by Greg Nadeau in Arts and Culture
Posted on October 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm
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I’m sure I’m not the first person to say that ArtBeat has become lame. Other than some interesting music, it is mostly a lame, generic craft festival. It is almost always too hot and not that unique or interesting.
Honk, on the other hand, showcases what makes Somerville unique and compelling. Like the Fluff festival and Open Studios, Honk is becoming a great example of funky, creative Somerville.
Unfortunately, rumor has it that Honk may not necessarily continue. This would be a huge loss.
Does anyone else share my views that ArtBeat should be substantially changed and that public and Arts Council funds should be dedicated more towards saving Honk?
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Hmm. I haven’t bothered with ArtBeat for the last few years for just the reasons you mention. I do like the window art and some of the music, but it mostly seems pitched to the recreational-shopping crowd and doesn’t appeal to me much. Still, I sort of figured that ArtBeat at least partially pays for itself with vendor-table fees. If it really is sucking up a lot of Arts Council resources and endangering Honk, I’d be in favor of bumping Honk up the priority list.
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I’m a big fan of ArtBeat and have volunteered there for the past couple of years, but this year it just felt very meh. Maybe it’s because no bands were playing that I wanted to see, but it felt very complacent. The vendors were all the same, maybe even less interesting, the food was all the same… it’s very predictable. Perhaps if I were more involved firsthand in the theme-specific activities, I would see more variety. HONK, however, I really took in for the first time this year and thought it was amazing. The square really came alive with music, dancing, and an energy that lasted all weekend.
ArtBeat is what ArtBeat is, and maybe that’s fine, but to focus on music the way that HONK does and to bring such energy to the city is pretty awesome, and I would not want to see it go away. Where did you hear the rumor that HONK is in danger?
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While I wouldn’t phrase it as “dump Art Beat” I am in full agreement that I wouldn’t spend a penny on Art Beat until HONK was fully funded. HONK is, by far, my favorite Somerville event of the year.
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I’m on the Somerville Arts Council, so I can contribute some actual facts to this discussion.
ArtBeat *ENTIRELY* pays for itself through vendor table fees, dogtag sales and sponsorship from local businesses (this year, there was also sponsorship from SoyJoy). It receives no Somerville Arts Council funds. Honk, on the other hand, *IS* partly funded by a SAC grant. ArtBeat does receive significantly more help from the SAC staff (they seek out and select the vendors and the talent, among other things), but I don’t think the Honk organizers would appreciate it if their festival was hijacked by a city agency.
In other words, Honk receives more financial help from the Arts Council than ArtBeat does.
But I wonder if Honk’s trouble are financial. I know that they had trouble finding houses for the bands to crash at, but that seems more of a volunteer shortage than a money shortage.
Finally, if anyone has specific ideas on how ArtBeat could be improved, then I (and the rest of the SAC) would love to hear them.
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I’ve volunteered at ArtBeat for most of the past decade, and attended it for even longer, and I strongly object to this proposal. ArtBeat and Honk are both great events, but they serve entirely different purposes. There is no good reason to ask people to choose between them.
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I would love to see the Arts Council and ArtBeat organizers do some serious re-thinking about the event. ArtBeat should not continue on auto pilot. It should move earlier in the spring and re-focus on art. Perhaps combining it more with the open studios event or something to make it less generic (and less hot).
I also think that the Arts Council and staff should be more actively involved with supporting Honk. I don’t understand why it is not. Like the Fluff festival and under the highway dance, Honk expresses genuine creativity. If musicians need a place to stay, you’d think that our much vaunted arts community could put them up. (We signed up to have someone stay at our place, but were not contacted) Perhaps more SAC logistical support for Honk would take some pressure off the organizers.
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As I recall, I saw no call for housing HONK participants until a couple days before the events. Perhaps if that is a main issue, HONK could benefit from just a little more logistical support/thought in advance in terms of arranging lodging.
I also agree with injecting more actual local art and creativity into ArtBeat.
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Hmm – maybe more kid stuff at ArtBeat? Like building cardboard/parade floats on wagons, or mask/hat/musical instrument making? I agree that it’s just too doggone hot and a date change would be an improvement.
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As wonderful as Honk! is, most of the bands featured are from places far away from Somerville.
ArtBeat is a festival for and about our city. Every local organization has a booth at ArtBeat. In this way, ArtBeat serves a similar purpose to the Cambridge River Festival, Arlington Town Day, Winchester Town Day, and other local city and town festivals.
