Help Hands on Drums get its 5th Space!

Greetings community!

 

We opened our first Hands-on Drums space in 2015 on Okie St in Washington, DC.

 

This space was a dream for our drum community and us.

We were able to host masters, including Dr. Djo Bi and Monette Marino, and grant space for

classes and rehearsals for Bele Bele Rhythm Collective, Nii Dembaya, and local craftworkers

to display and sell their works.

 

We moved to our 2nd space at 602 Rhode Island Ave in DC a few months later. We

transformed an old abandoned auto parts store into a gorgeous, open community space and

boutique. We hosted masters there, including Papa Dame and Afia Walking Tree; we granted space for celebrations, performances, and classes for all ages. We loved and

nurtured this space and our community for 2.5 years. We were given another space on Rhode Island Ave for a couple of months to help us transition when we left. I'll never forget our

beautiful closing event...we had no idea where we would go next.

 

Many of you have visited our small boutique space at 4303 Rhode Island Ave in Brentwood, MD, for the past four years. This space got us through the worst part of the pandemic and has

served as a space of collaboration between three African brother artists - Kweku Owusu,

Kwasi Agyenkwah and Idrissa Diakate.

 

Now the lease is up, and we are moving once again.

We have engaged an excellent agent to help locate a perfect space for the future of Hands-on Drums and our community. We are looking for a larger area - one that we can once again be utilized for many different occasions...as a boutique, as a rehearsal and class space, and as a gathering space. We are currently looking at areas in Hyattsville, Brentwood and Silver

Spring MD.

 

We are asking our community for help now as we make this transition. We will incur expenses related to acquiring new space and are asking for assistance with our first few months of

rent as we become established, and some help with labor and material costs for fixing up our new space.

 

In return for your help - for a donation of $25 or more, you can get a bar of our famous African Black Soap.

Donate $100 or more , you get a drum 

 

Thanks so much, community!

 

Love,

The Hands-on Drums Team