Upcoming events
Lunar New Year Celebrations
Year of the Dragon, here we come! Hosted by The Arts & Justice Collective and organized by members of our local Asian community, this FREE event will feature the guzheng (11:30 a.m.), kung fu demos (12:30 p.m.), lion dancers (1 p.m.), crafts, food, calligraphy, and more!
Location: 529 Main Street, Hyannis (Old Wing’s)
Cost: Free (free children’s book give-away too while supplies last!)
The Arts & Justice Festival
The Arts & Justice Festival is a multi-day celebration of community care, culture, and actions that maintain a healthy community on Cape Cod despite the challenges we face living here.
Saddle up for Juneteenth: a Juneteenth and Pride Celebration
Saddle Up for Juneteenth! Join the Arts & Justice Collective on Monday, June 19th as we celebrate Juneteenth and PRIDE month: Cowboy style! Lasso on down to Aselton Park in Hyannis for drag perfromances, music, games, and more Wild West fun. Don't forget to grab our cowboy boots and hat because best cowboy costume wins a prize!
The Food That Connects Us
We love to eat and we love to eat with people we love. We especially love to eat foods that are not simply nutritious, but have stories, that are special to others, that carry with them history and memory.
We invite you to the Family Table Collaborative Sunday, April 30th from 1-4pm to partake in the stories and foods that connect us - an afternoon with stories, demonstrations, samples, and food vendors.
Lunar New Year Celebrations
The Arts & Justice Collective invites you to its next House Party! Join us for Lunar New Year Celebrations on Saturday, January 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. This family-oriented event will include a Belonging Books’ read aloud, new years' treats, children's crafts, demonstrations of Chinese art forms, a traditional lion dance performance by Hung Gar Kung Fu and Lion Dance Academy at 11 a.m. and more...Please spread the word about this special gathering, and let's meet up together as a community!
Amplify POC Holiday Vendor Market
We cordially invite YOU and the whole Cape Cod community to join us in celebrating the holidays at our second House Party! Come and shop for your family and friends with a variety of up to 30 vendors, entertainment and refreshments, a curated art gallery all while supporting local businesses! See flyer below for more info and PLEASE SHARE within your networks and newsletters! Hope to see you there!
![You Are [Not] Too Much](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6328a392be4c083d7c13901c/1665420008624-6UQLRL5G0WU2HMPCUC16/collective+version+ig+post++initial+cordial+eye+post.png)
You Are [Not] Too Much
Presented in collaboration with Amplify POC, Belonging Books, and Cape Cod Voices: Our inaugural community House Party! Join us for an evening of art, accompanied by the live music of Gabby Simpkins, live art demonstration by Susan Overstreet, a spoken word/story-sharing open mic, and an indulgent, not-too-much menu of treats! We invite you to come dressed in that outfit/hairstyle/make-up that you never believed you could pull off! Suggested Donation: $5 at door
Past Events
The Arts & Justice Festival 2023
The inaugural Arts & Justice Festival took place from July 6 to July 9, 2023. It included “Take Up Space”: A Spatial Justice Art Exhibit and Film Screening, A Night of Black Excellence, More Than the Beach Fashion Show mentioned below, The Amplify POC Vendor Market and Summer Festival, and programs with various community partners, including a restorative yoga session with BFree Wellness, a Healing Through Art session with Latinx in Action and story telling performances by Antonio Rocha in partnership with Hyannis Public Library and ArtsBarnstable.
The Festival focused on community, joy and rest, interrogated the history and stories of who makes up Cape Cod, celebrated the richness of our different backgrounds through art, food and music, lifted up POC businesses, and offered ways for community members to get involved in keepingour neighbors safe and thriving.
More photos of the Festival soon…
Video by Rayviation
House Party Eight: More Than the Beach Fashion Show (Part of The Arts & Justice Festival 2023)
On July 8, 2023, as part of The Arts & Justice Festival, we highlighted our incredilby talented local fashion designers in More Than the Beach Fashion Show: Zavia Walker, Kenard Smith, Mira Wear, Devinto, Mijiza Images, and Alter Ego Street Wear, and our local clothing boutiques: Mini Me Boutique, Butu International, 606 Thrift. Movimento performed during the intermission, JT Chronicle hosted, and DJ Angel played favorite jams!
