2008 Blooming Art
Photo Gallery
From ping-pong ball jewelry to open rehearsals by young instrumentalists to improv games by teen actors,
Blooming Art was awash in the sights and sounds of youth arts in action. Heavy rain didn't deter nearly 300 guests from attending this annual garden party fundraiser for 28 youth arts organizations. For the fourth year, Swanee Hunt and Charles Ansbacher opened their home to showcase these groups, all affiliated with
ARTWorks for Kids, a program of Hunt Alternatives Fund.
For the first time in its 350-year history, Brattle Street was shut down to host this festive block party.
Dot Art adorned guests with paper flower boutonnieres. Teens from Artists for Humanity drew caricatures and painted kids’ faces and young filmmakers from
Community Art Center conducted interviews that were immediately incorporated into an ongoing video project.
OrigiNation, Zumix, Troubadour, Actors Shakespeare Project, The Theater Offensive, and
Community Music Center of Boston all performed on a Brattle Street stage.
Lion dancers from
The Revolving Museum energetically led guests in a procession from the street to the Hunt-Ansbacher backyard. The formal program featured music from the
Boston Children's Chorus and a hip-hop take on "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" from
BalletRox. Brian Potts, steward of the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Foundation, which contributed to a matching pool of funds, encouraged guests to give generously in honor of Margaret's legacy. And
Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, keynote speaker, announced her exciting initiative to provide much-needed public funding for the arts: "One for the Arts," allowing Cambridge residents to donate $1 as part of their vehicle excise tax bill and parking permit.
Inside the Hunt-Ansbacher home, young violinists from
Conservatory Lab Charter School, a string ensemble from
University of Massachusetts Lowell String Project, and a
From the Top trombonist treated guests to intimate performances. In the backyard, a
Young Audiences of Massachusetts storyteller entertained kids,
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra teens played chamber music, and Hyde Square Task Force youth gave salsa lessons.
Max Warburg Courage Curriculum set up a “courage tent,” inviting guests to step up to see what courage looks like; inside the tent were a photograph of Max Warburg and a full-length mirror.
By the close of the event, when drummers from
Express Yourself provided the crowd with a spirited rhythmic send-off, more than a quarter of a million dollars was raised for youth arts, with more to come!
The following organizations participated in Blooming Art 2008:
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;
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, 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;
Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts, Dorchester;
Express Yourself, Peabody;
From the Top, Boston;
Hyde Square Task Force, Jamaica Plain;
Making Music Matters, Boston;
The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum, Boston;
OrigiNation, Roxbury;
Raw Art Works, Lynn;
Revolving Museum, Lowell;
The Theater Offensive, Cambridge;
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.
Read the Blooming Art catalog.
Watch the Blooming Art keynote address, delivered by Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons.