DAM Awards 2018: Best Creative Collective

In a community full of musicians, artists, podcasters, radio show hosts, sound engineers, poets, authors and filmmakers, these talented individuals were destined to form some pretty stellar creative collectives. Each collective offers a unique place for artists looking to showcase their talents or find others pursuing similar activities. Here are the nominees for Best Creative Collective for the 2018 DAM Awards.

7Feathers

Working to bring arts and music to people by uniting a community of talented people, 7Feathers is a collective that hosts educational camps, workshops and more to assist the community. 7Feathers works to springboard the talent of musicians and artists in the community through business services, collaborative exhibitions, recording opportunities and hosting events where artists can showcase their work.

7Feathers features talent on both local and national levels in the music community and provides some of the funds to charities. 7Feathers does things such as interactive exhibits, activities and workshops to bring the art community together.

The collective not only creates enjoyable events and collectives of talent for families to enjoy, but also works to preserve Denton by providing opportunities to interact with nature.

One of the events the collective hosts is a Jam Fest which is a three day festival of music and jamming. The 2nd edition of this event will be from Aug. 25-27 at the Yellow & Blue House on Bolivar St. in Denton. It will feature acts such as the Boombachs, Matt Grigsby and more to be announced. The event will have tacos, yoga, backyard camping, a front yard vender market and more.

You can check out 7Feathers here.

Artists Enclave

The collective, Artists Enclave, is full of talented members such as Susan Carol Davis and Linda S. Anderson who had one of their short films called “Weldon’s: A Western Way of Life” featured on KERA. The group promotes Denton County as an emerging place of the arts as it brings together people either practicing or creating products in their craft.

The collective builds upon a diverse amount of talent including fine art, photography, filmmaking, music, literary and performing arts. The group even lists happenings in the arts community under their blog. From amateur to the professional, Artists Enclave seeks people looking to take their work to the next level,   

You can check out Artists Enclave here.

Denton Songwriters Guild

The Denton Songwriters Guild hosts workshops for songwriting, has monthly meetings and offers a free acoustic showcase. The collective also runs a Denton Folk Festival which is multi-day event full of local Texas artists.

In the acoustic showcase, the collective works to find three talented local songwriters that swap songs throughout the night.

With the monthly guild meetups, they  have an open discussion regarding approach to the songwriting process. The collective does not require you to have a song to attend the meeting and the meetings are both free and open to the public.    

The collective also posts their events on their Facebook page.   

You can check you Denton Songwriters Guild here.

Glitterbomb Denton

You may have recently seen the words “Glitterbomb” across Andy’s marquee on Thursday evenings. Glitterbomb is a weekly queer variety show for people 18 and over that used to be held at Mable Peabody’s before its closure in September 2017.

Glitterbomb Denton was created by Lillith Grey and Milo Cox back in 2015 and has become a staple of the queer community in Denton. The show consists of drag, burlesque, queerlesque, circus acts and more. Some people previously featured are, by stage name, Hana Li, Scarlett Frenzy, Kimber GrimSin Fox. The collective has a DJ for those looking to dance and strives to provide a welcoming environment to the queer community.

Glitterbomb provides a new theme and lineup for each show produced and has several interesting themes lined up including The Babely Bettie Bash (Jan.25) and Fandoms (Feb. 1).

You can checkout Glitterbomb Denton here.

Spiderweb Salon

With about five years under its belt, the arts collective Spiderweb Salon is full of local writers, artists, musicians, poets and other performers. The collective is even open to filmmakers, painters, comedians, chefs, photographers.

The collective works to host a monthly or so outdoor art showcase and does workshops and other showcases at multiple venues in Denton and DFW.

The collective also regularly publishes thematic zines. The latest zine, “Low Power Radio” inspired by local radio station KUZU.

The collective has done over 70 showcases and operates mainly out of homes, bars, basements, and backyards. The collective has a literary podcast and hosts several events. The group has also been featured in the Dallas Observer as best literary arts group in DFW 2016.

You can check out Spiderweb Salon here.     

Header image by Emily Cline
Header image layout designed by Christopher Rodgers.

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