As August’s Homecoming exhibition approaches (RSVP for our opening gala here), Flux Factory marks 20 years of collaborative energy through artifact, lore and friends.  As we look backward, we’re excited to move forward with our new Executive Director, Nat Roe.  Expect dramatic news and growth from Flux Factory this year!

The transformation of Flux Factory from impromptu art collective into pillar for exhibition, education and arts residencies has been a long and winding road with plenty of detours, rose smelling and…well…flux.  Please do celebrate 20 years with us at our August 2nd Homecoming gala and by taking home our accompanying publication.

This gaze backward follows quick on the heels of a new addition to Flux – me – Hi, I’m Nat Roe and I’m the new Executive Director here.  I’m thrilled to say that I’ve found a real dream job in joining the Flux family.  As a co-founder of Silent Barn’s location in Bushwick, I have experienced first-hand the power of collective thinking and action.  I am a firm believer in DIY as a philosophy that the most efficient route is not the best – that heuristic, collaborative routes during creation are as important as the finished project.  I believe that spaces like Flux Factory perform a massive civic duty for New York City and beyond, and that our model of coworking is an antidote to many of society’s ills.

Flux’s new director Nat enjoying a vinyl at WFMU

I first collaborated with Fluxers as an organizer of the 2012 DIYBA basketball tournament of art spaces.  I refereed the heated final round between Shea Stadium and Flux Factory, and was even accused that my biased reffing led to Flux’s 1-point victory.  I won’t comment on those accusations, but I will say some good deeds do go unpunished.  I’m excited to wear the Flux jersey in 2014’s DIYBA.

Flux Factory has immediately felt like a home to me in my first days on the job, and I’ve been amazed at the level of kindness, thoughtfulness and productiveness of our residents, staff and board.  Filling the shoes of my predecessor Christina Vassallo is intimidating, I’ll admit, since she left such a gargantuan mark on the space and brought Flux to such a high level of functioning and ambition.  I am immensely grateful to step into Flux with a balanced budget and general order.  Many thanks to interim director Doug Paulson for holding the fort down under heavy stress.

We will have some dramatic news and exciting initiatives coming up soon – for now I’ll say that I’m honored to play a part in pushing Flux toward a new chapter, and to continually raise this collective to higher heights.

I am totally different today—on my last day as Flux Factory’s Executive Director—from 4 years ago, when I started as a volunteer. Back in 2010, I came prepared with a ton of book smarts about nonprofit management from a top tier university, and a slew of curatorial experiments, that immediately meant nothing when I got to Flux. I was saddled with assumptions about organizational hierarchies, institutionalization, audience engagement, and collaboration. And, I had basically zero real-life experience in raising money to help make the nearly impossible happen every day here.

Now, it’s time to hand over the reigns after guiding three exhibition seasons full of moments of insane cuteness (Kitty City), radical reclamation (Sea Worthy), institutional critique (Public Trust), and cultural accountability (Flux Death Match); overseeing the construction of what we affectionately refer to as the “NEA bathroom,” in order to receive our first federal funding in Flux’s history; expanding our residency program to accept cultural producers of all kinds, including emerging American curators, community organizers, and political refugees; organizing the best art party in town for three years straight; and helping Flux respond to hyperlocal issues (The Future of Your Neighborhood: Who Decides?), as well as participate in global discussions (Congress of Collectives).

As my last public Flux responsibility, I gave a speech during our Not-So-Silent Auction that was based on 20 things the Flux community loves about Flux, which I’m posting here because it better explains the full spectrum of wonderfulness that makes up 20 years of Flux Factory than I ever could (in no particular order):

20. the almost perverse just-do-it aesthetic and aura that embraces all things flux.
19. twinkle fingers at dinner meetings.
18. the communal love of bubbles, picnics, glitter and root vegetables.
17. bringing students to flux because they can’t believe that there are adults who actually live like this.
16.  artistic liberation amidst all the neurotically perfected lines of our digified culture.
15. the bathroom hook-and-eye installation that induces “did I lock the door” paranoia.
14. we have a lot of stuff, and once you’ve been here a while you either figure out what it’s for, or turn it into something else.
13. access to MFTA.
12. there’s always a drawer (or garlic press, or relationship, or bottle of jalepeno infused vodka) that you haven’t found yet.
11. knowing that there will always be someone hanging out in the kitchen.
10. we’ve created our own culture, complete with a language, set of gestures, and cuisine, to the point where we need a wiki to figure it out.
9. conversations through studio windows.
8. the opportunity to be a donkey for a frenchman at fluxmas.
7. coming home to already-prepared food in the communal fridge.
6. teaching little kids how to use power tools.
5. anywhere you go in the world you’ll probably meet someone who has a wild flux story.
4. the fact that if everyone agrees it means that no one understands.
3. flooding our gallery with kittens, some of whom pooped in the silkscreen shop or got lost in the rafters.
2. the orphans, the carbunkly hobo who’s pegleg turns into a fluxmas tree, and the double donkey.
1. knowing that there’s always at least one person in the room who can jimmy-rig whatever you need out of scrap wood, twine, and googly eyes.

Flux Factory, you are a very special place in a city that is supersaturated with awesome things, and I’m looking forward to being involved from afar. Even though I’m leaving NYC, I know the chances are high that I’ll bump into somebody who has a wild Flux story, in my new life in Cleveland.

Thank you to everyone for everything during my time here!