What to Expect at The Repair Fair w/ TheOpenMarket.co

The Revolutionist: Hey Jon, good to get a chance to catch up. How has your Open Market project been going since we last talked to you?

Jon Hutson: The OM’s been great! Since we last spoke in 2024, we’ve held 4 festivals, published a Grand Valley holiday shopping zine, started hosting small business mixers, and have been happy to see consistent growth and traffic with the website!

TR: What is this Repair Fair, that you are hosting? and we are hearing so much buzz about?

JH: Yeah! The Open Market is teaming up with Gemini and the Lowell School for a March 21st Fix-It Party from 3 to 6pm! 

TR: What should people expect to find when they arrive?

JH: We’ll have 10 fixers set up in the hallway to help repair clothes, analog audio equipment, wood projects, small appliances, tools, and more! (sorry no TV fixers yet!) Fixers can choose to make repairs on-site, or they might just consult with you to arrange for a repair later. Each fixer sets their own rate – they might only accept cash, or maybe they’d like to haggle or just share their skills for free with a new friend.

TR: Let’s just say I actually have fix-it skills, I don’t, can I come set up, do I need to reach out to you? 

JH: This time around, we’re all booked up – but we plan to do another Repair Fair in May, and hopefully quarterly. So, definitely reach out to jon@theopenmarket.CO if you’ve got some skills you’d like to share with your neighbors! There’s no fee for fixers, and you can charge what you think is fair.

TR: Why is repairing and reusing impactful?

JH: The machine has made a name for itself with overseas slave labor for resource extraction and product manufacturing facilities surrounded by suicide nets. All of this while Americans are throwing most of our paychecks at big-box stores full of cheap products that have been designed to fail to keep us coming back. 

Look around you, almost everything you’ve ever owned will outlive you on this earth. We’re overproducing things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like, with money we don’t have. Despite mass marketing for recycling, most of our goods end up heaped at a dump, or you can find it tossed out at the river.

The Repair Fair is an opportunity to take care of what we’ve already got. If it can’t be fixed, there’s bound to be a way to give things a second life with upcycling. And then, maybe we can consider tossing it to the dump.

TR: How does buying locally produced goods, repairing and repurposing, barter and trade help fight the Epstine class and empower the people?

JH: Intentional commerce and just being grateful for what we have without needing to chase the next thing is a great start. But, the self-empowerment and community connection through all of these ideas are what it’s all about.

The Epstein Class is just the current face of the age-old machine that thrives on keeping you and your neighbors disempowered through distraction, disagreement, dehumanization, and so on.

They lose their power when we slow down and get connected – so know thyself, upcycle, shop intentionally, love where you live, and show up for your neighbors. It’s the last thing they want you to do. So, I’ll see you at the Repair Fair!

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