Artweek At Home Launches May 1
The reimagined 2020 ArtWeek Festival will celebrate the creative Commonwealth from May 1-10
Boston, Mass. (April 21, 2020) – The Boch Center, the producer of the annual ArtWeek festival which is presented by the Highland Street Foundation, has announced that it is launching #ArtWeekAtHome on May 1st. The reimagined format replaces the original ArtWeek that would have featured almost 800 creative events in over 170 communities across the state, including many free events for families, children, residents, and visitors.
“We were so disappointed to have cancelled ArtWeek due to the pandemic crisis, especially since it had grown over 30% from the year before after expanding statewide in 2018,” said Joe Spaulding, President and CEO of the Boch Center. “But the response from event hosts and partners inspired us to think outside the box. #ArtWeekAtHome celebrates the creative community and its response to this unprecedented period, as ArtWeek partners and event hosts continue to bring joy, comfort, and inspiration to thousands of people every day during this crisis.”
“We have been proud to spotlight hundreds of arts and cultural partners over the years through our Free Fun Friday program and our partnership with ArtWeek,” stated Blake Jordan, Executive Director of the Highland Street Foundation. “#ArtWeekAtHome is a creative way to keep those partners and the amazing contributions they make every day to our communities center stage - especially during these times,” he added.
On May 1st, the original festival kick-off day, ArtWeek event hosts and partners will post links on social media to their online content including tours, concerts, at-home activities, or other creative programs while tagging #ArtWeekAtHome and @ArtWeekMA. As part of the kick-off, a ten-day ArtWeek Bingo game will also launch to keep creative juices flowing throughout the week with daily artistic prompts and themed challenges celebrating different genres. The week-long schedule includes nods to music, museums, dance, crafts, theater, literature, the outdoors/public art, film, history, and the culinary arts. The following week, #ArtWeekAtHome highlights will be shared at www.artweekma.org and on different social media channels.
About ArtWeek
Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek is an annual award-winning innovative festival. Due to the global COVID 19 pandemic, the 2020 festival as originally conceived was cancelled and #ArtWeekAtHome was launched as a reimagined format. The original ArtWeek 2020 was going to feature almost 800 unique and creative experiences, including many artwalks, open studios, and town-wide celebrations that were hands-on, interactive or offer behind-the-scenes access to artists or the creative process. ArtWeek was born in Boston in 2013, expanded statewide in 2018, and by 2020 had exploded to over 170 towns and neighborhoods across Massachusetts as the signature nonprofit community program of the Boch Center. To find out more to www.artweekma.org or @ArtWeekMA.
Statewide ArtWeek 2020 champions included the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and the Mass Cultural Council, who also served as ArtWeek’s Creative Communities sponsor. Additional support came from the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Cape Cod Foundation Fund for the Arts and the Carolyn Van Vleck Pratt Fund for the Arts. Lead Media partners at the Diamond Level included iHeart Media, WCVB Channel 5, El Planeta, and Entercom (103.3. AMP, MAGIC 106.7, MIX 104.1). They were joined by Platinum Level media sponsors including WBUR, WGBH, Boston Central, Boston Parents Paper, The Daily Hampshire Gazette/The Valley Advocate, and the Media News Group (Boston Herald, The Lowell Sun, Sentinel Enterprise, The Valley Dispatch, and Nashoba Valley Voice), as well as many others across the state. ArtWeek’s 2020 expansion and virtual celebration has also been powered by an extensive network of more than 170 creative collaborators at the statewide, regional and community level.
About Highland Street Foundation
Since its establishment in 1989, Highland Street Foundation has donated more than $200 million to many worthy non-profit organizations. It is committed to addressing the needs and concerns of children and families primarily in Massachusetts and California specifically in the areas of education, housing, mentoring, health care, environment and the arts. To learn more about Highland Street Foundation, please visit www.highlandstreet.org.