“Kingston” by Maxfield Bala. Archival ink, acrylic and aeresol on canvas, 24″ x 30″ 2016.
“Mothers of Invention,” the inaugural exhibition for the O+ Gallery at TechSmiths, features work by alumni Maxfield Bala, Norm Magnusson, Mary Jane Nusbaum and Geddes Jones Paulsen. It’s on view now through the end of 2016.
The gallery, located at 45 North Front St. in Kingston, N.Y., is open during TechSmiths’ business hours: Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sundays.
For this show, 50 percent of the proceeds go to the artists and 50 percent goes to O+ Festival. To purchase works or to make an appointment outside of business hours, email: gallery@opositivefestival.org
Registration is now open for free 45-minute Narcan trainings and 2-hour CPR trainings during the seventh annual O+ Festival in Kingston. Narcan (naloxone) is used for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose and has been credited with saving many lives when used by first responders. Email lifesavers@opositivefestival.org and let them know which training you would like to attend.
Saturday, Oct. 8
11 a.m. Narcan training with Dr. Ray Harvey at The Anchor, 744 Broadway
1:30 p.m. — CPR training with Maria Robertson and Ronnie Dougherty at The Kirkland, 2 Main St.
4 p.m. — Narcan training with Dr. Maya Hambright at Family of Woodstock, 39 John St.
Sunday, Oct. 9
Noon — Narcan training with Nick Papas and Lisa Synder at Family of Woodstock
1:30 p.m. – CPR training with Maria Robertson and Ronnie Dougherty at The Kirkland
3 p.m. — Narcan training with Nick Papas and Lisa Syder at BSP Kingston, 323 Wall St.
The Oct. 7-9 O+ Festival’s signature EXPLO+RE series is a relaxing wellness retreat set within 3 days of concerts and art-making. This year’s offerings of yoga, meditation, sound healing and dance are more diverse than ever thanks to the generous donation of time and talent from Kingston-area studios and their teachers.
EXPLO+RE classes are included in your all-access O+ Festival wristband. Make a donation and pre-order your wristband here.
This year’s offerings include (subject to change): Kirtan and Healing Tibetan Mantra Music with Lee Mirabai Harrington, Sequences in Time + Space with Heidi Reagan, Vinyasa Yoga with Deb Seche of The Yoga House, Empower: The Art of Fitness Pole Dancing with Sarah Jacoby of Studio Nine, Kundalini Yoga: Vibrating the Cosmos with Neslihan Lord, Kids Yoga with the teachers of Mudita Yoga, Intro to Swing Dancing with Emily Vail of Uptown Swing, Movement + Meditation with Sarah Capua, Yoga en Español with Kristen Wilson, Yin Yoga with Julie Colton, Healing Gong Bath with Valeria Gheorghiu, Neslihan Sukh Inder, Andrea Staskowska and Theresa Widmann of Anahata, Core Vinyasa with Kelli Ingersoll, Learn to Meditate with Sky Lake Retreat Center, Dance Xross Fitness – DXF with Stacey Nodelman of the Center for Creative Education, Hoop Dancing with Marissa Foti, Qigong Foundations with Corinne Wolcott of tuiHealthcare, Attain Ayurvedic Vitality: Unleash Your Creative Genius + Sound Healing with Mark Reynolds and Lauryn Bellafiore, Meditation with Shawn Harrison of Mudita and Bhakti Kriya w/ Live Music with Radharani Renee Finkelstein.
Legendary graffiti artist Lady Pink will make mural inspired by Mothers of Invention theme
All-access wristbands are available now for the seventh O+ Festival of art, music and wellness, which takes place Oct. 7-9 in Kingston, N.Y. The weekend features performances by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sondre Lerche, guitarist and composer Kaki King (with her visually stunning “The Neck is a Bridge to the Body” show), indie pop sister duo Chaos Chaos, Americana-meets-punk duo Megan Jean and the Klay Family Band, singer-songwriter Jesse Marchant, experimental pop band Pavo Pavo and “slow pop” sextet Loch Lomond.
Sondre Lerche
The lineup of more than 60 bands — our biggest to date! — also includes Hudson Valley-based acts Breakfast for the Boys, Frenchy and the Punk and Geezer. This year’s venues include Alebrijes, The Anchor, BSP Kingston, Keegan Ales, Old Dutch Church, Stockade Tavern and Two Ravens Tavern. We invite the public and local alumni to perform at an open mic event hosted by The Gold Hope Duo at Uptown Coffee.
More than 30 artists will respond with murals, exhibitions, installations and performances to this year’s theme: Mothers of Invention. Two legendary “mothers of invention” — O+ alumna Linda Mary Montano (art/life counseling) and graffiti artist Lady Pink (mural) — will donate their talents to the Kingston community.
