Free Poughkeepsie Block Party Aug. 3

O + Poughkeepsie is throwing a free block party for the community Saturday, Aug. 3 from 4-8 p.m. in the Crannell Street passage at the intersection of Main Street. The highlight of the celebration will be a collaborative mural painted by O+ Poughkeepsie alumni boogieREZ, John Breiner, Joe Pimentel and Stetz.

The Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health will provide training in Narcan, a nasal spray that can help reverse an opioid overdose. Jade Palace Guard will supply the beats and food trucks will be parked to feed party-goers. Don’t miss the airbrushing demonstration at 330 Gallery. And join the young leaders from VOTE (Voices of Tomorrow Empowered) in creating vibrant picnic tables for public spaces. Special thanks to The Great Studio, who will provide free haircuts.

Community partners for the Poughkeepsie BLO+CK Party include Cryptic Gallery and Oakwood Friends School.

Thanks to sponsors Hudson Valley Office Furniture and Golden Artist Colors.

O, The Oprah Magazine Highlights O+ Health Heroes

O, The Oprah Magazine is shining a light on O+ “Health Heroes” in the August 2019 issue.

The story, titled “Shows of Compassion” (page 64), features interviews with O+ Executive Director Joe Concra, Dr. Thomas Cingel and O+ Clinic Director/Nursing Specialist Shannon Donnell.

“The roughly 300 participants aren’t paid in cash, but they do get something just as valuable: access to the artists’ clinic inside a hall of the historic Old Dutch Church,” writes Mary Pauline Lowry. “In private spaces divided by red drapes and PVC pipes, every artist is invited to meet with a doctor and a nurse to discuss their healthcare needs and then determine what other free services they’ll receive that weekend — a therapy session, a chiropractic adjustment, maybe a massage. Meanwhile, in the church kitchen, chefs serve organic meals to artists and practitioners alike.”

Lowry also interviewed O+ Kingston alumna Laura Hajek of the band A Place Both Wonderful and Strange. She writes that “for a year, two of her (Hajek’s) wisdom teeth had been painfully pressing on a nerve, but she couldn’t cover the cost of extraction.” Hajek’s participation in the O+ exchange of “the art of medicine for the medicine of art” connected her with Cingel and the much-needed extractions.

The O story also includes photos of Concra and Cingel in front of Kimberly Kae‘s “Bilancia” mural, Dr. Christa Whiteman providing chiropractic care to Kae in the Artists’ Clinic, and The Big Takeover performing at BSP Kingston during the 2017 festival.

10th Annual O+ Kingston

Dance-punk band !!! (Chk Chk Chk) will play the 10th annual O+ Kingston festival of art, music and wellness (Oct. 11-13) along with folk-rocker Elvis Perkins, cabaret-punk band The World/Inferno Friendship Society, cumbia-meets-garage rocker Tall Juan, neo-soul band Lady Moon & The Eclipse and 40 more solo artists, bands and ensembles representing a wide cross-section of musical genres and styles.

Three-day festival wristbands are on sale now for the early bird price of $40 until September 1 or sold out ($50 after). Festival volunteers and children under 18 with student ID are free.

The wristband includes entry to all concerts as well as film and video screenings, participatory art workshops, cycling events, Literary SALO+N, classes in yoga, dance, meditation, sound healing, and more.

Kingston community members who would like to attend, but are deterred by financial resources will be able to pick up free 3-day wristbands from the following O+ Festival partners: Center for Creative Education, Harambee, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, My Kingston Kids, Radio Kingston, Rise Up Kingston and YMCA. Free wristbands are made possible thanks to the generosity of O+ supporters.

Other O+ Kingston music highlights include BODEGA (post-punk indie), The Giraffes (heavy rock), Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy (folk rockabilly), Sound of Ceres (electro dream pop) and Chris Wells and The Silver Spaceship (epic party band from the superfreak behind The Secret City).

In addition, O+ partner Bardavon Presents welcomes “The Mystical Arts Of Tibet” on Sunday, Oct. 13 at UPAC. Tickets for that performance are available exclusively through the UPAC box office.

The initial music lineup (of which 60 percent is from the mid-Hudson Valley) also includes: Ami Madeleine, Chris Andersen, The Arkhams, Sandy Bell, Brandy, Camp Saint Helene, Carrtoons, Datura Road, Dronechoir, Eat The Cake Band, Elías Elena, Greg Farley, The Four Fives, Foster Care, Glockabelle, Grover, Jalani Lion, JB!! aka Dirty Moses w/DJ Nate da Great, Julia Kent, DJ Ali’s KinderDisco, Zamy Maa, Maiko Hata Trio, Olivier Manchon’s Orchestre de Chambre Miniature, The Meditation Tapes, Mooskii G. Myyers, Peter Naddeo, The Nightblinders, NOVA ONE, Ramona Lane, The Restless Age, Sledge Wolf, Cheval Sombre, 86 Supreme, Tiny Blue Ghost, TONUS MAXIMUS, The Wilful Boys and Tyler G. Wood.

Artists Respond to X

This year’s O+ Kingston artists have responded to the theme of “X” with cross-disciplinary projects, collaborations and interventions at the intersection of art and life. Films, installations, murals, performances, multi-site experiential projects and workshops invite the viewer to activate artwork with participation:

  • artXmedicine Erika deVries and Matt Dilling, Aki Goto, Daniel Totten, Meg Bashwiner
  • visual artXmusic Eva Marie Magill-Oliver, Matt Pond and Chris Hansen, B.A. Miale
  • artXsocial engagement/activism Hyuro, Callie Jayne/Rise Up Kingston and Shadia Fayne-Wood/Survival Media Agency, Carolita Johnson, Stefan Saffer, The Matter Digest (Havarah Zawoluk and Ernest Goodmaw), Sophi Kravitz, Lynn Herring, Robert Markey
  • artXenvironmental activism Maxine Leu, Sebastian Pillitteri, Riverkeeper, Art Department of SUNY New Paltz, Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency and Hudson River Watershed Alliance, Woodstock School of Art, Michael Fusco, Jana Liptak, Annabelle Popa
  • X organizing principle/pattern Roy Verspoor, Kerry Pharmer, Jicky Schnee, Alexandra Dewez, Joe Mangrum, Scott Chasse and Kenley Darling, Tronvs, Hudson Valley Movement Collective c/o Charlotte Gibbons, Chewy Altamirano, Stetz/Kingston Pop Museum

Additional bands and artists will be announced as confirmed.

Participating artists and musicians receive complimentary health and wellness care in the Artists’ Clinic and in local dentists’ offices during the festival weekend. O+ calls this exchange: “the art of medicine for the medicine of art.”

O+ Kingston is currently seeking general festival volunteers and volunteer health and wellness providers in the Artists’ Clinic.