Creative Chats With Marija Draskic Brancazio (The Importance of Organizing Creative Community)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with artist, musician, and community organizer Marija Draskic Brancazio. The conversation digs into how she started and grew a successful open mic series from Zoom to her backyard to a lively and packed event at the Mosesian Center. We talk about how to create an environment for events that encourage attention and dedication to long-time artists and beginners alike, how she managed the necessary changes as the event grew, and how to avoid burnout by sharing ownership of the event with the community.
Released December 30th, 2025
(Click here to listen on streaming apps) (Full transcript below)
Check out the next Open Mic on January 14th, 2026
Find out more about Marija the artist
Listen to previous Creative Chats episodes
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Transcript
Matt: 0:07
Hi there. Welcome to the Little Local Conversations Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Hanna. Every episode I sit down with someone in Watertown to discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown. This episode is one of the monthly Creative Chats episodes that I do over at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. If you'd like to see one of these live podcast events in person, it's on the first Friday of the month. I am taking a January break, so starting back up in February. But this conversation was with Marija Draskic Brancazio, who is an artist and community organizer, and we get into a good conversation about how she got into starting the Open Mic series that happens at the Mosesian Center. How it's different from what you might think of a typical open mic, how they fostered that community, and just the importance of having that space for people to share their art face to face and being part of a community. So we'll get into our little introduction and we'll get into the conversation. Welcome. Thank you, everyone, who came out this morning. This is a very chilly morning for those of you listening later. So thank you for the people who braved it out this morning. So this is Creative Chats. This is an ep Uh actually, before I get started, Aliana, do you have anything to say first? I forgot your little intro here. I like that little whipped cream move. Excuse me. Yeah.
Aliana: 1:25
Here's for the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us at the Mosesian on this very cold December morning. Enjoy your hot chocolates and your coffee. We do have some really great events coming up. And thank you again for having these wonderful chats here. We love hosting them on Friday mornings, bright and early. And also, if you're in the spirit of giving, please support this podcast and the work that Matt does in our community, highlighting interesting artists and interesting businesses in our community. Thank you.
Matt: 1:59
Thank you, Aliana. All right. So this is Creative Chats. This is part of my podcast, Little Local Conversations, where I discover the people, place, stories, and ideas of Watertown. And this is a little collaboration with the Mosesian Center. Thank you for the space. And it's always just a space to talk about a creative topic with a creative person and just give people the chance to talk about this a little more in depth. So I'll let you introduce yourself and give you the space to introduce the topic a little bit and then we'll get into it. So want to just briefly say who you are, and then we'll get into it.
Marija: 2:35
Thanks, Matt. And thank you for inviting me. It's really nice to be here again in this different context.
Matt: 2:40
You're familiar with this space.
Marija: 2:42
I am familiar with the space, yes. So my name is Marija Draskic Brancazio. I'm a local artist, a visual artist and a musician, and a community organizer, which will be kind of the focus of this conversation probably the most. And I am very connected to the center in different ways. And I want to maybe start with that a little bit because the center is such a meaningful place for community here in Watertown and broader. I got to know MCA as an architectural designer, and I was on a team that got to redesign the space. So that was my first introduction. And I really got to see how people use the space, what are the needs of the space, and I got to slowly introduce myself to the community and what the different needs are. And trust me, there are a lot of different needs that needed to be designed for. But then I just fell in love with it and I became an integral part of the community just by, you know, being an artist that uses the space first. And then slowly as my relationship with it grew and as I became more a part of the whole community, I started organizing events here. And the main event that me and my husband and our community organize is the open mics at the MCA. So that is definitely something that I want to talk about today. But more in general, I kind of am interested to talk about why community organizing is important in the arts, why is art important for the community and vice versa. And then what are some challenges that could come up with that? What is the actual experience of trying to do that? Hopefully for someone who's thinking about doing something like that as well, out there listening on this cold December morning.
Matt: 4:21
Or if you're listening later and you're nice and cozy drinking with a blanket over you, you know, that's good too. So yeah. So I mean, obviously there's a lot to dig into on this topic, and we won't get into all of it today. But do you want to start with, so, why are you engaged with these kind of community organization projects? What was your kind of view into that world or the step into that world? You know, what made you want to do this to begin with?
