Raw Materials

We are applying for a small business grant from Chase and LivingSocial, and we need 250 votes to be in the running. Sign up at missionsmallbusiness.com, search for Raw Materials, and then click on the blue Vote button next to our name to show your support for us. And then share the link and information with your friends and family!

Sunday, March 11, is the anniversary of the last year’s 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis that devastated the Tohoku coast of Japan. On Sunday, we will be participating in Eat Drink Shop Play for Japan and donating 11% of our sales for the day to support the efforts of Ai Love Japan to document survivor stories and provide direct aid to the people in the hardest hit areas: Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures.

There’s a list of other restaurants and stores participating, so please check it out and keep it in mind. You can also make a direct tax-deductible donation.

Don’t forget our book signing with Hugh Holland for his book Locals Only during this July’s Downtown Art Walk from 7pm to 9pm. (Please note that the rest of the store will not be open during this time.) We have copies of the book in stock now, and you can pre-pay for your copy to have signed during the event, or wait until the night of the signing.

As part of the Hugh Holland: Photographs exhibition in the WindowBox Gallery, a signing for Holland’s book, Locals Only, published by Ammo Books and showcasing a particular subset of Southern California skateboard culture in the 70’s, is scheduled for Thursday, July 14 from 7 to 9pm at Raw Materials during the monthly Downtown Art Walk. Additional photographs by Holland will be available to view or purchase exclusively during the book signing. Signed, limited edition photographs will be available for purchase throughout the course of the show. The exhibition runs from June 9 to August 6, 2011.

The Old Bank District is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Saturday, August 21 with OBD X, and we’re going to be open late and offering a great deal: 40% off on all Stabilo products. Pens, markers, highlighters, and pencil sets. This is a one-day, in-store-only deal.

On Saturday, Feburary 13, you can find us at the first LA Street Food Fest along with tons of food trucks with tasty food and cool wares from some of the best local designers and artists. We’re sponsoring the “DIY Den,” where you’ll be able to make your own love notes and Valentines… for free!

We’ll have a bunch of great Stabilo markers and pencils, along with a host of other supplies so you can finely craft the perfect message for that special someone that you left at home, or who ditched you at our table while they dove into the food from another truck. Maybe if you declare your devotion to Chef Ludo by hand-made card, he’ll add a little extra love to your fried chicken!

This Saturday, come down and check out the Rembrandt Soft Pastels and Mi-Teintes drawing papers. We’ll have a table set up with pastels and papers for you to play with. And we’ll be offering the pastels at 25% off (including a small selection of sets) and the papers at 40% off. (The pastels are regularly 10% off, and the papers are regularly 20% off.)

We’re rolling out a new event here at the store. Every Saturday we’re going to bust out a table and chairs, and have some art materials available for you to play with.

To kick things off, this week we will be featuring Liquitex BASICS acrylic paints, Princeton Brush Co. RealValue brush sets, and Art Alternatives pre-stretched canvases. Come on down, play with paint on a free 5 x 5″ canvas, and take home a masterpiece.

To go with the demo, Liquitex BASICS and Princeton Brush Co. RealValue brush sets will be 20% off their regular price.

And let us know what else you want to play with — we’re doing this on the spur of the moment, so we haven’t cooked up any solid plans for the coming weeks.

3 – Pick three locally owned stores you’d miss if they disappeared, then return to them. Say hello. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile. Those purchases are what keeps those businesses around.

50 – If just half the employed US population committed to spending $50 in locally owned stores each month, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine what would happen if 3/4 of them did that.

68 – For every $100 spent in locally owned stores, $68 returns to the local economy through payroll taxes, property taxes, sales tax, payroll, and other business related expenditures. When purchasing from a chain or franchise, that amount drops to $43; if it’s spent online, nothing comes home.

1 – The number of people it takes to start the trend… you.

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

Click here for more information on the 3/50 Project.

JussJef will be playing at Raw Materials from 7pm to 9pm during the next Downtown Art Walk, February 12. JussJef plays acoustic versions of hip-hop and pop tunes, as well as his own original compositions. Check out his videos on YouTube, and drop by the store to check out the live version! Here’s his medley of Kanye West songs:

If you’re a collector or a fan of great photography, you’re in luck. Photo LA 2009, an international fine art photography exhibition, is coming to town this month. Held every January, galleries converge on Santa Monica to showcase and sell fine art photographs from some of the most famous names in photography as well as some of the hottest emerging fine art photographers. This year, James Adams, one of the partners here at Raw Materials, will have his work on view at Photo LA 2009 in Jail Gallery‘s exhibition booth (In case you don’t know, James is the bald, goateed, deeply cynical one).

James Adams received his MFA from California State University, Long Beach in 2008 and holds a degree in biochemistry from the University of Iowa with postgraduate studies in molecular biology at UCLA. A co-curator of the Greater Los Angeles MFA Exhibition 2007 (GLAMFA), James’ work spans across media and disciplines from video and sound to sculpture, printmaking, painting and installation. You can see more work by James Adams on his artreview website.

We wish James the best of luck in his first showing at Photo LA and if you’re in attendance, we hope that you can stop by to view his work.

For tickets and more information, please visit the Photo LA 2009 website.