The PUNKHOUSE:309 N. 6th Avenue became a punkhouse in the late 1990’s. Arguably the oldest continuously inhabited Punk House in the south, 309 and its residents played a role in the American Punk subculture for decades. Over the years, internationally renowned photographers, painters, writers, activists, and musicians have lived in 309. Long-standing local businesses and non-profit organizations rose out of the creative fires of 309.
In 2016, the non-profit, 309 Punk Project was a collective founded to raise awareness about its history through curatorial practice and programming efforts and to raise funds towards the purchase and renovation of the house. The house was officially procured in 2019 and was to open its doors as a Punk Archive and an Artist in Residence Program in August 2020, yet due to COVID-19 we postponed opening until October 2021. Since January 2022, we have welcomed several Artists-in-Residence and held numerous events as we continue to grow. |
ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:
309 Punk Project is the only artist-run nonprofit organization in the South committed solely to archiving the creative efforts of our region's punk/DIY culture. Our primary goal is to serve the local and regional community as an archive, residency, and venue for divergent practices in DIY culture and contemporary art that critically examines the sociopolitical cultural moment shaping our lives.
The 309 Punk Archive plays a crucial role in preserving our collective histories, serving as a rich resource to inspire research and creative practice. We also utilize the archive to curate traveling exhibitions, raising awareness of our vibrant creative culture and diversifying our voice in the punk community.
The 309 Punk Archive plays a crucial role in preserving our collective histories, serving as a rich resource to inspire research and creative practice. We also utilize the archive to curate traveling exhibitions, raising awareness of our vibrant creative culture and diversifying our voice in the punk community.
OUR MISSION:
We serve the local and regional community by operating as a gathering place, housing an archive for DIY culture, and by providing an Artist in Residence Program in order to inspire and enrich all our lives.
We support and advocate for regional, national and international punk artists whose socially engaged work supports inclusivity, is relevant to the punk community, and whose DIY projects sit outside of commercial priorities. With donations and grant funding, we aim to sustain an Artist in Residency Program that serves all of our community and gives voice to underrepresented creative populations.
We support and advocate for regional, national and international punk artists whose socially engaged work supports inclusivity, is relevant to the punk community, and whose DIY projects sit outside of commercial priorities. With donations and grant funding, we aim to sustain an Artist in Residency Program that serves all of our community and gives voice to underrepresented creative populations.
land acknowledgement:309 Punk Project is located on the original homeland of the Mvskoke (Muscogee / Creek) lands. This acknowledgement is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory we reside on, and a way of honoring the Indigenous people who have stewarded this place long before colonization. For more information visit https://native-land.ca.
Graphically referencing 309 legends This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, AnArchivist has created a Land Acknowledgement design for Florida punks, and all that wanna represent SOLIDARITY in paying respect to the land of Florida, the ancestors past and present and all other beings. |
About Us:
Our founders are a range of punks who work as artists, writers, activists and professors. We operate this volunteer run non-profit project as volunteer staff and are fiscally supported by donations from our community and grant funding. Satterwhite, Linezo and George collaborate to operate as an Executive Director Collective. Lauren Anzaldo is our Special Projects coordinator and founded our Night on the Tracks event program.
C. Scott Satterwhite | CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CURATOR (he/him) is a historian, writer, educator, and 9-year resident of 309. Scott writes for the IN Weekly and edits the zine Mylxine, which he started in 1995. He's contributed to several publications, including Cometbus, Florida Historical Quarterly, Literature Compass, and Maximum RockandRoll. The co-founder of End of the Line Café and the Open Books Prison Book Project, Scott was also in the band Tender Cobra. He holds a Master’s Degree in American History and English Literature. His most recent book, A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309, written with Aaron Cometbus, is set to be released in Fall 2021 by University Press of Florida. He currently teaches writing, rhetoric, composition, and literature at the University of West Florida. |
Valerie George | CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CURATOR (she/her) is a visual artist, drummer, DIY recording artist, the Arts Editor for Panhandler Magazine, and Professor of Art at the University of West Florida. She is the founder of Nam June Psyche Records, a DIY recording project that historically included a traveling recording studio. She has recorded a range of projects, from folk musicians, experimental sound art, and noise, to seminal punk endeavors such as Rymodee, Mike Watt, ADD/C, Tuneyards, Scum of the Earth, to the final This Bike is a Pipebomb show at Sluggo's South. She has been an active member of the Pensacola punk community since the early 1990's. |
Sean Linezo | CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CURATOR (he/him) is an experimental producer, filmmaker, artist and archivist. His most recent work is an on-going project called AnArchive, a collection of stories and a series of films featuring the Pensacola punk community from the 1980's to today. His work has been featured in exhibitions nationally and internationally including New York City, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. Has been an active member of the Pensacola punk community since the early 1990's and has recently returned and is also our Resident Artist. |
Lauren Anzaldo | SPECIAL PROJECTS (she/her) is a writer and organizer and is a former resident of 309. She has been involved in the punk scene and activism for several decades, including helping to open an infoshop and show space known as CORE in St. Petersburg, Florida, and organizing conferences, teach-ins, and film events in St. Pete and Pensacola. Lauren holds a master's degree in social work and doctorate in education. She focuses professionally on increasing community capacity to support folks affected by behavioral health issues and suicide.
