The Kickstarter campaign to rebuild Silent Barn after a detrimental robbery two weeks ago is on track to hitting its $40,000 goal within the coming weeks, as long as everyone doesn’t move on to the next blog item of the month and forget about it — we don’t want you to forget about it — but we’d also be remiss to ignore Monster Island’s Kickstarter crusade to throw themselves the ultimate farewell party, especially because, as of noon today, they’re just $70 shy to their $2,500 goal. That’s sooo close.
After some speculation on Twitter, it was confirmed that the multipurpose art-and-music haven Monster Island — home of Secret Project Robot, Mollusk Surf Shop, Kayrock Screenprinting, numerous rehearsal spaces, the occasional art installation, one of our favorite technicolor murals in Williamsburg, and, of course, Monster Island Basement — will be forced to close its doors in October before the building is demolished the following month. It’s a real blow to the community, a sad thing to see happen, but at least we can see them off right with one last (and fully funded, fingers crossed) Monster Island Block Party on September 10, with performances by a dozen bands, two art installations, an all-day BBQ, open studios, a video installation and more, all for free. $70. C’mon, Brooklyn.
Well, thank God. It’s about time we made Williamsburg an art- and energy-free zone. I’m heading to the CVS on Berry where I’ll buy an Arizona Iced Tea to toast them.