Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Alison Watson, director of The Media Arts Project and a board member for the Asheville HATCHfest, would like to say a few words about the running conversation on the blog here and here.
Alison, you have the floor:
In response to the original blogger who said, “here, amid it all, you try to remember what the heck the party’s all about. It was billed as a networking and pre-planning party. You’d come in hopes of meeting some of the Ashvegas artworld illuminati. Now you realize this isn’t really the place for that. and comment from Hail to the Chief..about how pretentious it all was..
I would like to say a few things. First of all, the point of the party was as networking and pre-planning, planting the seed. We had 168 people sign up on Saturday on cards to participate in creating this festival, making it their own. We had almost 320 people attend. I also have over 40 emails in my inbox from artists that met others they had heard of or had never heard of and wanted to collaborate with..
The reasons we made it an invitation only event was because: one. firecode. and two. we didn’t want this to become an Affiliates Event where people came just because it was cool. We wanted the artists that we are trying to serve there.
I work with a non-profit called the MAP and part of our mission is to serve media artists in this area. That is why I had an interest in HATCH from the beginning. HATCH provides opportunities that you don’t get at film festivals or galleries. We pay for struggling artists to fly in and take care of them while they are here. We (or rather YOU, the community who plans HATCH) arrange mentorship and as many other possible boosts as we can along the way. We aren’t promising flashy celebrity status or distribution.
We hired ALL local artists who we think are talented and might not be getting the recognition that they should.. for this party. And yes, even though we are a new nonprofit with no income.. we paid EVERY single one of them.
Most of my friends were there, who work in restaurants and scrape by so they can make their art.. and I don’t consider them pretentious. We invited Moog Music to help people understand what Bob Moog has done for music (and was a local)..brooke because she makes beautiful work and helps the community whenever she can.
I could continue on, but I hope you see my point. I apologize if out of the 65,000 Asheville residents.. you were left off a list that was put together by three volunteers (myself, Sean and Christine) to encourage the community to come out and tell us what they want out of this festival.The typical pretentious Ashevillian, in my mind, complains but offers no suggestions.
What are you doing for this town? I don’t mean that as if you aren’t doing something other than blogging comments about other people’s work.. I would really like to know. Maybe we can work together sometime. And if you have a better way of throwing a party to get people to connect in the creative arts community.. send me an email.
We are only bringing this event here to benefit the existing community..and just to correct one comment, Advantage West contributed money towards our franchise, they do not own it. We are a nonprofit and have worked really hard to make the contract state that we can shape this festival to fit Asheville. We are buying their existing momentum, the obvious (marketing materials and such) and more importantly .. their mistakes. So, let me know if we can change anything to avoid future mistakes in Asheville for HATCH.
Send me an email if you have more comments or suggestions.. I would like to hear from you.
Alison
[email protected]
Alison, I appreciate your note and your thoughts. By way of introduction, this is me. And sure, I’d love to get together and talk with you about HATCHfest. Did I think the weekend party was a bit pretentious? Yes. Do I think the festival is going to be great for Asheville and Asheville artists? Absolutely. Let’s talk.
I’m glad to have another perspective on Hatchfest/The Party. I have some further observations with this added perspective.
1. It’s really hard to start anything from scratch. The organizers are doing a great job, and for the most part, have the best of intentions/followed important guidelines for starting a project like this.
2. It can be difficult to develop a project when considering both the perceptions of external stakeholders (the Bozeman people) and people within the community. The perception of legitimacy when starting out- with limited resources, too few hands/brains, and too much work- is a daunting environment. I think it’s better to overshoot the mark (the perception of pretensiousness) than to appear like you aren’t ready for primetime.
3. I think the dialogue that has transpired here exemplifies the changes going on in Asheville, the community’s perception of itself in the face of the dramatic changes and as it relates to the broader world. These are very important discussions to be having, and they are sometimes difficult to have using this type of format. People can get snooty, snide and critical, others can be cross with the criticism, especially after doing a tremendous amount of work. I think this is what happens in a community laden with people who truly care about their region, and want to participate. These can be generative conversations, as the region finds its way in a rapidly changing environment.
Alison- thanks for your perspective. Kudos to you and your compadres. It takes a fundamental audacity to start something like this. By the way, I was making fun of myself for not being invited- I have recently moved here and hadn’t expected to be invited. I understand the multiple considerations that go into decisions about these type of events (from personal experience.) Also, I was aware that Hatchfest is a separate 501(c)3, but that given AW’s investment in helping to purchase the franchising rights, there is an implied expectation (public accountability) of broader, long term community economic sustainability.
You are to be commended for extending the opportunity for others to participate in the development of Hatchfest. I’ve been truly impressed by the generative nature of the Asheville community- people are engaged and eager to contribute. As Hatchfest and Asheville develop an authentic future identity, dialogue is imperative.
Ooo! I just had an amazing idea.
The best way to drop all the Pretention, and frankly while really cool looking, HATCHfest positively DRIPPED pretention, you should just do away with the PRETENSE!!!
What I mean is, screw all the so called networking, community artist outreach, blah blah bs.
Just call it what it is: a Party.
Drop all pretense to be some kind of socialy and communaly important Networking meeting, and just THROW A PARTY.
People will still come, ideas will be exchanged, and the pretentiousness will plummet!
Prentense is the root of prentention, so do away with it and just rock out next year!
When you drop