yellow, Diana’s Bakery, Carillo’s Western Wear, Carniceria Latino Americana, Tower Taco Mexican Restaurant, Black Bear Bakery, Hot Ink, Grafitti Lounge, Gooolll Soccer, FOAM Coffee & Beer, Casa Loma Ballroom, Retro 101, Mississippi Mud, Shangri-La Diner, Remember When Antiques & Collectibles, Hammonds Books & Antiques, O’Malley’s Irish Pub, The Stable, Cinco De Mayo St. Louis LLC and JAD Productions.