Why Boston Needs BAMS Fest, Inc
You may have heard of The Prelude or seen the amazing Afro on bold colors that is the Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest logo. You may have seen BAMS pop up at local community events, concerts or even heard a collective member speaking on a panel. But whatever you’ve seen or heard in regards to BAMS Fest, you may still be wondering what it’s truly about and more importantly what’s the point? In our first post for The UpBeat, we turn to the BAMS Collective, the group of creatives that plan The Prelude and other BAMS events, to answer the question “Why does Boston need BAMS?”
But first…a little background
BAMS Fest, Inc. is a non profit organization that strives to break down racial and social barriers to arts and culture. We achieve this by producing an annual arts and music festival, presenting live visual arts and music performances, enhancing creative placemaking opportunities, and providing education programming for underserved communities of color across Greater Boston. Founder Catherine Morris created BAMS Fest, Inc in response to the cities lack of diversity and inclusion in the arts scene. “Boston is a city filled with many different people, yet has no cultural identity or destination that makes residents or natives proud of where they are from,” she explains.
“Boston needs a new ecosystem of arts, music and culture equity that is inclusive, authentic and reflective of the people who live and work in the city.”
Catherine isn’t the only person who noticed this growing need to diversify Boston’s art and music scene. As BAMS Fest continues to make its mark throughout the city, more and more people are joining the movement of living the arts and loving the music that our city has to offer. For those who still may not see the need for an organization like BAMS Fest, who better to explain why Boston needs BAMS Fest than the people who work behind the scenes to edutain the people of this city and the surrounding areas?
Why does Boston Need BAMS Fest?
BECAUSE OUR CULTURE MATTERS
“Boston needs BAMS Fest to empower people of color in a city that focuses on conservative consumerism. We are the organization that will show the country that Boston has more culture in any one neighborhood than can ever be seen in popular media. Boston needs BAMS Fest to show Boston-natives that their cultures are more important than consumerism. Without this organization, the city will continue to overlook the rich diversity that Boston has to offer.” — Amelia
BECAUSE EQUAL REPRESENTATION MATTERS
“Boston has the potential to be a major cultural city — it already is in a way. As someone who frequents arts and cultural events in Boston, I’ve never felt that they were specifically marketed to people of color. In the time I’ve spent on the BAMS Fest team, I’ve learned about talented groups that host regular events as well as different artists to track. BAMS is essentially introducing Greater Boston residents to local talent and hidden venues that they would probably need an “in” to discover.” — Karl-Lydie
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
“BAMS Fest uses a different approach to bringing live music back to the community. At one point, Boston used to be a great place for it. However, over time something changed in the way we see live artists. Culturally, the arts brings the community together and by bringing in artists that look like the community, BAMS Fest is practicing the diversity that others only talk about.” — Stafford
BECAUSE LOCAL ARTISTS MATTER
“Boston needs BAMS Fest because we have a holistic way of unifying the arts community and encouraging them support each other on a larger scale. We shouldn’t have to leave Boston to experience art, music, poetry, food, etc of other communities. We can have those experiences here! BAMS Fest creates a space to expose our “homegrown” talent to both regional and national artists, resulting in building a strong network for future opportunities.” — Kwatice
“Regardless of your race, background, age or gender, BAMS Fest aims to convene people and promote art and music,” Priscilla, a Collective member, summarizes. “Our events are an experience that will edutain, challenge, and broaden your perception of what this historic city has to offer.”
This year we’ll once again have a line up of awesome events. Our first official event of the year, “Need I Paint More,” focused on social justice through live painting featuring five amazingly talented local painters. Our next event, Black Box Sounds at ArtsEmerson features local singer Marcela Cruz, and Chicago natives Sidewalk Chalk and Sam Trump.
There’s a famous quote that says, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” It is time for Boston to be disturbed. BAMS Fest is here to shake things up in the city and amplify its hidden spaces and talent.
