hello spiderfriends, collaborators, supporters, & lurkers;
i have been wanting to send this update for some time now, and it is going to be long, but bear with me- it’s hopefully worth it to get all caught up together. i begin this by writing to you as me, myself, courtney marie, without the royal WE that you may be familiar with seeing from spiderweb communications, in large part because speaking on behalf of the collective doesn’t feel appropriate right now, as we enter our tenth or so month without the comfort of each other’s company or the ability to collaborate & work together the way we were once accustomed to. i have personally had a very rocky go of things lately, & more recently have been trying my best to be honest about that, as i know we are all struggling in some way & it’s my hope that being truthful about that struggle will help us connect & better support each other. i think it’s okay to admit we are really not okay with everything going on in the world right now, && i’m still holding out hope that somehow, together, we can make it better.
all that being said, the good news is our little collective still exists & is adjusting to the pandemic world as best we can. together our artists & friends & our supporters on patreon accomplished so much last year despite the odds. we invite you to join us in this work by reaching out to collaborate &/or supporting us on patreon. it is my hope we can continue to make magical things happen in a hopefully not-too-distant future. i am now going to try to do my best to update you on ALL THE THINGS…
perhaps most importantly: i have used a lot of our spiderfunds in the past year to redistribute [no strings attached, no questions asked] thousands of dollars to artists in our community to help keep food on their tables & roofs over their heads & that’s no small accomplishment. the pandemic has hit home for many of us in terrible ways, especially creatives who depend on gigs and in-person work for their livelihood, so it means the world to me that we can help each other out, even if it is just a little here or there. community care is essential to our survival, and we’re doing it, and i thank everyone who believes in this & supports us financially from the bottom of my heart for their part in this.
with the help of dozens of local bakers, spearheaded by the WAKE & BAKE team & inspired by the Black Lives Matters movement, we managed to fundraise an additional $5,000 outside of our patreon funds that directly supported social justice organizations and causes we believe in (specifically: The Okra Project, House of Rebirth, and Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), The Afiya Center, allgo, and TEA Fund). fighting for human rights & justice has always been a cornerstone of our collective work, and so many of you were a part of making this possible. thank you.
our mental health initiative, You Are Here, in collaboration with DMAC Denton, was able to provide therapy scholarships (consisting of up to twelve therapy or counseling sessions each) to nine (last i checked) people, during this, the most hellish year of many of our lives. through the dedication of our wonderful support group facilitators, YAH also hosted 46 weekly peer-led support groups, which are still happening every Tuesday night at 6:30 CT. i encourage you to contact us if you are interested in joining these groups for a place to vent, receive affirmations, or offer support to others. we’re also hopeful to recruit some new facilitators this year, so please don’t be shy in reaching out if you feel called to do so!
our bookclub FOLLOW THE READER also held strong & even grew in participation in 2020, never once missing a monthly meeting (again, all online) & collectively consuming dozens of books across genres. these meetups often feel like a kind of support group too, and we have tried to make it very clear that anyone in need of company is welcome to join us, regardless of having read the assigned material or not. meetups are still the last thursday of each month.
our fearless reader-leader sarah ruth also took the reins on launching another amazing project this past year, WOPOMU, or WORKSHOP FOR POTENTIAL MUSIC. part meditative retreat, part improv workshop (no experience whatsoever required), these have been a beautiful bright spot of spontaneous creativity & community over the year, and i think we plan to continue these in 2021 – if you’re interested in joining these let me know so i can make sure we keep you in the loop.
we still managed to host a number of beautiful virtual events featuring friends near & far, including our Pridenton collaboration showcase and SPIDERDEAD 2020, both of which can be revisited and enjoyed online any time! we’ve also done our best to keep the community magic alive through the occasional open mic night, happy hours, safety meetings, discord movie & game nights, and open studios- all virtual. if you're looking to get plugged in on ALL THE THINGS, please consider joining us as a collaborator &/or supporting us on Patreon so we can add you to our Discord channel.
conor & i hosted the first annual PEACH HOUSE AWARDS online in May(?), to celebrate a year in HQ (my heart was breaking that we couldn’t celebrate together irl & we wanted to do something special to recognize everyone who had made those first seven or eight months here so magical). we’ve been using our stimulus checks & the ample time we have right now to fix up HQ a bit so it will be ready to throw the best parties & shows ever once we can all safely be together again.
oh! we made a zine for SPIDERDEAD, too. if you didn’t get one, there are still copies, and i would love to send you one.
if you haven’t yet heard, we’re also reviving the book project we began in 2019, and are working out the details of publishing it & i promise you will be the first to know how all that shakes out. it is a really lovely thing that features such incredible work by so many talented humans (HUGE thank you to Nina, whose vision & skills were necessary to bring this project back to the forefront) & i can’t wait to see it through to completion. the collection is called *drumroll....* by a thread (a spiderweb salon anthology).
before COVID rolled up & ruined everything, we had a really gorgeous showcase (nearly a year ago?!)- our fourth annual SPIDERWEB SALON LOVES YOU &&& to keep the tradition alive, we will be once again hosting a space where we can share love & appreciation with each other, for each other- albeit, once again, virtually. this will be hosted by myself & my bff anjelica fraga on valentine’s day 2021, and we invite you to sign up to sing/read/dance/share a memory/etc in dedication to a loved one(s), or to simply join us & ride the good vibes.
okay, lastly: i made the somewhat difficult decision to move us away from having a social media presence at this time as [zuck can suck it but also as] i/we reevaluate our purpose and goals for what we (royal & otherwise) are doing with ourselves & our time & energy. as we disembarked from 2019, our admin crew had resolved that 2020 would be the year we slowed down & became more intentional with our collective dreams & projects, and while it hasn’t been happening quite as we thought it would, i do think this time for reflection has been necessary & that maybe now we can start looking ahead & thinking about what the future will look like.
that being said, we’re going underground for a bit & working on becoming a more tightknit community away from the public eye, which will hopefully serve us well as we push through the rest of this pandemic & enter whatever comes next. our artists & patreons now have a Discord channel where we have relocated the bulk of our communications & are doing our best to plot & commune & vent & inspire & laugh together daily. i do have some ideas on my mind that i’d like to share with you when the time is right, things that i think we could work on together as partners in creativity & life & all that, but i also want to hear what the community has in mind. what do you want to create? your presence & opinions are valuable to us all, and i, for one, am very grateful you have read this far and are hanging in there with us on this journey.
((it is entirely possible i have forgotten something here, and if i have, forgive me!))
anyway. how are you surviving? what have you been dreaming of? what are you most grateful for? i would love to hear from you, either via text/letter assuming we’re pals like that, or you can email me/us anytime at spiderwebsalon@gmail.com. i appreciate everyone’s patience with me as i navigate my own terrible mess, and if you’ve reached out to either me or spiderweb & got nothing but radio silence it’s likely because my brain is mush, so don’t be afraid to pester me again. i’ll do my best to keep in touch with everyone on Patreon and in Discord, and hope that eventually we can make some beautiful future-plans together.
until then. be safe. be kind. i love you.
for now: goodbye, we love you