“The local and national response over the last five months says it all: The O+ Festival is an idea whose time has come. It’s not a pipe dream to envision the O+ Festival (or variations on the theme) in towns and cities throughout the country 10 years down the road. … It’s not looking to government for help. It’s about people helping people in a totally postpartisan manner, about putting the magic of creativity in service of positive change. And then there’s this: The O+ Festival brilliantly combines four basic human needs: the need for music, the need for art, the need to problem-solve at the grassroots level (a more urgent need than ever these days!)—and, last but not least, the need to celebrate in community.”
–Carl Frankel, Chronogram
“The bottom line: A festival where artists and musicians barter work for medical attention is part of a growing movement.”
–Bloomberg Businessweek
Participating artists and musicians submit intake forms along with their stage plots, because they’ll be paid in health services: dental work, addiction counseling, cancer screenings, physical therapy and more, during a weekend triage clinic staffed by doctors who opt to treat artists outside the system … Some artists will take part because they need the care, and some because they care about the cause. For the nearly 100 participants (Phosphorescent, Amazing Baby and Tracy Bonham among them) and festival volunteers who will have access to specialists of their request this weekend and after, it’s preventative medicine.
–The Huffington Post
O+ is the arts and music festival based in Kingston, New York with a very practical goal … doctors and artists get their paint brushes and stethoscopes together to celebrate the city’s abundant creative talent whilst also providing a weekend healthcare clinic for uninsured artists.
–i.D. magazine
The recent O+ Festival for art, music, and health in uptown Kingston (Oct. 8-10) successfully brought much-needed health care to a number of local, uninsured artists and musicians.
–Hudson Valley Magazine
O+ (pronounced “O positive”) is built around an idea that just might transform America: To hell with the red tape, let’s trade art for healthcare. –Watershed Post
