2006 Blooming Art: Cultivating the Future

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Young dancers warming up on stage.  A child playing violin with her teacher.  Boys and girls creating sculptures from pipes and tape.  These are sample scenes from the 2006 Blooming Art: Cultivating the Future fundraising event.  Set at a fall garden party on the properties of hosts Swanee Hunt and Charles Ansbacher and Ann and Graham Gund, Blooming Art exemplified its slogan, Significant Work Needs Significant Support, raising over $1,000,000 for 28 organizations that support youth arts. 

The youth arts organizations, all coalition members of the ARTWorks for Kids program of Hunt Alternatives Fund, performed dance, music, and theater acts, displayed paintings and sculptures, and created new works of art with over 300 arts donors.  The event’s goal was to encourage donors to increase their giving to the arts and to inspire them to discover new organizations to support as well.  The interactions among organizations and donors were just as playful as the youthful artists who performed. 

Organization representatives were given baskets with empty wire flower stems.  All donors were given personalized paper flower petals that they were to place on a stem to show a connection had been made between the donor and the organization.  By the end of the event, each basket overflowed with bouquets of orange paper flowers.

The program portion kicked off with OrigiNation’s energetic and nimble dancers performing a range of dance from traditional African to modern hip-hop and a special Michael Jackson impersonation.  Following this tour-de-force was Boston-based City Stage Company with performers acting out sketches of real-life, urban situations.  Young performers from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell String Project then delighted the audience with an array of music from multiple cultures.

After these initial performances, guests began to “Meet & Mingle” with the arts organizations.  This time provided a chance for donors to hand out their petals while meeting both the young performers and the hard-working staff of these arts organizations.  Interactive displays and activities also provided opportunities for everyone to be part of the creative action.

The Actors’ Shakespeare Project encouraged word games with guests while Community Art Center students videotaped activities.  Express Yourself! made some noise with their drumming circle, while nearby Hyde Square Task Force took to the stage to teach guests to salsa.  Raw Art Works and the Revolving Museum provided materials for sculptures and gifts.  And to add to the variety of music, Young Audiences of Massachusetts brought their very own master spoon-player to teach the crowds to play.

In addition to the interactive pieces, performances by the Community Music Center of Boston, Books of Hope, Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and BalletRox as well as displays by Artists for Humanity, Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts, and the Max Warburg Courage Curriculum kept audiences engaged and enthusiastic. 

After donors exchanged petals with organization leaders, the final program was underway.  Student poets from Troubadour read their pieces to a cheerful crowd before Dan Hunter, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities, gave the keynote address inspiring guests to advocate for increased public funding for the arts.  Mr. Hunter, along with the players of Urban Improv, encouraged guests to appreciate the significant work that these 28 organizations do for their youth and communities and to significantly support this work. 

To wrap up a compelling afternoon filled with passionate performances, the Boston Children’s Chorus sang and then rushed off stage to high-five guests as they left.  The arts were definitely in bloom, and the future of Boston’s youth arts community is sure to blossom as well.

 The following organizations participated in the 2006 Blooming Art event: Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Cambridge; Artists for Humanity, South Boston; BalletRox, Jamaica Plain; Books of Hope, Somerville; Boston Arts Academy, Boston; Boston Children’s Chorus, Boston; City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events, Boston; City Stage Company, Boston; Community Art Center, Cambridge; Community Music Center of Boston, Boston; Conservatory Lab Charter School, Brighton; Dot Art, Dorchester; Express Yourself!, Peabody; From the Top, Boston; Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, Boston; Hyde Square Task Force, Jamaica Plain; The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum, Boston; OrigiNation, Roxbury; Raw Art Works, Lynn; Revolving Museum, Lowell; Topf Center for Dance Education, Boston; Troubadour, Chestnut Hill; United South End Settlements, Boston; The University of Massachusetts – Lowell String Project, Lowell; Urban Improv, Jamaica Plain; Young Audiences of Massachusetts, Somerville; Zumix, East Boston.

Watch the Support the Future Video

Watch the 2006 Blooming Art Keynote Address by Dan Hunter