Move Here Now

We’re looking for good resident workers. This is not the same as the Artist in Residence program. Rather, there is an opportunity to LIVE AT the Department of Safety! PAY RENT! Become a part of the project. Manifest your good ideas here.
You will also have obligations such as “sweeping the hallway” or “plunging the toilet” or even “sweeping the mids” if you’re lucky. Kevin describes it as “Indie Rock art nerd Peace Corps with a day job too.” Apt portrayal, Kevin! Do you like creative community? Do you like working hard for free? Do you like small towns? Then this might be the dream position for you!

Anacortes right now:

Here is how it works: At any time there are 4 to 8 of us living here. We all work day jobs to pay rent for our bedrooms upstairs, and we each pay a share of utilties. That comes to a total of $410/month. Those of us who rent studio space on the main floor pay a little extra for that as well. Studio rentals are available to nonresidents for $150/mo.

The DoS has always been something of a “controlled anarchy”—we all share the same title of “worker”. We also divy up responsibilities based on people’s individual interests and skills/talents. This requires a high degree of initiative and self-direction to make it work. We like to start with a 3 month trial period commitment to see if it’s a good fit for everyone, ideally with a long-term commitment of 1 or 2 years in mind.

To be considered as a potential DoS worker, please submit a resume (with 2 references—one professional and one personal) and a personal statement detailing your interests and experiences; why you want to live at the DoS and what you plan to accomplish here. You’ll also need to be prepared to pay your first and last month’s rent immediately upon moving in.

Please contact us if you are interested or have questions.

Further thoughts from Phil

We are sitting around the upstairs dinner project table discussing the concept ‘Moving to Anacortes’ and why people do or don’t. Mostly, they don’t. We are talking about people in our young weird art people bubble, not the new people who Safeway just put the Starbucks in for. We are wondering how to make it easier for someone to drop their life and come here to help us with this thing. We could use a few more. I have been thinking about how effortlessly magnetic Portland is these days. Everyone everywhere lives there. I just played there and outside the show on the sidewalk every conversation I walked past was “Yeah, I miss thunderstorms too.” or “Yeah, I have a band. We just moved here.” or “Adrian, will you play a show with my band?”. That’s fine, I suppose. Portland is a fine city and they deserve to have good new energy too, but my friend pointed out that people are moving there to consume the good stuff. “Will your band play a show with my band (and set it all up)?”

We are thinking about how to get people who are into working to come here and work on this work with us.

History: This continent was settled in the same way. People from
Ireland or Italy or Croatia moved in search of an easier time, wrote home, and the rest of the friends followed and they all created places like “Little Italy” “Chinatown” “Portland, Oregon” “etc.”. Adrian said he played a house show in Portland recently where everyone there was from Wisconsin. People want an easier time, naturally, so they do the easier thing. We are thinking about how to make it easier for more people like us to just move here (at least for a little while).

Politics: It is important right now to resist the pull for everyone
to live in Portland or New York. The smaller towns are losing to the conservatives. We have to stay and be good and strong.

Canada: Genevieve says it happened in Montreal recently that
everyone moved there from Victoria and just hung out with each other in Montreal instead.

Conclusion : Anacortes is an incredible place. It’s so awesome. We here at the Department of Safety are very open to the idea of some interesting new people moving to town and making themselves available. There is work to do. It is not as difficult as it seems. Figure out a way to not need a job for a little while, or do like my friends Alex & Flint did and apply for the most perfectly suited jobs in town, and get them. Come here. Do your thing. Talk to the people around you. Don’t have a TV. Do real work. Walk around. Get good ideas and do them. – P.W. , July 26th 2005