O+ Mission

    O+ empowers communities to take control of their collective wellbeing through the exchange of art, music, and wellness.​

    Underinsured artists and musicians create and perform in exchange for a variety of services donated by doctors, dentists and complementary care providers. O+ (pronounced O Positive) calls this exchange the art of medicine for the medicine of art.

    WHO WE ARE

    Founded in 2010 in Kingston, NY by a small group of artists-activists, doctors and a dentist, O+ is now a national nonprofit working in cities around the country.

    WHAT WE DO

    We build long-term relationships between creatives and health & wellness providers to help strengthen local communities. Our year-round efforts culminate in one-day and weekend-long celebrations, during which underinsured artists and musicians create and perform in exchange for a variety of services donated by doctors, dentists and complementary care providers.
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    O+ envisions thriving, diverse communities where a person’s value is based on their contribution to the whole and everyone has access to the arts and wellness.

    AIMS

    • Help O+ audiences access the breadth of wellness services & healing modalities locally available
    • Commission work from artists who are marginalized and/or underrepresented
    • Curate public art that reflects the history and culture of our diverse communities
    • Share inspiring words of poets, writers and musicians
    • Connect our alumni to commissions with health and wellness institutions
    • Collaborate with The Actors Fund to make the Affordable Care Act more accessible
    • Use our collective talents to heal and strengthen the neighborhoods that we call home
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    Press

    To interview a member of the team, connect with one of our alumni, or obtain high-res photos, contact Kathleen Murray: kathleen@opositivefestival.org 

    "...it looks as though, one mission at a time, Kingston is piecing together the infrastructure for a self-sufficient community"
    "The concept of trading gigs for health services struck a chord with Concra, who new firsthand that artists tend to be underinsured"
    "Nurses gave the artists physicals and directed them to more targeted care, such as mental health providers, craniosacral therapy, dental care or massages."
    "While the model remains the same – artists doing their thing before or after receiving care from health practitioners – each festival is a locally produced undertaking."
    "What I love so much about the O+ mission and model is that it really helps those that are often underserved."
    "...quietly radical mission: Allow musicians and artists to exchange art and performance for health care services donated by doctors, dentists, and other providers."
    "There are 28 bands and three mural artists slated to perform through the weekend, and all have been able to stop at the O+ clinic set up in on Main Street staffed with nurses and doctors."
    "In the national debate over health care and the Affordable Care Act, one sliver of the population has received relatively little attention: musicians, artists and other creative workers, who are often self-employed and frequently uninsured."
    "Trading art for health care"
    "A festival where uninsured artists and musicians exchange work for medical attention is attracting interest from organizers and physicians across the country looking to replicate the model"
    "Every artist was able to attend the clinic, get a checkup from a nurse, and attend three other health practices at the festival. Options ranged from dentistry to podiatry to homeopathy to chiropractics."
    "The festival re-imagines the terms of exchange between artists and musicians and the communities in which they practice their craft."
    "These are the kind of creative solutions that bridge the gap in caring for one another."
    "By demonstrating that “another world is possible,” these festivals are creating a different paradigm."
    "At the O+ Festival, art and music are exchanged for fillings, physical therapy, routine physician’s exams, and other health services."
    "By placing music and murals on the same level as health and vitality, O+ puts a holistic price on art and draws a bold metaphor between physical and cultural health."
    "Buckner has participated in the O+ Festival, which creates an opportunity for artists and musicians who don't have medical insurance to swap performances or artwork for a chance to visit a healthcare professional."
    "A lot of my work is inspired by the idea that migration is natural."
    "O+ Poughkeepsie is the latest O+ Festival — named for the blood type — to be staged nationwide and the second in the Hudson Valley."
    "He was completely swept up in the love and support his son was receiving."
    "One could say that the mission of O+ is even more vital than when it debuted in 2010."
    "Kingston is also home to the O+ Festival, which was started in 2010 by a group of artist-activists, doctors and a dentist."
    "It breaks down barriers and creates an environment in which healing can happen without the onus of an invoice."

    Read O+'s IRS Form 990