ezequiel

about

— Miscellaneous

A collection of various personal activities and projects — past, present and future.


Background

When I first moved to San Francisco in 2014, I lived with 23 other people in a 4-story home. We were part of an organization that wanted to make community-style living a reality for people in SF and across the country. I learned so much about the benefits of sharing and building communal spaces: idea and skills sharing, continuous cultural exchange, and the reminder that everyone is unique and deserves respect. From this, I realized, I wanted to create not necessarily a living community space, but a public community space reaping the benefits minus the sharing of olive oil and house chores.

Coffee Shop and Community Space

I'm working on a four-walled business to operate a coffee shop (Honduran and Colombian goods) and community space with a state-of-the-art computer lab. I want to create a space for lounging, dialogue and morning pick-me-ups, as well as an intentional learning ground where students and creatives can build their own projects together.

Garaje means garage in Spanish and is an homage to the personal projects often born in garages across the country.

What I'm Currently Focusing On

Part of the business model is a learning site where Garaje customers can take classes on web development, Adobe's Creative Suite and Ableton Live for music mixing and production. Courses will be free at first and will then offer certificates of completion for a small cost. The site will be available at the computer lab with in-person tutors. The same site, though, will be accessible to anyone and anywhere with internet.

I've built a prototype, and you can follow updates here.

Future Chorus at The de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco

Future Chorus

I have been singing since high school and incorporate my passion for performance into my lifestyle whenever possible. In the summer of 2017, Bay Area-based artist Lena Wolff founded Future Chorus, a protest choir singing songs of peace, justice and human rights. We performed at the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco in December of 2017, to an audience of over 200 attendees. Additionally, the chorus has performed at the Women's March in SF in January of 2018 and other community events when possible.

Recording and Ongoing Participation

In November of 2018, Future Chorus recorded our first ever album including a repertoire of 10 songs at the Tiny Telephone recording studio in Oakland, CA. Since I've moved to Texas, I have slowed my participation to focus on school, though I hope to travel back for future performances. And who knows, there may just be another chorus brewing in Austin...

Future Chorus recording at Tiny Telephone in Oakland, CA

Portraits of Family House
Freelance

Marketing and Social Awareness Advisor

Soon after I moved to SF, I met Seamus Berkeley, an artist and painter, in a Lyft (he was my driver!). He told me about his personal project: a series of painted portraits of families receiving services from Family House, and donating them to the organization. Family House in San Francisco serves as a home away from home for families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by providing physical comfort and emotional support. He wanted to memorialize the staff, as well as, illustrate the various emotions families experienced while there.

  • Marketing and Social Media
    • Outlined a marketing plan to raise awareness of the project, as well as drive traffic to fundraising activities
    • Facilitated a meeting with a young professionals network and gained their support in promotion and fundraising
    • Wrote content for and managed Facebook and Instagram page, and website
    • Helped raise enough funds to compensate Seamus for his paintings

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contact me - ezequiel.calderon.jr@gmail.com