Oh hey!
My name is Jessie Ray and I am a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, performer and arts connector. I have been blessed enough to be welcomed into a tight-knit, open-minded and ever-welcoming community of multi-talented artists, creators, jammers, performers in Sydney – a community I never knew existed.
I began a monthly culture jam called Art Party last September (2012), in an effort to combine the creative talents of my friends into a single evening where the typical structure of performer vs audience was challenged and where the creative energy was up for grabs.
I wanted visual artists, spoken word performers, singer-songwriters, bands, magicians, circus performers, graffiti artists, occasional jammers and the private part-time artist to be able to gather together in one evening, rather than separate the audience according to the genre of performance.
I was becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of Sydney culture in terms of connection and collaboration.
Where was the generous and collaborative city community that values connection, collaboration and authenticity?
All I had found was the drive to material successes, ego or scene-building and shameless networking.
The solution?
Art Party : a monthly gathering of passionate emerging artists and performers from all walks of life, who want to give their gift to a dedicated audience.
The outreach of audience members and performers to one another consistently astounds me – the number of networking opportunities that present themselves are infinite and that much more precious when they are one human to another, a shared experience rather than a business proposal.
One thing I have noticed about each Art Party, is the energy with which we welcome each other and spend time with eachother, the central seed of this event.
There is so much love that is poured into this event, from myself and my beautiful crew of volunteers, and this is reflected back to us tenfold by the attendees.
Things we do:
we all hug eachother, stranger and friend alike, often
we share our art, with courage and with honour
we respect and celebrate diversity and difference
we encourage collaboration of any type
we support our artists, as a community
we create; as a philosophy
It is quite simply, appreciation for performers by performers.
Love to artists, from artists.
(And EVERYONE is an artist to some degree).
Each Art Party usually has ten short acts, with an intermission, showcasing unique emerging artists, poets, performers etc. There is always a different collaborative project on the evening (ie painting, jamming, dream-catcher-making) in the background, to harness the energy of the performances. Each Art Party is BYO nibbles and drinks, is cheap and cheerful and takes away the barriers we place between each other. It is my favourite night of the month, hands down. The love that vibrates from each event is heart-warming, connective, real and valuable to artists everywhere. Now it’s time to spread the love from Sydney to other major cities in our National Tour! Let the arting begin!
Peace x Love x Art x
For more information see:
Art Party Group – Facebook
www.newtownartparty.blogspot.com
email – herartworks@live.com.au
call – 0420539577
Image credits: Natasha Mulhall
