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A small group of community organizers hosted the second annual Free2Be Fest from May 16 to 17th to celebrate and showcase local BIPOC and Queer artistry. The fest embraced creative self-expressions that spanned visual art, poetry recitations, music, and film.
Funded in part by the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department, the event was held at the Rosette Theatre and Kenny Dorham’s Backyard and featured live performances, a community organizer’s panel, film screenings, visual arts, vendors, and vibrant cultural exchanges.
The event convened Black and Brown artists from across central Texas. Organizers said that art expresses valuable perspectives that transcend speech. “Art is a way to connect and communicate our experiences,” organizer Will Hearne said.
Image credit: Taylor Crownover.
The panel discussed how people from diverse communities and backgrounds can build community, protect and support each other, and utilize art to build a freer world.
“Art and resistance go hand in hand,” said panelist Kelle’ Martin, executive director of Allgo, which celebrates and mobilizes queer people of color.
“Especially here in one of the most segregated cities, the BIPOC experience matters,” said Dr. Lilia Rosas, executive director of the nonprofit Red Salmon Arts, which is dedicated to indigenous and Latinx cultural arts. “We use art to say ‘We are here.’”
Panelist Jasmine Games of every.Word Poetry related recited poetry to persuasive oratory. She likened activists to spoken-word poets who use rhythmic speech to engage audiences and craft shared-experience narratives.
“The most powerful form of coalition building is bringing the most vulnerable person to the table,” said Luisa Nnam of IN SIGHT, IN MIND, a community collective of artists for collective liberation. Emphasizing humility, they said that “sometimes the fight is not about you, learning from others makes the group stronger.” If one person’s freedoms are in jeopardy, they said, then everyone’s freedoms are at risk. “If you let them get away with one thing, they will come for you next.”
The event demonstrated the power art and creativity have as tools for social advocacy. Free2Be co-organizer June Bankston said that we can rely on collective creativity and capacity to imagine and actualize worlds where we can be free. This idea was conveyed by a drawing at the festival that depicted Spiderman entrapping ICE agents in webbing to save a family from being deported.
“The act of creating art in community allows us to envision freedom — what it looks like and feels like to us artists of diverse backgrounds and identities,” said Bankson. They may try to entrap our bodies, they have nothing on the workings of our spirit and minds.”
Free2Be Fest was funded by an Elevate Grant, which supports arts organizations, individual artists, and creative businesses that produce culturally vibrant and diverse artistic content. Learn more about the grant’s impact from the 2024 Measure Report – A Comprehensive Evaluation of Programs Funded by Austin’s Hotel Occupancy Tax Revenue.
