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TURN A TWO-BIT TOWN INTO AUSTIN

With the collapse of New College’s North Bay campus in 2008, many wondered what the fate would be of the fine brick building in Railroad Square that once housed the school. Signs of life appeared a few months later, as murmurings about a film series and the occasional punk-rock show began popping up. Turns out, this is the work of the North Bay Film and Art Collective. Helmed by filmmaker Eric McIntyre, along with collaborators Dave Fields, Celeste Turconi and Jessica Barry, the collective shares the goal of creating a hub for art, music and social action in Sonoma County.

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McIntyre, an enthusiastic man who has funded some of the events through a combination of his own money and sweat equity, says, “A lot of artsy, cool hipsters are floating around up here now. When I was 20, it was, like, rednecks or hippies. We’re so ripe for this kind of venue. I guess some people say [Santa Rosa] is the new Austin.�

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While the space has already played host to music and film events, the collective would like to put on more art shows and sustainability and educational series, as well as any other creative possibilities that might previously not have found a home. The ultimate goal is to have an inclusive space that fills the needs of the community. The NBFAC arose from a simple attempt at neighborhood cleanup. McIntyre started doing landscaping around the empty building, which led to talks with Martin Hamilton, ex-president of New College. This jump-started a successful film series in 2009 and the collective’s incorporation as a project of the Arlene Francis Foundation, which owns the building. Now they are ready to transform into something larger. A gleeful challenge on their Facebook page declares, “We’re gonna change this two-bit town. Watch out!� “I put that up there and then I was, like, that’s a really ambitious thing to say. Shoot, now we really have to do it,� Barry laughs. But if the events and ambitions manifested thus far by the collective are any sign, there is no doubt that they are on their way. 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. www.northbayfac.org.—L.C.

BEST COLLECTION

OF PICKLED LIZARDS “Warning: cherubic youngsters and those of the fairer sex and faint of heart may wish to avert their unworldly gaze from certain displays.� With that advisory, the general public is enjoined to peruse sideshows and curiosities at Santa Rosa’s Great West End and Railroad Square Handcar Regatta, which turns the dusty no-man’s land of the railroad yard around Depot Park into a Victorian

fair in September. Sluggish steam engines and other marvels of science are on display, along with cryptic contraptions of dubious merit. But particularly curious, and true to that era of promiscuous collection-making, is the Victorian curio tent. Amid macabre art of the dolls-nailed-to-crucifixes variety, spectators found a menagerie of biological specimens: fish, snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, salamanders, insects and mammals. The pièce de rÊsistance was simply a big jar full of pickled lizards. For what reason, I pondered, a jar full of

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