Kaki King
Four additional murals will be made by John Breiner (highlighting the humble brick),Jess X Chen (honoring women migrants and refugees), Martina Nehrling (celebrating intuition and instinct) and Eugene Stetz, Jr. (venerating imagination).
What makes O+ Festival unique? The artists, musicians and volunteers who donate their time and talent to the festival receive complimentary health and wellness care from volunteer providers in our pop-up clinic. We call this exchange “the art of medicine for the medicine of art.”
And O+ Festival is more than art-making and concerts. It also features a New Orleans-style kickoff parade, Literary SALO+N and CO+LLAGE Café, Wellness EXPO+ and conference, cycling events and EXPLO+RE classes in yoga, meditation, dance and more.
O+ Festival is an organization dedicated to the exchange of medicine and art. Founded in Kingston, New York, chapters of O+ across America host weekend-long annual art and music festivals where participating artists and musicians exhibit their talents in exchange for access to health and wellness services from art-loving, health professionals. Weaving together artists and musicians, health professionals, business owners and neighbors, O+ strengthens the fabric of the community, contributing to its overall wellness. Please visit https://opositivefestival.org for more information.
An O+ festival is being planned in Kingston for October 2016. We are seeking a Volunteer Coordinator to recruit, schedule, manage, and motivate a large group of volunteers prior to and throughout the festival. Together with each department and the Festival Producer, ensure volunteers are available and adequately prepared for their shift. Support the Festival Producer as the coordinator of all Volunteers and Volunteer duties throughout the Festival. This is a part-time position, estimated at 120 hours throughout July – October 2016.
Primary Responsibilities:
Organize a “Call for Volunteers Campaign” before the festival
Assess volunteer needs based on specific department needs
Access and maintain the volunteer database
Schedule volunteers into specific departments and positions prior to and during the festival
Create and adhere to a timeline
Organize three general volunteer orientations prior to the event and oversee process for specific departmental orientations if needed
Hand-in-hand with the Festival Producer, manage all Volunteers during the Festival and ensure all Volunteer responsibilities are adequately covered.
Provide wrap-up report for debrief after festival
Qualifications:
Must be available full time between October 7-9, 2016
Must be able to attend planning meetings
Ability to prioritize and delegate in stressful situations
Experience managing or coordinating large groups of people
Experience working with and communicating with a team
Please contact theresa@opositivefestival.org for consideration and include a brief statement of your interest and related experience.
Reiki Master/teacher Rebecca Jane Justice is proficient in a range of modalities, including vibrational sound massage, Reiki, cranial sacral therapy and numerology.
“I’m a Chicago resident — born & raised — and I’ve accumulated a well of experience, wisdom and expertise in my time here thus far. I’m a writer, artist, musician, creative and perhaps most importantly, a “wounded healer.” I know the struggles that come with earth school enrollment firsthand, and I know how much the tools I now have access to have assisted my growth and shaped my life. I believe it is my calling to pay that forward and to serve the collective in whatever ways I can.”
She specializes in doing vibrational sound massage (which involves placing vibrational singing bowls on and around the body) in conjunction with Reiki & CST (cranial sacral therapy).
She generally starts (or ends) sessions with a bit of insight into her clients’ respective soul blueprints (aka numerology charts) to help assist them in seeing their true paths, assets, challenges, etc., as well as how to best move forward given the information they have. Sometimes she does crystal & chakra clearing; other times her sessions are geared more toward a discussion about the mind-body connection, and how we manifest physical symptoms from emotional struggles.
Are you a teacher, instructor or practitioner of the healing arts whose offering is best shared in a classroom setting? Do you teach yoga, dance, QiGong, sound healing or another practice that can be shared in a group? We’d love to hear from you!
Each year, we gather some of the most enthusiastic teachers in the area who donate one class to our EXPLO+RE series during the O+Festival weekend (Oct. 7-9), which is open to all Festival attendees and participants. It is a great opportunity to introduce class offerings to a community-minded audience that is committed to art, music and wellness.
Teachers should apply here by July 22. Please note that space is limited, so we may not be able to accept everyone’s offering. We will do our best to curate a variety of classes and will give deference to those who are first to let us know of their interest
Teacher HariPrakaash led a gong sound healing class during the 2015 O+ Festival in Kingston. Photo by Projectej.com Photography.
O+ mural tour with children from George Washington Elementary School
O+ Festival artist Kimberly Kae led a mural tour with some kindergarten-age public art enthusiasts from George Washington Elementary School and their teacher Erin Luby. The mural was made in 2014 by Jack Dishel and Vor 138. The inaugural tour is part of a larger O+ initiative to connect children with the public art in the community.
(Photos by 
