We recently connected with Lorenzo Aguayo Jr and have shared our conversation below.
Lorenzo, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I want to start out with a little back story. The Division Avenue Arts Collective, or DAAC, is a volunteer ran all-ages music venue, art gallery and DIY project incubator started in 2003. I joined in 2019 as a regular volunteer and transitioned into a core committee volunteer. The core committee works on bigger picture items like finances, process development and improvement, fundraising, and grants.
I started with no experience in running a music/art venue. I leaned heavily on the veteran volunteers in order to get up to speed on what the DAAC needed to continue to be a space for music and art to thrive (big shoutout to Charity and Bek!). It was important to communicate often with the other volunteers and put deadlines for myself considering that grants and finance reporting have hard deadlines.
Time has been the biggest obstacle. I have a full time job on top of volunteering at the DAAC. There have been many late nights that I spent volunteering but that shows how committed I am to growing the local art/music scene.
Lorenzo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My musical passion started when my mom hesitatingly bought me a Toys R Us guitar when I was in middle school. I had gone through phases as a typical middle schooler and this one proved to be the one that stuck! Since then I’ve been in various musical projects and I’ve played venues all across Michigan and some surrounding states. I still play music and those early formative experiences are some of the best memories I have ever had!
I’ve been in the music scene in Holland and Grand Rapids for years and I felt that I needed to contribute back. So many have contributed to my musical journey and I wanted to return the favor. I joined the DAAC in 2019 after playing at one of their benefit shows and my overarching goal is to remove barriers for new musical acts that want to play live. When I first started playing live the opportunities were limited and it felt daunting to find places to play as a new artist.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The pandemic proved to be a very difficult time for the DAAC. We were not able to operate and we had zero incoming revenue to put towards rent and utilities. We tried applying for the Save Our Stages grant that aimed to help local venues but we were denied. We’re not the typical nonprofit venue and we couldn’t meet the strict requirements even though we are volunteer ran and not for profit.
We dipped heavily into our savings and we’re on the verge of closing for good. The core committee set up a meeting with local leaders and the community to see if we could save the DAAC. Many stepped up and we’ve been heavily re-evaluating our structure as an org and how we operate. It’s still a work in progress but we’ve made tremendous strides. Our biggest revamp has been the booking process. Soon it will be easier to navigate the website to get your music show booked. Whether you’re a promoter or somebody looking to create your own music show!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
There are many easy ways to support local artists. Go to their music shows, buy their art, spent time talking to them about their process, and buy things at local artists markets. Interact and share their social media posts. Forgot about big box corporate stores and buy local if you can help it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thedaac.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daacgr?igsh=bHM0dzZhbjloNTlu
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedaac?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thedaac1740?feature=shared