"HiNgE" is the 'Bess' at
Promoting the Arts!
by
Monica Pace
Marilyn Bess, Publisher of "HiNgE," knows firsthand the
challenges faced by the emerging local artist. Before founding "HiNgE,"
an online arts quarterly and resource for galleries, readings and
events, Bess was employed at a menial 9-to-5.
"I used to work in medical publishing, and knew all these
creative, talented people, also medical editors, who just hated
it," she recalls.
While there was a wealth of creative outlets and venues for
already-established artists, there seemed to be quite a dearth for newer
or more experimental voices. Bess and her colleagues saw this as an
opportunity to "start our own publication" that would
"provide a creative outlet for us and other artists." Bess
explains the title itself was suggested by one of the founding members,
Michelle Marvell, to "signify that turning point where art
emerges."
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| Bess' peerless "HiNgE Online" is the place to know in cyberspace if you are creative in Philly. |
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It is no accident, then, that the quarterly hinges upon the contacts
made between members of the arts community itself. Besides short
fiction, poetry, visual art, and music, both by "HiNgE"
editors and outside contributors, "HiNgE" (www.hingeonline.com)
publishes listings of local events, whereby artists can go out and meet
each other. The experience of art should be a "celebratory
event," Bess opines, "a way to put faces to the names."
"HiNgE" hosts several of these celebratory events at Center
City venues, spotlighting music, visual art, and poetry. Diverse as the
performances, the venues include bookstores like Big Jar in Old City,
Serendipity Café and The Balcony near Chinatown, and the Mill Creek
Tavern in west Philly. For the most part Marilyn Bess has found the
chosen venues to be extremely receptive to "HiNgE" events.
"Most places do recognize we are bringing in customers." At
one time there were monthly poetry readings but, at the Saturday ones in
particular, "attendance wasn't really what we liked." So
"HiNgE" editors opted to "create as large an audience as
possible by making the readings more of a combined event, with music and
performance arts."
The Philly Freakout is one of the most popular HiNgE events. Modeled
after the 1960's program Ready Steady Go! which featured garage rock
bands, the Freakout showcases musical talent including local band, Mondo
Topless. Tom Davis DJ's at the Freakout, and Marilyn Bess hosts and
introduces the bands. To keep the entertainment fresh, "we all
suggest different bands for each (Freakout)." 60's movies and music
videos are projected on the wall to re-create the exhilarating
atmosphere and energy of that era.
"HiNgE" is an invaluable resource for local talent, a
publication that recognizes the importance of networking for the
emerging artist. Most of all, it provides a unique, yet integral,
opportunity to meet like-minded individuals in a creative, as well as
social, context.
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