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Arts in the News, the 26th of June 2015

Art Worth More than Money: Three female professional curators are bravely using their talents to show the world the intrinsic and transformative value of artwork.  Eschewing the usual financial goals of their field, they have combined their artistic skills and experience to found Curators for a Cause (CFAC), a new organization devoted to using art to promote positive social change and help fund partner charity organizations. Co-founder Erica Simone describes CFAC’s specific goal as “supply[ing] children from around the world with various educational, creative, and therapeutic platforms.” Partnering with nonprofits like Housing Works and Beauty for Freedom, CFAC works to allocate 100 percent of profits to charity, after company costs and staff payments are taken care of.

The Sound of Silence: A new trend sweeping music festivals, bars, and weddings is the silent disco, which allows participants to dance their hearts out at their own volume, tuning in to bands and DJs through wireless headphones. Such an event recently took place in the South Street Seaport of NYC, hosting over 300 people with glowing headphones seemingly dancing in silence. Participants report enjoying the escape from standard ear-drum bursting club volumes, the ability to choose between multiple broadcasting DJs, and the appeal to a wide age range. The trend traces its origins to England at Glastonbury in 2005, when event organizers were up against strict noise restrictions; silent disco companies are now on the rise worldwide. The host of previously-naysayers-turned-fans suggests to all of us: don’t knock it ’till you try it.

Art in the Streets: Hosting more than a hundred artists, last weekend saw the 6th Annual Welling Court Mural Festival. A wide range of graffiti/urban/street artists bring their talents every year to spread beauty and poignant messages using previously nondescript brick and concrete walls in a working class neighborhood in Queens, NYC. Neighbors reportedly share food and stories as they meet the artists and children try their hand at painting. The festival helps to show a different side of the typically stigmatized practice of graffiti and street art.

Make Your Own Kind of Music: Remember banging on pots and pans to make music when you were little? Video collective “fourclops ::)” and electronic artist Spazzkid have teamed up to create a music video that shows us you can make music with just about anything. Using a device called the MaKey MaKey, which translates touch into programmable actions, they play tunes on everything from sushi rolls to kittens. You have to see it to believe it. Prefer to watch people play music for–not on–animals? Check out these elephants enjoying a sweet serenade.

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