The Off Shoot Renovation Plan
[ The Off Center ] + The Off Shoot Renovation Project + [ Grrl Action ]
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Click here to download a pdf of The Off Shoot Renovation Project brochure.
Click here for a one-sheet Summary of the project.
THE NEED
Rude Mechs is seeking to raise $75,000 to renovate recently acquired raw warehouse space into a functioning classroom and rehearsal studio dedicated to Grrl Action, our outreach program for teenaged girls. We invite you to be a part of the creation of this unique space, The Off Shoot.
Rude Mechs recently received a $104,000 grant award from local foundation Impact Austin to support its expansion of Grrl Action from a summer performance camp into a year-round mentoring program giving teenaged girls the tools and community support to change their own life stories. What the girls need now is a room of their own. To date they have had to share space with all of the theatre, dance and music groups that perform in our theater, The Off Center. This kind of impermanence and uncertainty is hard on the girls and on the program. Grrl Action deserves and requires a dedicated space to give the girls the ownership needed to take their work and the program to the next level. The women of Impact Austin have dedicated $10,000 of their Grrl Action grant award toward the creation of The Off Shoot.
If you would like to restrict your donation to The Off Shoot Renovation, please indicate that in the "Comments" section of your donation submission form.
ABOUT THE OFF SHOOT (Grrl Action Lab)
Local architect Nicole Blair, of Studio 512, is providing her services pro bono to realize the planning and construction of the facility. She has enlisted local
contractor Ramirez Homes, Inc to oversee the project.
When a Grrl Action participant enters the renovated space she will first see a custom-designed door and logo designed and built pro-bono by Hinge Design, a local metal sign shop. The new sliding door will utilize corrugated metal roofing material removed from the existing roof in the design. As she enters the Off Shoot, a wall of lockers store her personal belongings, work and writing. Along the wall is a small restroom connected to a small dressing room for her use when she is showing her work to her classmates and instructors. Next she will find a large storage closet for costumes and props for use in performances. Next she will find a lockable cabinet for video and sound equipment she might use for her project. When she is ready to do research, write her piece or create materials promoting the project, she will have use of a shared writing desk/work area that several girls may use at once – the resource lab will also include a library of donated books and magazines, videotapes and supplies on shelves above her desk. A platform above the closets and toilet room provide a place for larger props and equipment storage. When she is ready to create and rehearse her piece, she will have access to real theatrical lighting from a grid 20 feet above the performance area, a PA and mixer for her sound elements and a video camera and projector for any video elements in her project. Rice University has donated seating with attached writing desks so the program participants can observe each other’s work, take notes and do group writing exercises.
A ROOM OF HER OWN
For the past eight years, Rude Mechanicals (aka Rude Mechs) has been opening the doors of its theater and changing girls’ lives. Research shows that adolescent girls face an increasing risk of low self-esteem, depression, sexual harassment and lack of confidence. Our program, Grrl Action, provides girls a safe space where they can face and resist stereotypes, fight societal pressures, explore their own identities, and build confidence in their own competency and leadership ability. By giving them the tools to write and perform their life stories, Rude Mechs directly touches the lives of the Grrl Action participants and has immeasurable impact on families and our community. This program is unique in its ability to grow and yet remain intimate in nature – providing focused attention that reaches a remarkable group of girls who might otherwise go unrecognized.
Grrl Action participants need a dedicated space in which to research, write, collaborate, rehearse and perform their pieces. To date, they have been using Rude Mechs’ main performance space in The Off Center, but as the program’s needs grow, so do their demands for a dedicated, private space. To alleviate this space shortage, our landlord, Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority, has expanded our lease to include 1,500 square feet of raw warehouse space. This space is named The Off Shoot and is dedicated to Grrl Action. Our relationship with Cap Metro over the years has been very positive and supportive. They are wholly committed to Rude Mechs’ long-term residence in this facility (we have been here since 1999) and have expressed that commitment in our lease. In fact, they have committed to transferring the entire adjacent warehouse (5,000 sf) to Rude Mechs by June 2009, which would double our current square footage.
THE FUTURE
The Off Shoot will include a performance space with requisite sound and light packages, desks, lockers, seating and a resource lab 
comprising at least two video cameras, two laptop computers with editing equipment, one digital camera, and a library giving the girls a safe, clean space to research, write and rehearse for performances and create their year-round projects. Providing Grrl Action participants and staff a dedicated space will ensure the program is sustainable and successful. Having received two years of funding from Impact Austin allows us to create infrastructure, refine and set year-round curriculum, and to create this dedicated space, The Off Shoot. Once complete, The Off Shoot will serve at least 30 to 40 Grrl Action participants annually. By year three we will be able to increase the number of girls served by increasing the number of classes we accept each year. When not in use by Grrl Action, the space will serve the artists of Rude Mechs as a rehearsal studio.
The need for this dedicated space becomes more critical as we begin to reach our long-term goal of offering more classes to a larger number of girls. By the summer of 2009 we hope to double our numbers, offering both morning and afternoon sessions of the Summer Workshop, thus doubling the year-round class. Other long-term goals for reaching more girls include offering weekend intensives to small groups of girls, creating a weekend-long program involving mothers and daughters, and beginning a “Grrl Graduate-level” class, which would offer graduates of Year-round Grrl Action the opportunity to act as mentors to elementary-aged girls.
Grrl Action must grow to reach its full potential. The annexation of The Off Shoot will allow us to carry out the much-needed expansion of Grrl Action.
If you would like to restrict your donation to The Off Shoot Renovation, please indicate that in the "Comments"
section of your donation submission form.
For tickets or information please call 512-476-RUDE or visit our tickets page.
For questions email info@rudemechs.com.Copyright © 2005 Rude Mechanicals. All rights reserved.
Updated 07/01/2005
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