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Somerville Community Land Trust (SCLT) is working to create and sustain permanently affordable housing on community-owned land. At the traffic island at ArtBeat 2022, SCLT members will be painting, building, and talking about what’s rising in Somerville: big buildings, rents, and community voice and power to shape how our city grows and changes. We’ll be decorating canvas with images of our dreams for Somerville; recording stories of housing, displacement, and resistance in our city; and have building blocks for younger neighbors.

Rise Together intends to create playful moments in public open space that invites people to play, hop, jump, dance, interact, and rise together in their own way. 

Somerville is filled with quirky tall tales and hidden gems. During the week leading up to ArtBeat, discover the lesser-known lore of the ‘Vile in a self-guided audio tour called "Thrilling (and Entirely Fictional) Legends of Davis Square,"—a brief stories about landmarks in and around the Davis Square area.

Curated by the Post-Meridian Radio Players, there will also be an interactive version of the map on their webpage page pmrp.org/events/artbeat2022  that gives information about each location 

THEE Art Expressionists uses art to heal trauma. She curates spaces for self-care and wellness by facilitating process painting workshops. Process painting is a therapeutic art method that allows participants to focus on being present in their authentic mind, body and soul as they paint. Vie Ciné has been facilitating painting workshops in Massachusetts for 4 years, going on 5 years. In 2020, Vie Ciné turned Paint Your Truth Workshops into a business for survivors of COVID19 Massachusetts Residents!

Join Vie Ciné at Statue Park and Paint Your Truth all day long!

Has your life been lacking in sparkle, magic, and general whimsy? Have no fear, the faeries are here! We love going to festivals, parties, parades, birthdays, and more! We’re based out of Somerville, but we can bring magic to wherever you are! Come flutter with Flutterby Faeries!

The Flutterby Faeries will be roaming around the festival from 1-3 pm with a showcase performance in Statue Park at 2 pm. 

Check out Flutterby Faeries on Facebook!

Esh Circus Arts is the Boston area's home for high-quality circus instruction. We live and breathe all things circus! Esh is a 5,000 sq foot facility located in the heart of Somerville, only a few minutes walk from Harvard, Union, and Porter squares. Our facility features adjustable aerial rigging points, padded floors, spotting belts for acrobatics, a dance area, and an on-site massage treatment room.

Bonbon de Rue is an accordion and clarinet duo that delights their audience with an eclectic repertoire of music ranging from traditional jazz, waltzes, French classics such as "Sous le Ciel de Paris", to the theme song from Howl's Moving Castle.

Bonbon de Rue will perform a set at 1:00 pm at Statue Park and will also be busking throughout the festival. Join us and enjoy their great tunes! 

Check out Bonbon de Rue on Instagram!

This year’s ArtBeat Parade will feature School of Honk, additional ArtBeat Festival performers, and YOU! We are inviting community members to participate in this year’s parade to join together and RISE for Somerville. Participants are welcome to bring festive banners, rod puppet, kites, signs, and any other items that epitomize the "rise" theme. If you were able to make to our pre-ArtBeat parade workshop, we will have festive rod puppets on hand to distribute the morning of.

Juan Esteban Patiño, known as “JayB Prodigy” is a Latin urban artist, composer, and producer from Colombia currently residing in Boston, MA. He contributes to the Latin hip hop and reggaeton community not only by putting together shows in venues like Oceanside but also by recording hundreds of up and coming artists in his home studio located in East Boston called Prodigy Recordz. Along with his team of artists like Geko Rbn and the Fresh Boyz he is releasing a new project in the summer of 2022 for all the Latin urban music lovers in the New England area and around the world.

NorthernBlues Music - Moments before Toni Lynn Washington takes the stage, you might see what appears to be a quiet, unassuming woman standing patiently out of the spotlight. But look quickly, because once the music starts, four decades of performing will kick into gear, and she'll soon take control of the room like a pool shark running the table. Special performers are gifted with the innate ability to throw that "switch".