It’s the kind of fundraiser you’d expect from Madame’s Oddities.
Part bake sale, part punk rock/funk show, part community love letter, the April 11 fundraiser at Madame’s is everything the Fredericksburg alternative scene does best — loud, weird and made from scratch.
Technically, the fundraiser (2011 Princess Anne St.) is being held to hire an electrician to install industrial air conditioning units in the building — they’ve been relying on portable units, sufficient for mild temps but weak against summer heat. Store owner and artist CaraBella hopes to raise at least $2000 to make it happen.
The back room is where art classes and shows are held as well as where bands perform. And it gets “dangerously hot in the summer,” CaraBella said.
Enter the bake sale and funk fest fundraiser. CaraBella explains it as “good times, good treats, for a good cause.”
From 4-7 p.m. will be the free family-friendly portion with: Bloom the Clown making balloon animals, games, face painting, vendor pop-ups and the bake sale. Drag performer Fennec will be the emcee.
Baked goods like cookies, cupcakes and brownies, plus gluten-free and vegan options will be for sale. Items for the bake sale will be entirely donated and handmade, as are most things at Madame’s. Jeff Gulick and his wife Anna are making carrot cake cookies and lemon poppyseed cakes with Earl Grey frosting, and the Fredericksburg Food Co-op is potentially donating some items as well.
From 7-11 p.m. the musical acts take the stage. Three post-hardcore groups, Field of View from Tennessee; Early Mourning from Indiana; and Roaming Eyes from Orange County, Va., will play. DC Hunters, a D.C.-based performer and activist whose work honors missing indigenous people, brings go-go music, spoken word and performance art to a stage he first found through Madame’s years ago. Local funk favorites Fuzzy Goldmine will close out the evening. Entry for the musical portion of the fundraiser is $10.
But the music is only part of the point. The fundraiser is as much a celebration of what Madame’s already is as it is a push to keep it going.
When CaraBella opened her shop two years ago, she had a mission.
“My goal is to make sure that all the budding artists out there don’t have to go through what I did in my 20s,” she said.
Many of her vendors and artists are now in their early 20s, and even some teens showcase their creations at Madame’s — with parental consent.
The fundraiser is a snapshot of all that Madame’s does in the community. There is a Punk Rock Art Club that uses donated supplies, a Reader’s Club, and a Knitting Club, all free, open to everyone, once a month. The space is available free of charge for any community event that is free to attend, said CaraBella. Larger events charge a small fee.
Madame’s can even host your wedding. CaraBella says these “micro-weddings” are fast becoming a popular use of her space.
A couple who decided to elope because the bride is trans and the family disapproved of the marriage came to Madame’s for their ceremony and had a private photo shoot in the blacklight area of the store. CaraBella intentionally sets her prices low so that couples who want something intimate, affordable and maybe a little outside the norm have somewhere to celebrate.
The fundraiser isn’t just about keeping the space cool, it’s about giving a unique shop a chance to stay open and host more community events, said CaraBella.
“The alternative community deserves spaces that are affordable, weird and welcoming,” she said.
