This Land Is My Land: Melissa Knowles & Sam Farrazaino
What happens when all of the rent a tenant pays makes them a collective owner in their arts studio building in Georgetown? Should we give land back to Indigenous Tribes? Can ideas be property? Interloper discusses the unique legal anomaly that created Equinox Studios and the values that complicate the way we approach ownership with founder Sam Farraizano and manager Melissa Knowles.
Links:
https://www.realrentduwamish.org/
A note on Bleeping: At Interloper we normally don’t censor or bleep anything out, to discourage the thought that there are things we are not supposed to say, but you will hear one in this episode. In this particular episode, there was one phrase Sam wanted bleeped out, and so to respect the wishes of our guests, we inserted a singular bleep.
Equinox Studios is the brainchild of Sam Farrazaino. He is an artist, developer, constructor and community leader. Sam has successfully reclaimed the spirit and utility of old buildings and new, creating environments in which artists, artisans and arts organizations can thrive in their own work and collaborate to build communities with art as the heart and soul.
Melissa Knowles is a lifelong artist practicing care, gratitude, joy, and connection. She has been a member of Equinox Studios for the last 3 years and Acrobatic Conundrum for the last 5 years.