Arrow Street Arts Announces March 2024 Launch Festival, Produced By Liars And Believers; CCF Funding Now Open

Arrow Street Arts, Inc. (ASA), a Cambridge, MA-based non-profit, announces the official opening of its new venue in Harvard Square with a week-long Launch Festival in late March 2024. Produced by Cambridge-based Liars and Believers (LaB) led by executive producer Georgia Lyman and artistic director Jason Slavick, the festival will offer a wide variety of performances, events, and community gatherings celebrating the vibrant diversity of the Greater Boston performing arts community. ASA's Launch Festival marks the beginning of the venue's inaugural year of activity, with the facility beginning regular operations on April 1, 2024.

Arrow Street Arts, founded by David Altshuler, a long-time Cambridge resident and arts advocate, reflects the vision that “Art Creates Community and Community Creates Belonging.” A multi-space performance and event facility, the venue hosted a mid-construction, soft-opening activation of its main theater with Moonbox Productions' presentation of Sweeney Todd that just completed a successful four-week run. ASA's street-front Studio will be activated as a rehearsal, class, and small presentation space in early December 2023. Final renovations to the building and installation of seating and theatrical systems will be completed this winter before the full opening.

ASA and Liars and Believers will launch an open call to performing artists later this month with the goal of assembling a varied range of performances and genres to occur during the opening festival. These performing artists will be selected by a jury panel assembled by LaB's Executive Producer Georgia Lyman, and the opening programming will include these artists alongside a group of curated performances and a special performance by Liars and Believers. If selected, artists will receive a compensation package to produce their works. Selected artists will be notified in January 2024, and more information about the programming of the opening festival will be announced shortly thereafter.

More information on guidelines and submitting an application for festival performers is available at https://arrowstarts.org/launch

New Fund at Cambridge Community Foundation Expands Access to ASA Spaces  

In addition to its revitalization of the two performance spaces, Arrow Street Arts has partnered with the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) to increase equitable access to the performance spaces for artists and arts organizations who wish to present their work at ASA's venues. The foundation of and for all of Cambridge, CCF aspires to make the community vibrant, just, and equitable for all, today and into the future.

CCF launched the first grantmaking cycle from CCF's Arrow Street Arts Fund on November 6, 2023. For more information on how apply, visit: https://cambridgecf.org/grantmaking/arrow-street-arts-fund/

ASA founder David Altshuler says, “We are thrilled to kick off our inaugural year of programming in our new performance spaces with our opening Launch Festival. We know partnering with Georgia and Jason and Liars and Believers will be a fantastic collaboration to bring in dynamic performing artists who will utilize the spaces to their fullest capacity. Through our relationship with the Cambridge Community Foundation, we can't wait to welcome a wide array of local artists and creators. This festival will further promote Cambridge as an artistic hub.”

“Through our partnership with Arrow Street Arts, we hope to increase access, particularly for artists from historically underserved and diverse backgrounds, to affordable and welcoming arts spaces in Cambridge,” said Christina Turner, director of programs and grantmaking at CCF. “This fund is one piece in the Foundation's commitment to strengthening the creative capacity of arts and culture in Cambridge now and into the future.”

Informed by the region's well-documented need for accessible rehearsal and performance spaces, most notably in the Boston Performing Arts Facilities Assessment and Cambridge's Mayor's Arts Task Force Report, Arrow Street Arts addresses the pressing need of small to mid-size organizations and individual artists for spaces accommodating audiences ranging from 150-600. Outfitted with comprehensive lighting, sound, and production capacities, ASA's facility offers both venues and production services that will help meet community and artists' needs.

Locally focused and artist-centric, Arrow Street Arts is committed to being a learning organization, exploring issues of affordability, access, equity, and sustainability and increasing the resources available to artists and community organizations, such as the Arrow Street Arts Fund at the Cambridge Community Foundation.

Founded by David Altshuler, with renovations planned by Charles Rose Architects, the 11,500 square-foot Arrow Street facility will be revitalized with extensive production enhancements to two flexible performance spaces and other upgrades that will enhance both the audience and artist experiences. A 4,500 square-foot black box theater will offer various seating configurations for up to approximately 300 audience members, and a new 1,100 square-foot street-front studio will offer a more intimate venue for smaller presentations and events as well as rehearsals and classes. Both multi-use spaces will support projects across a range of artistic genres, including theater, spoken word/readings, dance, music, and film.

To post a comment, you must register and login.