Midsummer night showcase
Wed, July 22 • 7PM EST
John Smith, host
Support local artists by drifting into a dreamy Midsummer Night! Hosted by NextNOW Fest student curator John Smith, this showcase features local and student artists across different genres, including music, poetry and visual art.
honor native lands
Before we begin, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on and acknowledge the Indigenous roots of the land that you’re on. The land that the University of Maryland and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center resides on today is home to the Piscataway tribe. We encourage you to use a resource like native-land.ca to learn more. Read about land acknowledgements from the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture.
accessing the event
Tonight’s event will be held on Instagram Live on The Clarice’s account:
- This event will be captioned through a StreamText transcript available here.
- If you don’t have one yet, you’ll need to sign up for an Instagram account. Once you’ve logged in, visit The Clarice’s account at instagram.com/theclariceumd
- When the event broadcast is live, The Clarice’s profile picture will have a purple ring around it and the word “LIVE” at the bottom of it. Click or tap the profile picture to view the broadcast!
- FYI: You can either access the broadcast through your phone or on your desktop/laptop, in case you want to have your phone handy.
- If you’re having trouble accessing the event, call us at 301.405.7236 or email mod-theclarice@umd.edu and we’ll get in touch as soon as possible to help.
preparing for the event
Make a snack and get cozy!
Grab some grub
Join us in supporting Black owned restaurants in the vicinity of the University of Maryland. If you’re close to campus, we encourage you to purchase your NextNOW Summer Fest meals from them!
Daily Curator's Choice
College Park, MD
NuVegan Cafe is a popular spot for vegan soul food. It offers 100% freshly-made vegan delights for vegans and non-vegans alike to indulge and nurture the soul. From mac n' cheese to sweet kale salad, NuVegan serves your taste buds with your favorite dishes, plant-based style.
Meet the Artists
Cuni
Cuni is the solo (for now) indie/emo project from Jared Cunanan. Taking influences from 70s new wave, 90s shoegaze and modern punk, Cuni is about reflecting on the sounds that accompany a confused heart.
Ambi
Ambi is a senior at UMD studying Journalism and Poetry. She started her comedy journey at Milkboy ArtHouse open mics. Since then, she co-founded The Hysterics, UMD’s one and only all-women comedy group and opened for Nikki Glaser this past November at the DC Improv.
Jose
Jose Cadiz is the Lead Coordinator in UMD's Office of Community Engagement. Jose has more than seven years in higher education experience and has worked in community engagement at three institutions. His passion for Higher Education stems from the joy of being able to create the atmosphere of a college/university through programming, advising student organizations and building connections with the College Park community. His role at the University of Maryland consists of but is not limited to leading the efforts for Good Neighbor Day Initiative and creating strategic partnerships with the greater College Park community.
Hunter
Hunter is a self-taught visual artist from the DMV. Her work looks to explore subjects such as being black, being a woman and how she can create a space that acknowledges these different intersections, sustainably.
Tayo
Tayo Omisore is a Nigerian-American rapper, writer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in AFROPUNK, The Diamondback, BlackNerdProblems and Button Poetry, among others. Tayo is the Founder and Creative Director of Blackburb Media, a POC driven creative agency whose mission is to empower, educate and entertain through the power of empathy.
About The host
John
John Smith is a junior Psychology and African American Studies Double Major, LGBT Studies minor, with a passion for all things art! A (semi) trained singer, he is interested in storytelling through visual and auditory means. John also enjoys anything that has to do with the intersection of race, gender and sexuality. He's excited to make NextNOW SummerFest a great festival.
Tell us what you think!
Lessons learned from NextNOW SummerFest will help us plan the best NextNOW Fest experience for you in September. We appreciate your feedback!
Share on Social Media!
key hashtags
#NextNOWSummerFest #KeepCreatingUMD #IAmARHU #UMD
let's be friends!
About nextnow summerfest
NextNOW SummerFest is a midsummer interlude of artistic and creative virtual experiences that evoke memories of summers past. Presented by NextNOW Fest at The Clarice, NextNOW SummerFest continues to celebrate imagination, creativity and community -- in a virtual setting.
As we continue to practice physical distancing and other precautions due to COVID-19, we’re missing the usual arts gatherings that we would have experienced over the summer. We’re also testing out a few event ideas and virtual platforms in preparation for a virtual NextNOW Fest 2020 in September. We hope you will join us for a week of creativity and community, and thank you in advance for your patience and feedback!
Register for NextNOW SummerFest! Registration is free and open to all!