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Eliza Espy and Terry Johnson are not currently active in our operations, but their contributions as early founders are gratefully regarded and acknowledged here.
Eliza Espy (they/them) is a former resident of 309 and has been an active member of the punk scene in Pensacola for many years. They have organized and promoted film festivals, punk shows at the 309 and other houses as well as Sluggo's South, art shows, and have toured with many bands as a roadie, driver, manager, and spiritual warrior. Eliza is a visual artist, longtime vegetarian, and a visible political activist for social change. |
Terry Johnson (she/her) is the owner of Sluggo’s Vegetarian Restaurant, formerly located in Pensacola and now exclusively located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sluggo’s was a mainstay in the Pensacola punk community for decades, much of which time Terry lived in 309 and helped found it as a house for the Pensacola punk community. She was in the punk band “This Bike is a Pipe Bomb,” who released numerous records and toured the world during their active years. |
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President: Michael Kimberl (he/him/she/her/they/them) As Director at Alfred-Washburn Center, Michael is a tireless advocate for those experiencing homelessness and poverty. He is also the drummer for Pauper's Grave and Dark Star Coven.
Vice President: Pat Jennings (he/him) Former Education Coordinator for Pensacola Museum of Art, Current Staff Attorney with Legal Services of North Florida, Inc., and part-time participant and full-time observer/spectator in local art/punk happenings and events.
Secretary: Britt McGowan (she/her) is a reference librarian at the University of West Florida Libraries, where she co-curates the Zine Collection and acts as the subject liaison to the Art, English, Communication, and Theater Departments. After receiving her degree in creative writing from the City College of New York, she moved back to her hometown of Pensacola where she enjoyed the '90s punk scene.
Treasurer: Miriam Hoover (she/her) teaches for the Department of History and Philosophy, as well as works in administration for the Department of Art and Design at the University of West Florida. In her spare time, she plays a mean game of pool and creates art.
Brandon "Grover'' Ballard: (he/him) is an ambitious and empathetic DIY artist and booker, a graduate student at UWF, and the owner of the Pensacola punk house, the "Bugghouse."
LaChelle Johns: (she/her) – LaChelle is a writer and performance poet and mother. In her career, she is people leader in the systems space and a volunteer coordinator/head of the community partnership committee to address food insecurity in school aged kids.
Indigo Lett: (they/them and she/her) a longboarder and the Secretary/Social Media Coordinator for Strive (Socialist Trans Initiative) which is an transgender activist organization that assists the gulf coast queer/trans community.
Hale Morrissette: (she/they) is an eclectic masters-level social worker currently working as the North Florida Regional Organizer for Dream Defenders.
Sarah Pacyna: (she/her) has spent her professional career balancing the needs of wildlife, wild spaces, and people. As a seasoned nonprofit professional, she started her own grant writing and management consulting firm in 2021, and she supports several wonderful nonprofits with their development needs. She likes wildlife watching with her daughter or spending time with her motley crew of rescue and foster dogs and their ringleader, the sole cat, Tony Baloney.
non-discrimination policy
309 Punk Project does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, selection of volunteers, artists-in-resident, and vendors, as well as provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone: volunteers, artists, staff, guests, vendors, clients, and the community at large.