REGINA — Timothy Blackett hopes Black Bird Commons will become more than just a bookstore.
As the store hosted a grand opening Saturday, the co-owned business aims to be an inclusive gathering place for the entire community.
“We hope it's a place people are just comfortable being themselves and hanging out.”
The hub will offer workshops for traditional Indigenous beadwork, sketching, painting and quilling, which Blackett said can lead to different perspectives.
“Looking at something from a totally different culture and maybe gaining a slightly more understanding of who they are, where they're coming from.”
Beyond workshops, Black Bird Commons will also have an Indigenous voices book club and a queer voices book club.
“We want people who are interested in joining to hear different voices and read about different backgrounds,” said Blackett.
The idea for the book clubs is to rotate between four different ones in a weekly cycle, he noted.
Those who walk into the storefront will also notice paintings hanging on the right side as part of an art gallery.
“The gallery idea was my partner's [Chantelle O'Connor's] to begin with. She has a heart for featuring artists, particularly marginalized artists, like Indigenous artists.”
Blackett said they’ll choose an artist to feature in the gallery for three months, with their paintings available for purchase.
All of these parts of the hub are part of the pair's overall goal to lift marginalized voices.
Last-minute aid
To help secure a lease, the co-owners launched a $30,000 Kickstarter campaign with an eight-week fundraising deadline.
As the deadline approached, Blackett said they were still roughly $8,000 away.
“So we had one person come in with a $5,000 donation for the naming rights of one of our spaces, and then a local author put together their own sort of like side quest giveaway so if people supported the campaign, they could be entered into this prize where they got 30 or 40 books all from local Saskatchewan authors. So that barely pushed us over the edge.”
Blackett said he is grateful for the support, hoping the spot can become a destination in the city.