Photography by Rayviation and Sarah Secunda
House Party Seven, Saddle Up for Junetheenth
On June 19, 2023, the community came together to celebrate Juneteenth and Pride month, Cowboy style! Held in Aselton Park in Hyannis, we gathered in joy and freedom for drag performances by Lavender, Larissa Montes, Iris Laveau, music by Pink Navel, face painting by Fun N Clowns, photobooth by Magic Mirror and more Wild West fun.
Photos by Erica Tso Haidas
House Party Six, A-Way with Words
On May 27, 2023, we met on the Hyannis Village Green the third annual A-Way with Words poetry and spoken word event honoring the lives of George Floyd and others facing police brutality. Hosted by Tamora Israel, we gathered together for powerful spoken word poetry by our local poets, including, Tarazza, Tzyna Pinchback, Tanoa, Mwalim, Zyg 808, music by The Groovalottos, and a BIPOC vendor market by Amplify POC. Matters is the Minimum.
Videography from this event by Big Tree
House Party Five, The Food that Connects Us
On April 30th we ate, laughed, and listened together at the Family Table Collaborative. We heard about sustainable quinoa growing practices by indigenous farmers that Yapa Provisions sources his grain from, Corey Hendrick’s of Duck Island Shell Fishing, experience growing up shell-fishing on the Cape, Ralph Younger Blackburn’s story behind his business, My Daddy Wears and Apron, and our children listened to a story and cooked alongside Tomas Tolentino.
We enjoyed Jamaican food by Z. Eatz, tacos and all the fixings by Blue Moon, cupcakes by Aundria’s Kitchen, and Brazilian treats by Andrea’s Kitchen. With full bellies and good stories, we got to be together in community.
Photos from this event were taken by Cambridge Jenkins IV.
House Party Four, Black Excellence: a night of resistance through art.
Through poetry, dance, music, and history we shared together a full range of emotions, closing out with a reminder from Dzidzor of the power of our love for ourselves and each other.
Thanks to Tamora Israel for being the most handsome funniest host, Natasha Faith, Zion Rodman, Tzynia Pinchback, @_just.mesha_ and Robin Joyce Miller for your wonderful performances.
Photos from this event were taken by Mara Aruajo at HYBRIDHEART.
House Party Three:
On January 21, 2023, The Arts & Justice Collective, led by Belonging Books, created a joyful gathering to celebrate the Lunar New Year! This unique event celebrated a community on the Cape that is often overlooked and underrepresented.
Cassandra Jones graced us with her playing of the traditional Gu Zheng instrument, Kung Fu and Lion Dance Academy impressed us with lion dances and drumming, and Hyannis-based USA Kung Fu Academy demonstrated their adept kung fu skills. Our activity stations included calligraphy, paper-cutting, mah jong, children’s crafts, hu tao (ancient Chinese throwing game) and some Asian treats!
Photos from this event were taken by Mara Aruajo at HYBRIDHEART.
House Party Two:
On December 9th, 2022, Amplify POC Cape Cod held their 2nd annual Holiday Vendor Market which featured nearly thirty BIPOC-owned businesses. The Arts & Justice Collective collaborated by providing live music, art, refreshments and food.
QuelQue Shoals and The Groovalottos brought the beats to the party while Karibbean Lounge nourished our souls with delicious bites. The curated art gallery centering BIPOC artists was a perfect place to sit and catch up with friends. It was an epic evening of community supporting community, art, and friendship.
Photos from this event were taken by Phases Creative Studio.
House Party One:
The reception for “You Are [Not] Too Much” an exhibition produced by The Cordial Eye celebrating all the ways we are Too Much: too loud, too bossy, too queer…
On October 20th, 2022, we took over The Guyer Barn in Hyannis, ate chips and donuts, listened to the music of Gabriella Simpkins, watched the live painting of Susan Overstreet, and got to experience the power of shared celebration, laughter, and peace with members of our Cape Cod community who often feel they are Too Much in their artistic expression and otherwise.
Photos from this event were taken by Big Tree Video.
