Micro-Documentary Shows O+ Festival in Action

From left to right. Gaia, Simone Felice, Tom Cingel & Jason Russo.

We are pleased to release a short video featuring three “story bites” from the O+ community, shot by incredible documentarians, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, two of the leading chroniclers of post-9/11 America, and internationally accredited most recently for their latest documentary, Flag.

In this micro-documentary you will go on a trip to the local dentist with Jason Russo of Common Prayer, hear Simone Felice’s harrowing tale of emergency open-heart surgery, and talk community development with the insurmountable street artist, Gaia. You will hear first-hand stories of O+’s national movement beyond each individual festival, and its impact on urban renewal in developing cities and communities.

“Over the last four years, it’s been incredible to see the impact of O+ on a community,” said Michael Tucker. “What started as a simple idea among friends—bartering art and music for care—has completely transformed Kingston and established a model for other communities to heal themselves.” Michael, Petra, and their daughter Matilda participated as artists in the first O+, and have been attending the festival in Kingston ever since, before working together to film last year’s event. Both filmmakers are thrilled to see the seed of O+ spread across the country to new cities like San Francisco last year.

In a combined celebration of the release Simon Felice’s new full-length album, Strangers, Jason Russo’s recent return from recording his next album, as well as Gaia’s return from creating new art in Australia, O+ 2014 invites YOU to join us in uniting our mission of cultivating cO+mmunity assurance, resilience, and downright lO+ve in people and cities across the continent.

Watch the micro-documentary here.

Internationally Renowned Street Artist, Gaia, Joins Kingston’s 2013 O+ Roster

Internationally known street artist Gaia joined us for 2013’s Kingston, NY O+ Festival, ambitiously taking on one of the city’s largest wall spaces for an eight-story original mural. Watch an artist profile produced by StudiO+, replete with time-lapse video of this awe-inspiring, one-man installation:

Gaia’s latest works endeavor to, “…remind us of lost human connections to nature and the environment.” About the mural Gaia designed for Kingston, he says, “The piece features the Greek goddess Artemis from a photo I took at the Vatican descending into a gaping limestone quarry with a skyline of New York City on the horizon and a Corinthian crown at the top. This piece goes in three directions: 1) A reference to Kingston’s proximity to natural resources that helped build New York City; 2) the process of resource exploitation as a defiling of the Mother Earth; 3) marble and limestone used for architectural embellishments in early Neo classical revival / Georgian American architecture, the statue not only representing Mother Earth but also is a Hellenistic and roman reference as a celebration of democracy in early United States history. This is further suggested with the Corinthian column.”

Gaia not only created this magnificent painting in a single week, but he also cashed in with some extremely valuable dental work thanks to our dental volunteers. Read more about this mural on Brooklyn Street Art.

photo by Andy Milford
The finished mural. Photo by Andy Milford
Photo by Andy Milford
Gaia surveying his work. Photo by Andy Milford