The third annual Oasis Festival, a youth-led, free event will take place on Saturday, May 26, 5:30-10 pm in the Santa Fe Railyard Plaza. New York-based electronic-pop duo Overcoats will headline the event supported by local teen musicians and DJs along with performances from local teen dancers and Wise Fool. A sidewalk chalk art contest will begin at 1 pm, offering cash and merchandise prizes to the finest chalk artists. Food trucks will cater the event and merchandise will be for sale. Â The Oasis Festival is sponsored by AMP Concerts, the Levitt Foundation, William Siegel Gallery, Violet Crown Cinemas, Railyard Stewards, and hosted by the Convergence Project.
The Convergence Project is a youth-driven collaboration designed to bring more activities, resources, and events to the wider youth community. The organization’s main areas of focus are music and event productions, community art installations and forums, as well as opportunities for teen journalism and entrepreneurship. Convergence promotes youth activism and advocates for the role of young people in the community, helping students gain experience in creating, developing, and completing projects based on their passions, establishing opportunities for other youth across the city in the process. Since teens in the community voice a shared sentiment that there is little for teens to do in Santa Fe, Convergence aims to create a safe space for them to express themselves creatively. As a part of the overall project, Convergence encourages teens to showcase their differences and support students interested in the arts. An event like Oasis is an opportune way to bring together young people from throughout Santa Fe and other areas of New Mexico and provide an opportunity for young musicians to get exposure and play in front of a substantial crowd. The organization aims to give a platform and audience to young artists from all over Santa Fe and, thus, inspire other teens to get involved as well.
The Convergence Project was founded in 2011, and in that time it has created, organized, and funded projects and workshops including the Free Piano Project in the Railyard; a graffiti wall at DeVargas Skatepark; the Oasis Festival (in conjunction with AMP Concerts) and Oasis Blacklight parties at Meow Wolf. All these events offer performances from local teen musicians, bands, and DJs, as well as works from local teen visual artists.
In the coming years, the Convergence Project seeks to expand the number of performance spaces and opportunities for performances and exhibitions of a variety of student work in additional strategic locations in the city. Future years will offer a continuation of the Oasis and Blacklight Festivals as well as the creation of multiple visual arts workshops that offer training and artistic exposure to interested students in both traditional and contemporary art. Convergence hopes to collaborate and work together with other organizations and schools with similar goals.
