CELEBRATE THE "AHTS" IN BOSTON

BOSTON, Mass (9/14/08)-- Sculptors, painters, musicians, photographers, poets, dancers, glass-blowers, and many others all gathered this weekend in Christopher Columbus Park for “ahts,” the Boston Arts Festival. The three-day event showcased various works by local artists in an attempt to introduce the different aspects of Boston’s artistic community to the city at large.

Although the festival is in its sixth year, this is the first year that the festival has extended across the entire weekend. The event is commissioned by the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events, in conjunction with both local and national sponsors.

Tony Nunziate, the spokesperson for said office, says that the goal of the festival is to reach people who might not necessarily be interested in or even aware of the artists working in Boston. “It’s an opportunity for local arts groups to showcase their talent,” he says. “But it also introduces a new audience to the art in their city.”

The artists taking part in the festival are essentially broken down into two groups: visual and performance-based. The visual artists assemble in booths along a midway where they display their artwork and sell to potential customers. Art has a broad definition here: the usual mainstays such as painting and pottery are well-represented, as are less common niches such as wire figurines and t-shirt designs.

For these artists, the festival presents an economic opportunity as well. Brian Beaucher is the owner of Boston Coasters, a store specializing in items such as mugs and t-shirts with a local flavor; many of their items feature photographs of area landmarks, the Red Sox, or even subway stops. Along with his chief photographer,Mike Ritter, they have been selling their wares at the festival for three years running. Beaucher and Ritter’s booth was one of the busier throughout the day.

“We find that a lot of times the medium is more important than the work for some people,” says Ritter. “It gets rid of the guilt factor a bit- you’re buying something useful rather than something just hanging on the wall.”

The other main draw of the festival is the performances. With both a “garden” and “waterfront” stage, so two shows could run at once, the festival included demonstrations by Blue Man Group, the Boston Ballet, and a traditional Chinese dance group- all in full costume, of course. Performances ran almost non-stop throughout all three days on both stages, ranging from Irish step dancing to indie rock.

One such performer was Sam Cornish, Boston’s poet laureate. A first time performer at the festival, Cornish gave a reading of many of his works. “I do many readings all around- at coffee houses and the like, but not often like this,” he said. “It was a nice audience for me, they were very receptive.”

Nunziate hopes that the festival will someday become a time-honored tradition in Boston. “There are cities in Europe that have been doing this for fifty years, and they go for a whole week,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get there eventually.”