The O+ Festival is a celebration of art, music and wellness that creates a bridge to access health care for its participating artists/musicians while providing the community with access to the healing and transformative power of art in all forms. O+ (pronounced Oh Positive) fosters complete physical, mental and social well-being by connecting visual artists and musicians directly with a coalition of healthcare and wellness providers + resources in a shared vision to nurture the individual and the community. By exchanging the art of medicine for the medicine of art, O+ empowers communities to take control of their collective wellbeing.

Volunteers are essential to the success of the festival and yearround programming through which that exchange is made possible.

We do what we do because we see vividly the inequity of the healthcare system in our country, and because we are able to creatively support our musicians and artists in this way so they can keep doing what they do best -- make music and art. In recognition of your service, we offer volunteers the opportunity to receive healthcare services in our clinic during the festival. For eight hours of volunteer service, you will receive the annual festival volunteer T-shirt as well as (1) clinic visit of your choice. For four hours of volunteer service, you will receive an annual festival volunteer T-shirt. 

We expect our volunteers to show up on time and participate for the duration of their shift. All volunteers are required to attend a volunteer orientation prior to the festival (date options coming soon) and there will be an additional training for any volunteers managing financial transactions/handling money. When filling out the form, please select the types of work you are interested in and we will do our best to accommodate your requests! 

Thank you for volunteering with us and for your support of the exchange of art, music and wellness at the center of our mission. 

HO+USING for the 2023 O+ FESTIVAL KINGSTON 

October 6-8, 2023

HO+using for artists and musicians is needed to support the 13th Annual O+ Festival.

Do you have a spare room in your home? Do you have a second home or apartment in town? Or a really comfortable couch, a finished basement, a yard that is perfect for camping in, or an RV in your driveway? Are you a hotel, B&B or apartment building manager who would like to offer a room or two or ten to support a local arts non-profit organization through an in-kind donation? 

The O+ Festival is seeking accommodations for artists and musicians who will be performing, exhibiting, producing and activating the City of Kingston during the 13th Annual O+ Festival October 6-8, 2023. O+ Festival is a celebration of art, music and wellness that creates a bridge to access health care for its participating artists/musicians while providing the community with access to the healing and transformative power of art in all forms. O+ (pronounced Oh Positive) fosters complete physical, mental and social well-being by connecting visual artists and musicians directly with a coalition of healthcare and wellness providers & resources in a shared vision to nurture the individual and the community. By exchanging the art of medicine for the medicine of art, O+ empowers communities to take control of their collective wellbeing.

The ability to provide safe, welcoming, local housing for participating artists and musicians, at low to no cost, is essential to the success of O+ Festival Kingston. Artists and musicians may need one night of accommodation following their performance, activation or installation of their work. They may need two to three nights of housing to allow them to participate and also attend the festival. And we also have mural artists who will need to be housed for 5-14 days depending on the scale and complexity of the mural they are producing. 

By providing artists/musicians with a place to stay while they offer their talents and that joy to our community, you contribute to the health of the festival but also their sense of connection to our community. 

That said, providing housing for O+ Festival participants does not mean that you need to "host" them. We do not have the expectation that artists and musicians would be fed or entertained through housing that is offered. We do expect that both you and the person/people staying in your home are respectful of each other, safe during their stay and are in communication about any issues or concerns. 

All housing offers will be reviewed and a staff member will follow up with any further questions or concerns to ensure that any placement in your home is in-line with the accommodation offered, needs of the artist/musician and will be as positive of a fit as possible. 

Click HERE to learn more about O+ Festival. You can expect to be notified regarding your accommodation by early September. 

If you are also interested in volunteering in exchange for a clinic visit (minimum 8 hour requirement) please click HERE.

Thank you for your interest in O+ Festival, our mission and for your willingness to open your home to artists and musicians. 

Positively,

The O+ Team

Please do not let any barriers, personal, perceived or technical, get in the way of connecting to O+. Please reach out to us for assistance if you need support of any kind.

Contact info@opositivefestival.org for assistance or call/text 845-481-9146.

With the support of local building owners, O+ gifts public artworks to the community, bringing beauty and positivity to our neighbors and everyone who passes through Kingston.

Thank you for your interest in the O+ mural program. O+ works on the exchange of equal value. We believe sharing resources through these partnerships strengthens our community. Your building will become a focal point for our city and the artist who paints your building will be doing so in exchange for medical and dental services.  

Walls do cost thousands of dollars to produce. Because of this we ask you what you would like to do/are able to provide to offset this expense. It could be fiscal, but may also be something you or your business can provide the artist or O+ as an exchange. Remember, your building will not just be an attraction as the mural is being produced during O+ Festival week; the large-scale artwork will draw people to your building yearround. Your building and the mural will also be featured on a printed (and digital) mural map and included in educational materials. Your building will be photographed and Instagrammed often and may be part of a time lapse video or O+ mini-documentary. O+ murals have been featured in a number of regional and national media outlets. 

Some of the costs of mural production are listed below. These are NOT items you would be invoiced for. This is meant to give you a sense of the scope of production and help to guide/validate any fiscal or material support you are able to offer. Again, the mural program is not driven by capital and not being able to cover the costs listed below does NOT determine your eligibility for housing an O+ mural. 

Materials

We have a wonderful paint sponsor that donates thousands of dollars worth of mural paint, but we still need to purchase primer, prep and materials like brushes, rollers and drop cloths, and spray paint (for artists who use that medium).

Lifts, Lights, Action!

Perhaps our biggest cost is lifts and lights. We want our artists to work in the best and safest conditions. Lifts cost between $1,500 and $3,500 to rent a week; lights rent for around $400 a week. This expense is our biggest issue to determine how many murals we can produce in a year.

Insurance

• $500-$1000 to underwrite each mural production

Travel Lodging and Food

We need to get the artist here, house them and keep them well fed and hydrated. If you have a restaurant and want to feed them that is wonderful. Got an extra room in your building and want to house them? Fantastic!

In what ways are YOU able to participate in the exchange? Financial support may be a pressing need BUT remember if you can’t fully fund a mural production we encourage you to think outside the box and not be discouraged. We would love to learn more about you, see your wall and discuss mural program in more depth with you. 

Thank YO+U for supporting O+ 

If you are a practitioner and are interested exchanging the art of medicine for the medicine of art, please join the team of providers in the O+ Festival Clinic. In exchange for 4 hours of service in our Artists' Clinic, you'll have access to the entire festival- a weekend full of art, music, wellness classes in our ExplO+re series, a public health ExpO+, and more! This year, as a part of the exchange you'll receive a clinic shirt, a wellness bag full of locally curated gifts, a wristband for the weekend's festivities, access to the Greenroom, a meaningful connection with our creative community and our gratitude forever.

By offering your services in the O+ Clinic, you will be caring for artists and musicians who are chronically un- and under-insured in a friendly and casual setting free of the bureaucracy of institutions. We welcome folks who value the healing power of art and music as well as the power of working in community. 

The O+ Clinic welcomes ALL health and wellness providers from all schools of thought, areas of medicine and all alternative and complimentary care practices. We believe that wellness includes mind, body, spirit and connectedness. The O+ Artists’ Clinic is curated each year by the Wellness Team to ensure diverse, expansive offerings to meet as many needs as possible. Providers will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the open submission period. Please indicate your preferred shifts by checking the boxes next to the days we have listed. Assigned work shifts, orientation sessions and information will be communicated upon invitation to participate. 

If you have any questions about this process, please e-mail health@opositivefestival.org

Stay PO+sitive,

The KingstO+n Wellness Team