Easthampton City Arts has extra reason to celebrate at its annual fundraiser event this year: the party will honor the organization’s 20th anniversary.
Light Up the Arts! will be at the Marigold Theater in Easthampton on Friday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m.
“Celebrating 20 years is an incredibly exciting moment for Easthampton City Arts and the city of Easthampton,” said Pasqualina Azzarello, arts and culture program director at Easthampton City Arts. “I think it’s a huge benchmark for any grassroots organization to turn 20, and it’s going to be an evening that really allows us to acknowledge all of the incredible people over the years who’ve helped make Easthampton City Arts what it’s been and what it’s become and [who] have given us the opportunity to have such meaningful impact in Easthampton.”
The event will feature live performances by the Pamela Means Project and Nectar; live painting by Luke Cavagnac; screen printed tote bags by Printed Mass; poetry on demand from Adam Grabowski; and free food from Wake the Dead Donuts, Nini’s Ristorante, Captain Jack’s, Galaxy, Big E’s, and River Valley Co-op; a silent auction; and party favors. A number of fiberglass bear statues from Bear Fest, a sculpture festival the city held in 2009 and 2012, will be on-site. Silas Kopf will emcee.
The party also honors ECA volunteers and local individuals and organizations who have contributed to the Pioneer Valley’s artistic and cultural scene. ECA itself was created by the volunteer efforts of hundreds of people over two years.
All of the proceeds will directly support future ECA programming, including Art Walks, Cultural Chaos, Porchfest, poetry workshops and performances, and other community events.
The arts have been “a huge economic driver for the city of Easthampton,” said Azzarello, who pointed out that many former mill buildings have since become artists’ studios and other creative businesses. The creation of the Cottage Street Cultural District, likewise, helped to incorporate the arts into the local business community.
“All of the public art in Easthampton serves to connect areas of the city that are otherwise disconnected from one another,” Azzarello said. “I think that art has been a real unifier in the city of Easthampton from a community engagement standpoint, but also in terms of the local business to our beloved business community.”
Supporting the arts is especially crucial in a time like this, she pointed out: “Because Easthampton City Arts is a municipal organization, I have always felt that we have a real responsibility to be actively receptive to the evolving needs of our public, and the needs of our public are changing.”
“In recent years, we have seen our landscape of artists’ studios change, and Easthampton City Arts is working with other arts and cultural leaders from throughout the region to identify ways that we can work together and collaborate, so that we can become more than the sum of our parts,” she said. “I think that funding for arts and cultural entities is more and more unknown in the years to come, as it is across most all sectors right now. We have some serious work ahead, and we have some really thoughtful community members at the table to help shepherd ECA into our next chapter.”
The title “Light Up the Arts!” was the historic name for ECA’s December fundraiser; the last time the organization used that name for the event was in 2019, before the pandemic. They stopped hosting it during the pandemic, but “the city has really grown through COVID and since COVID,” Azzarello said.
“Turning 20 was a perfect reason to get a community together and celebrate all of the work that has been done and that we’re doing and all the work that is to come,” she said.
Tickets, including fees, are $27 at the “Friend” level, $48 at the “Supporter” level, $69 at the “Patron” level, and $105.75 at the “Champion” level. To buy tickets or for more information, visit easthamptoncityarts.com.