Barter with Me

Trade School is a self-organized learning model that runs on barter. No one has ever been paid to organize a Trade School or teach a class there, but the model is working in 18 cities around the world. How does barter build community? This is the story of Trade School, started by three friends from OurGoods.org in NYC in 2010, and now running in Barcelona, Cologne, Milan, Singapore, London, Cardiff, Manila, Quito, Glasgow, Bangkok, Purchase, Paris, and new cities each month. Trade School is an all-volunteer led organization, for now.

Caroline Woolard moves between art, design, and activism. After installing guerrilla public seating around New York City and producing a swing for the subway system, she co-founded a global network of schools that run on barter (TradeSchool.coop) and an alternative economy for creative people (OurGoods.org). In the past year, Caroline has presented this work at the Whitney Museum, the Queens Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, California College of the Arts, Sotheby's Institute, and MIT's Center for Civic Media. Caroline also co-organizes a space for 30 artists in Brooklyn, teaches at the New School, is currently a Fellow at Eyebeam, and will be doing a project at MoMA in 2013.