A Recipe for Abundance: Kalamazoo artists, food vendors, musicians, unite to reimagine community
"A Recipe for Abundance" is a free community event in Kalamazoo using art, food, and music to inspire connection, care, and local resilience.
Vine Neighborhood
Beyond words: Kalamazoo in photos, 2023
A photograph captures a moment in time — but for a photographer, there's usually so much more to the story. Check out some of Fran Dwight's favorite 2023 photos. She shares a few thoughts about how she connected with the moment the shutter clicked.
Voices of Youth: Youth entrepreneurship sparks creativity at Kalamazoo’s RAWK
“I think the making money part is a great incentive for youth entrepreneurs," says Dr. Kandace Lavender, Read and Write Kalamazoo Executive Director. "However, I also believe that the greater piece is giving them a real-life experience of what it means to put effort behind your vision, and the positive outcomes it can have on their life."
Kalamazoo’s AllyKat, a body art, lash and brow salon, helps LGBTQIA + feel at home in Vine
AllyKat Studios, LLC, is a new lash, brow, micro-blading, and tattoo studio that caters to the Queer community. For clients who are currently transitioning genders, a new set of eyelashes, the right brow shape, or even gender-affirming tattoos, AllyKat owners say, can help lessen the dysphoria that oftentimes accompanies a transition.
‘Going native’ could make Kalamazoo a Homegrown National Park
Kalamazoo has many parks and nature preserves. Home yards can be connecting corridors between them, creating a thoroughfare for wildlife, birds, and pollinators. If enough local yards convert even by half to native plants, Kalamazoo could become a Homegrown National Park.
Kalamazoo’s National Night Out goes all out in six neighborhoods
National Night Out is a Kalamazoo summer tradition, a chance to connect with neighbors, police, and resources. People "need to see the fun and silly, interactive side of law enforcement," says Community Service Officer Dajanick Barlow. "We do a lot of good things in the community." Check out these great photos!
Kalamazoo Earth Day 2023 Festival on the horizon
What better way to celebrate spring than planting flowers and trees with your neighbors? The first truly post-pandemic Kalamazoo Earth Day may be the biggest yet. In a move to bring together the environmental and beautification efforts of three Kalamazoo neighborhood (Vine, Edison, and Oakwood), the Kalamazoo Earth Day Festival takes place April 22, 2023.
Kalamazoo chocolate shop expands its sweet spot to help those rebuilding their lives
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Al Jones visits Confections with Convictions to catch up with owner Dale Anderson. The local sweet shop launched in 2010 with a mission to employ youth with criminal convictions. Thirteen years later, Anderson, 70, is preparing to hand over the reins to an employee, Jennifer Fakkety, who wants to expand the shop’s employment to include those of any age who are experiencing substance use disorder and are in recovery or 12-step programs.
Doorbell camera program helps 200 Kalamazoo area households find a bit more security
A doorbell camera initiative in Kalamazoo's core neighborhoods will benefit 200 households. The program is being funded by the City of Kalamazoo and administered by Building Blocks of Kalamazoo.
Kalamazoo’s Caged Lotus hip hop collaborative wants to showcase other artists
It can be hard to find hip hop music shows in this area, though it seems there is starting to be more acceptance of hip hop at Kalamazoo shows. Caged Lotus wants to speed things up.
