Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Yes Oui Si teams up with Future Boston Alliance

Yes+Oui+Si+teams+up+with+Future+Boston+Alliance

Jonette Glass  Journal Contributor

Members of the Boston community gathered last Wednesday at the Emerald Lounge to participate in  celebration of the re-birth of the Yes.Oui.Si. gallery into Company One.

The event was an after party celebrating the success of a “brand hacking” collaboration with the Future Boston Alliance earlier that day. Together, these two organizations, along with the help of local supporters, successfully created a logo and an established creative, new professional direction for Yes.Oui.Si.

Together they made the transition of branching out from a brick and mortar exhibition space to relaunching as Company One, a production company that advocates for the promotion of arts and culture in the Greater Boston area. Yes.Oui.Si. and Future Boston take a seemingly  unconventional approach to facilitating cultural diversity.

“We bring people together through pop-up shows, pop-up concerts and exhibitions. Being able to move it all around keeps it all from seeming institutionalized. It has to be done this way. This is something that just can’t be forced,“ said Olivia Ives-Flores, founding partner and curator of Yes.Oui.Si.

Established in 2008, Yes.Oui.Si. has been bringing communities and artists together through the use of impromptu showcases, documentaries, exhibitions, parades and more. All of these acts have been completed in the name of facilitating community discussion and creative and cultural expression.

“This method keeps us from being isolated to dimension,” said Ives-Flores. “We can work with different bands and artists in different areas and just evoke more authenticity though art to promote the artistic ecosystem.Accomplishing this event is a part of our goal to achieve the triple affirmative yes. That means taking risks to actualize our core goals and facilitate the discussion.”

Last Wednesday’s event was the third exhibit of what they call The Assemble Series, held weekly at the Emerald Lounge. This week’s Assemble brought together community business owners, artists of all mediums, musicians, students and community members all in the name of cultural diversity and support for the creative economy of Boston.

“I’m so happy that there is something like this out here. All these people in one place think the arts are as important as I do and everyone wants to help share that art. I’m just so excited that this exists,” said student Leila James.

This innovative approach attempts to bring awareness to the slightly hidden culture of creativity in Boston, which was reflected by the eclectic crowd. The event attracted people of all ages, from older professionals to students, all interacting, communicating and laughing in the name of art, culture, and community. The excitement of this event was present in the constant murmurs and buzzing of conversations being held around paintings and sculptures and the bar.

“I’m very happy to be here supporting both Yes.Oui.Si and the Future Boston Alliance. I think that it’s a great way to bring artists together and this is a good cooperative movement whereas a lot of time things in Boston can be pretty insular,” said Frank Floyd, 38, of Gloucester.

Attendees of the event praised both the collective initiative of the Brand Hack along with the new strides that Yes.Oui.Si. is taking to the next level, with intention of keeping itself evolving while still maintaining its freshness.

“This is a great thing to be a part of. Not just for artist but for everyone. If you go to California or New York, you’ll be exposed to events like this all the time,” said Prescia Cooper, 26. “There needs to be more events like this in Boston to actually keep us here instead of moving away in search of this.”

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Yes Oui Si teams up with Future Boston Alliance