Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville Arts Council present:

During the heat of summer (held on the third weekend in July), artists and festival goers converge on Davis Square, transforming it into one of the area's largest and most innovative arts festivals. ArtBeat includes music, performance art, craft vendors, dance, theater, food, and a whole more. Each year we develop a theme that serves as a launching point for artists and the community to express themselves. Take a look at our previous festivals.

ArtBeat: July 18 & 19 2008

2008 theme: Green

We encourage you to explore this year’s theme in the broadest possible terms. Green can convey many things: the environment; greed and money; newness and growth; and the Green Line T coming to Somerville. We hope to explore questions like: What is our relationship with the natural environment? How can nature inspire creativity and artistic production? How can we protect and preserve our natural world? Other interpretations of the theme might evoke questions like: How can money shape, support or corrupt artistic production? How might the Green Line coming to Union Square shape urban development and design? Artists and all community members may explore this theme in a variety of ways. Visual artists might work with natural or recycled material, create organic-inspired forms, or simply celebrate the color green. An architect might create a models of sustainable building designs. A documentary filmmaker might explore how corporate greed shapes our world while dancers might create a performance about growth. We look forward to hearing your creative interpretations of this theme!

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