Drake Students Celebrate with Green Arts Fest

Green doesn’t have to be boring.

With food, music, and art, this weekend’s Green Arts Festival at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center is hoping to be just that: not boring.

“We wanted to have a positive outlook on the future,” said Kayley Weber, a senior and Lagunitas resident, who is organizing the event.

Almost entirely student-organized and run, the festival tries not to get bogged down in the dreariness and fatalism that clings to so many environmental movements. Instead, this Earth Day-inspired event is focusing on submission of art and music primarily from local high school students.

The show will be headlined by Drake band Brick n’ Honey. Fairfax-based Sofi Rox, who won the 2010 Green Songs Contest, will also perform. And on tour from L.A., Stonehill will join in the music.

Along with the green music contest, students are also submitting artwork (of course, with an eco-focus and, frequently, made out of recycles products) for the green art contest. Even the festival’s poster was designed by a Drake student – Justice Levine.

The entire event is student-organized and student-led, headed up by the Green Arts Crew of Weber, Levine, Eve Penberthy, Venice Cowardin, Jake Cascio and co-sponsored by Drake Green Roots, an environmental group at the school.

“My main focus is on making little changes that, in the end, make a larger difference,” said Weber, who is in the environmental academy SEA-DISC at Drake. SEA-DISC helped feed her interest in what was going on with different environmental issues and work to make Drake a greener place with recycling and gardening.

Around the same time she started interning at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center, Weber wanted to do something to help the Drake community more. So, she went around to other Drake groups and students with the idea of an environmentally-themed, fun festival.

The result is the Green Arts Festival.

There are some adults involved, though. Both the song and art contests, which all have environmental themes, will be judged by local musician Jack Irving, Revolution 9 owner Huda Al-Jamal, and environmental artist Alicia Retes. There are awards for different age groups – youth, teen, adults – with prizes from , Blue Waters Kayaking, and And a few lucky winners will have their artwork printed on t-shirts, courtesy of Revolution 9.

“Everyone will have a chance for their art to be seen,” said Weber.

And, of course, all that fun will still have a fun cause it’s helping out. Part of the money raised will go to pay for solar panels at Drake High School.

The Green Arts Festival is Saturday, April 2 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center. Tickets are $5 for kids under 18 years old and $10 in advance for adults ($15 at the door). Tickets can be purchased here.