On Saturday, October 12, the third edition of ArtParkd will take place behind 609 West Riverview in Dayton. A selection of the artists involved in the event visited the WYSO studios for a live preview on Kaleidoscope featuring music from Frank and Friends, Leroy D. Bean and John Rong and a conversation with music director Juliet Fromholt.
The idea for Art Parkd came during the pandemic when co-organizers Fea Muñoz and Jennifer Kash were thinking about their experiences in the Athen, Ohio DIY scene.
"There was this void that happened for us personally," said Muñoz. "And so coming back to Dayton and just having that urge to like meet people and connect with artists, that really was the stem of everything. Having that be the jump off point was really great because there were no expectations other than like, we want to meet people. And so now it's just grown beyond that. And there's just so much to be grateful for."
At its core, Art Parkd is a celebration of creativity in the local community and the collaboration that happens when artists gather. Marie Bruns, who will perform an experimental movement project called Mazie Mariposa, says she'll be feeding off the energy of the musicians and other artists at the event.
"I've had a background of rigorous ballet training, and it kind of has brought me to a place where I wanted to express more and just live outside of that box. So I kind of I would say I identify myself as like an experimental movement artist. I do a lot of improv, so I'm really just feeding off of the energy that they already are putting out and bringing it to a new level," said Bruns.
Spoken word artist Leroy D. Bean will be performing improvised poetic jam sessions between band sets where the musicians are encouraged to join the improvisation. He said the audience, "Is going to be being able to experience the creation process in real time. [I'll be] really playing off of the energy in the crowd, playing off of the energy of each musician that is, you know, kind of in between that moment that I'm going to be in, just kind of channeling that and seeing what the music is speaking to me. And what is the energy of the crowd is speaking to me in and being able to to jump in with that. We might have some some callbacks back and forth between the audience and me and see how some people just kind of jump in there."
Art Parkd is Saturday, October 12, 2024 beginning at 2pm with a community art market. Learn more at artparkd.com or by following art_parkd on Instagram.