Marija: 4:45
Want to do it. Uh yes. So I think there's a natural need to share the art, right? There is a need to share something that you've been experiencing with others. Basically, as an artist and understanding that need, it kind of came natural to create spaces for people to do that. And the way it started for us is in our backyard. You know, that's how most grassroots starts. It's like something that is very organic. And we would basically invite our community of friends who are artists and who had something to share and started self-organizing in our backyard, making our own little potluck kind of vibe. And it became so good. Like people really had a lot to say. That's what we detected, basically. There were so many people who had a lot to show and to say. There's so much talent in the community. And it just became popular and bigger than our backyard can handle, basically. And then there comes a moment when you need to find a space for maybe to do this a little more officially, to take it to the next level. So my connection to the MCA and realizing how open MCA is to giving a home to different kinds of projects, different kinds of people, that was the next natural step for us. And there are places like that in this world. You just kind of have to go out and find them. And there are people who are willing to help. MCA is, yes, it's a space, but it's also like the team at the MCA is so dedicated to the arts and to the community that when you come with a proposal or some idea that you want to explore, they will do their best to accommodate you. They will really do their best and go, you know, above and beyond. So that is how it felt. It felt like, oh, we know there's so much talent out there. We know there's like a whole community of people who really need that space. And then we know the space and we know the people who want to support that. So one thing led to another. I basically we came with the proposal to do this event that had some evidence of being needed in the community. And we, in 2023, we set a date and we invited, you know, our friends via text and email. Hey, we're gonna do this thing. We had to come up with the way to sign up for this. We had to come up with how do you do this more officially than just like calling people, letting them sign up on the spot. And that's when the real work began. And you started to see like it does take a lot to organize it, but it's so worth it when it actually happens.
Matt: 7:21
Yeah.
Marija: 7:21
And yeah, we never stopped. We just started in 2023 and it's still going strong. And we have the dates for next year, and it's just been growing and really, really wonderful to observe.
Matt: 7:32
Yeah. So you want to talk about some of those when you're first starting it out and it was growing, were there some stories of impactful moments that, like, oh, this is an important thing to have? Because, you know, some of us know the importance of these types of events, but how were you actually seeing that other than just more and more people showing up?
Marija: 7:50
Right, right. Thank you for that question. That's exactly kind of, it comes down to why we actually do it. So it's interesting. I think like there's this notion that everybody knows arts is important, but like when you go into why it's kind of hard to describe. To be an artist, it takes a little bit of courage and definitely takes practice, but it actually takes a lot of courage to come out and pour your heart out and show yourself. And not just yourself, but what do you have to say? What do you have to, it's an offering to the community, right, in a way. So there's like this fear that when you show yourself, you're not gonna be maybe heard or accepted or seen in the right way. That it may come out, you thought it was great, but then it comes out and it's like, oof, uh, that did not, that was not what I was going to do. So there's a lot of that with an event like an open mic. But that is kind of the point, creating a safe space where people can actually feel like they can be honest and they can pour their hearts out. So what we've seen over time is actual growth, not of just the event, but of the people who keep coming back and exploring a new form of art that they haven't done before, or a new poem, or they're just simply developing their art in a very safe space and sharing it with people, getting support in doing so. And then we've seen people in the audience who get to know their community members a little better and get to see a side of them they haven't seen before, and then it like sparks something in this new friendship or in this new relationship, and maybe even invites them and inspires them to do something different and to think differently. So what we've seen is not just growth of an event and more art. It's not about that. It's about the connection between the artist and his or her community and the community members themselves and the arts. So it's a really, really special feeling. And every time when it gets hard to organize, which it does, once it is happening and you see that happening, it's just really heartwarming. And we look at each other and we're like, oh yeah, that's why we do this, you know. So that is like a general thing, but there are many stories of the individual artists who came to us and found their home with our project. So yeah.
Matt: 10:16
Yeah. And how do you create that welcoming environment? Because, you know, I've been to a bunch of different open mics, and yours feels different than the typical open mic that you might go down at the dive bar. So, how do you create that environment of encouragement and not competition and, you know, how do you go about creating your environment that you do?
Marija: 10:36
Yeah, another great question. Thanks for bringing that up because that is hard because it's a balance. So, to give you a little bit of my own growth in this process, I'm an organizer of events, yes, but this is maybe the first kind of really community event that I've been organizing. Before that, I usually curate events and like bring specific artists, and we know exactly what we're doing. We prepare, it's like. All that to say I like to be in control of what's gonna happen. And it's sometimes hard to do a community event like that because you kind of don't know what's gonna happen with the open mic. It's in the title, right? It's very open. And for me, it was learning how to set up some boundaries and control and letting things happen naturally. That is the hardest thing to navigate. Because yeah, any control freak knows open mic is a challenging space for that. So I think we managed to find a balance between how do we organize it, curate it to an extent. It is a curated open mic. That's what kind of distinguishes it from other ones. And how do we also allow for space for people to explore and sometimes, you know, explore something risky and allow for the unexpected element of that. And I think it's in the, it's in the development of like clear communication, being very specific about what is required, what to expect when you make the sign-up sheet, which we, by the way, it's very like we use Google Forms. It's free, you can set your questions. And the forms have grown over time. Like we started with what we thought were the right questions, and then over time we were like, oh, actually, you know, we should ask people for feedback on this. We should invite them to be hosts sometimes, like keeping the engagement in the process by adding questions and making people feel more involved, even as they sign up.
