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“Art events require lots of long hours, days, weeks and months of planning”

Our Arts Programs contributes to IBA’s goal of improving our community by promoting and celebrating the diversity of Latino arts and culture through music, visual arts, dance and community festivals.

Juan Carlos González is the Program’s Director and had to find ways of keeping arts events happening throughout a pandemic. Not an easy task but at the end, done successfully. Read along for an interview where he tells us all about how IBA was able to pull off these great events.

What does your role as Arts Program Director involve?

I work closely with the artists scheduling and programming throughout the year.

What were the main challenges you faced when first switching to organizing virtual events?

The most challenging part was trying to create these events virtually and keeping everyone safe. These events are not only a “show up and record.” They require lots of long hours, days, weeks and months of planning. Logistics prior to the events have their challenges for example; obtaining all the artist’s information to create promotion material. The day of the event brings another layer of challenges, from making sure the musicians are on time to making sure they have lunch ready during their break or that the production company is on time, Etc….

Are there any platform limitations you had to overcome?

The biggest limitation was to create a high-quality work for the viewers without impacting the artist’s work. Some of the platforms would not allow the broadcasting of events on high resolution because these files are extremely big and cannot be saved.

What were the tactics you came up with to create a sense of “togetherness” people usually like from in-person events?

We started to work with our internal community (residents) and from there work our way out. Reaching to communities where these events were not being provided. We saw the results during the streaming of our concerts. People from all over signed in to watch them.

What information were you looking to get from these communities and what did you actually get?

Art place making is very important to us. So to be able to bring the arts to these communities was very important to us. Not only giving the exposure to the artist but also giving the community a free event that they can enjoy with no risk.

Why was it so important to keep the events going even during a pandemic?

It was important to keep these events going to give our community and the artists a place and platform to keep their mind off the pandemic.

What were the pros of going virtual?

The pros of going virtual were that we were able to give artists a platform to showcase their art and we were able to enter different markets not only within Massachusetts but all over the states and world.

What worked better than when the festivals were in-person only?

What worked better was the ability to attract those who normally can’t attend in person due to the distance.

Do you think virtual concerts are here to stay?

Absolutely! We’ve realized that we can reach more people who normally couldn’t come to Boston. It allows us to bring our viewers a performance to their home.

For more information about past and upcoming events visit our website and don’t miss our next concert “4 décadas de tradición” (“4 decades of tradition”) with Julio César Sanabria on November 20th! Get your tickets HERE today!

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