ArtBeat has not always been in July. I still have an old button for “ArtBeat 9-22-90″. I don’t remember why it was later moved from September to July.
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And please don’t combine ArtBeat with Somerville Open Studios. The open studios event is already unmanageably large and sprawling, with over 100 sites around the city.
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Combining ArtBeat with Open Studios and moving it to a less sweltering date is exactly what I am talking about.
Put the Art back into ArtBeat or change its name to “Somerville’s Generic Metro-Fest” or something.
But seriously, ArtBeat needs to some new thinking. I know that there are people willing to get involved.
Perhaps DARBI should put forward an annual schedule of Davis Sq public and private major events and move ArtBeat to a better time.
Rebeka Gerwitz – are you out there? Can someone ask her to respond?
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I showed this post to a friend of mine who’s a Somerville artist and fellow ArtBeat volunteer, and she said: ” I remember back when, there were ArtBeat community meetings to brainstorm ideas and plan things, which is how I got involved. I can’t recall the last time one of those happened.”
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I’m a member of the HONK! organizing committee, and also a long-time fan and supporter of ArtBeat (and the Somerville Arts Council). I’m speaking for myself, since I haven’t run these comments by the rest of the committee, but I doubt that anyone would disagree.
We are extremely appreciative of the overwhelmingly enthusiastic public response to HONK!, including the positive comments here. We feel that it is a unique and amazing event, and I think we all feel privileged to be involved with it.
We are grateful for extraordinary support from the Davis Square community, from the City of Somerville, from the Somerville Arts Council, and from many many others, including individuals, businesses, and towns. The last thing we want is to pit HONK! Fest against ArtBeat or any other event – each contributes something unique to the culture of Somerville (and Cambridge, and Boston, and Medford, etc), and helps to make this area such a great place to live.
To quell some unfounded rumors: While it was a huge amount of work by a small volunteer committee, we did get an amazing response from businesses and individuals with respect to housing and food donations for visiting musicians, monetary donations to help with costs (the largest being partial travel subsidies for the bands, who came from as far away as Italy), and volunteers to help run things smoothly. We are still recovering from the weekend, and reveling in the glow of it all, but we’ll be reconvening soon to discuss plans for next year. If anyone wants to help with any aspect, including money to get us on solid financial footing early for next year, you can do so at http://honkfest.org
Thanks for all of your comments and support.
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I like ArtBeat. It IS largely a crafts fair featuring local artists, but what is wrong with that?
I agree that it is hot during ArtBeat, but that doesn’t seem to keep the crowds away (and it probably helps the sale of lemonade and ice cream).
ArtBeat and Honk are two separate entities, and I don’t understand why anyone would want to make ArtBeat more like Honk. I guess there is always room for improvement, but ArtBeat has something for everyone. There are tons of projects for kiddos, there’s music, there are all kinds of crafts on display.
I don’t think ArtBeat should be combined with SOS, because the nice thing about ArtBeat is that all of the artists are in one spot. You don’t have to travel all over the city to visit them. If ArtBeat were combined with SOS, it would would make the spread-out SOS event even more of a logistical nightmare for visitors.
Honk is a musical event. ArtBeat is for other types of artists, too. Isn’t there room for both?
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Hold on, given Ken’s response, it seems like there isn’t any conflict between these two events – maybe someone should have checked in with the HONK! folk first?
These are both great events and deserve support from the rest of the community. I do agree, however, that Art Beat could use a little re-invigoration – it has become a little lopsided with commercial vendors. One of the things missing is a core chunk of Somerville’s busy civic life – politics. Ever since an ealier mayor decided that a community parade featuring a river theme contained elements that went against the city’s rush to stick big boxes and mall stuff at Assembly Square, anything that smacks of controversy, politics, or whatever our fathers and mothers have deemed “political” has been banned – as if artists have ever been apolitical!
Groups have thought about making a stink and challenging this on first amendment grounds, but haven’t wanted to either put energy into it or haven’t wanted to take away from the essential fun of Art Beat by putting this edict to the test.
If you look at this issue straight on, the denial by a political entity, the current government of the city, any city, of access to political groups or groups with a message to an event like Art Beat is, of course, politics at its worst.
One of the elements that makes HONK! fantastically exciting is the political content. Coming upon an elderly Italian woman, clearly an old lefty, with tears running down her cheeks as a young, anarchic, wildly costumed band struck up the Internationale is one of the highlights of my time in Somerville.
Maybe it’s time for the Art Beaters to revisit this policy and restore a little balance and a whole lot of spice?
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