Matt: 12:36
What are some examples of questions you've added in?
Marija: 12:38
Right, right. So we realized that it's good to have like a topic for each event, kind of like a generic topic that would maybe inspire people. And it's, it sounds like a simple thing, like come up with the topic, but after doing a few events, you're like, Oh my god, what's the next topic? You know, you kind of lose the idea or like. So we started asking people for giving us their own, like, what do you want to talk about, right? And we got great feedback. We have topics for the next few. We have a list now, we kind of keep in check that we covered everything. And then we've also, in the beginning, I remember we were the hosts. We would introduce and MC the whole event. And then at some point, this is, I have to say, my partner and husband and partner in this process, Nick Brancazio. He was like, I think we should let other people who want to explore that side of themselves. It's another art, you know, to host an event. As you know, Matt. Like we should let them try and see. And first we would ask people, everything starts organically, right? We would ask people we know if they're interested. And over time we were like, well, maybe that's another question we add. Like, are you interested in being a host? And you know, we get a lot of yeses. People want to try different things. That was definitely one of the added questions. There were some really simple and funny ones. Like in the beginning, people would sign up and we didn't ask for their specific email address. And if they put in the wrong one, we just couldn't reach them. So, like technical stuff like that, being really clear about that. I think that's all I can remember right now. But it's been a growing process. The list has grown of the questions.
Matt: 14:11
And were there any experiments that didn't work out?
Marija: 14:14
Let me think on that.
Matt: 14:16
Everything has gone smoothly.
Marija: 14:17
Everything has gone so well with the Open Mic. No, um, there's definitely experiments on stage that sometimes don't work out. Like it's an open mic, it's gonna happen. And you know, sometimes people assume it's a typical open mic, which means you just kind of show up and you try something. Often in the open mic environments, as you noted yourself, the art is happening, but there's usually a, you know, it's a bar and people are talking and eating, and it's not like the attention is super focused on the act. And we were trying to create something different here because this is an art center. We want to nurture the respect for arts, right? So it's a respect for this space and what people are doing here. So at our open mic, yes, you can have a drink. There's an M bar, it's really wonderful. We urge you to support the art center. But when the arts starts happening, when there's an act, people pay attention. Everybody's very respectful. So people would maybe sometimes sign up and they wouldn't know that that's the case, and then they would come and sort of check out the vibe. And there was a few times we would call out a name and they just wouldn't go on stage or they didn't, I don't know, didn't show up, change their mind, you know. Because we do set an environment where people are gonna see what you bring to the table, you know. So you show up and how you show up, it's important. So I think that's the vibe we created, and people respond to that. I think people essentially really like that because they are, if we're gonna do this, then we prepare for it, then we actually bring more to the table because it matters. So that is something we were able to create here because it's an art center and because that's the tone we set. And people really, really respond to that.
Matt: 16:01
So do you think there was an advantage to this being started as a grassroots thing kind of in your backyard first, and then moving it here, having that community of respecting the performances as it goes on rather than trying to start a new thing in a bigger space, you know?
Marija: 16:15
Right. That's actually a very interesting question because yeah, if you just wanted to start this without the having the community first, would it work in the same way? And I don't know if it would, but I think that there's something to us setting the tone from the get-go, which happened because we did this in our backyard and it's our friends who we know, and people who are really invested in their art were the first ones to kind of show up for this. And that sets the tone. So there is a little bit of curation there, right? We knew that a first few acts that are gonna go on stage, the first few acts are gonna show up, including our own band. We are really dedicated artists. So we set the tone and we set the bar, basically. And then that being said, it is an environment that also needs to foster the beginner. I think that's actually probably the main thing about this is like you want to be an artist, but you don't know where to start. And you have been working on something, but you had nowhere to show it. And it's such an important element of working on anything, it needs to be seen. It's like, you know how they say if the tree falls, did it fall? You know, like if nobody saw it.
Marija: 17:22
So it's the same with art. There's a reason why you're doing it. And when you make art, there's almost a responsibility in showing it, because it comes from honesty and it comes from your soul. So there's a need to share it. So open mics are a place to encourage that for someone who hasn't had the chance to do it. So, yes, we have dedicated artists who have been doing this for a long time and they come and they show their art and their new experiments. But it is a place for a beginner to come and try something in a setting that's dedicated to the arts. So your honesty can really be seen. So, yeah, we have a lot of artists who aspiring beginners, you know, who come and our feeling is they really thrive in such a nurturing place where their developing art can grow. So, yeah, that's it.
Matt: 18:15
Yeah, and I think it's important, you know, in today's day and age to actually have a face-to-face interaction with you. Because I feel like a lot of people starting off their creative journey, they can share it online and then you know no one pays attention to it because they're nobody online, and then they feel discouraged. So being able to actually have that space where they can actually get feedback is really important.
Marija: 18:32
Yeah, real space in time. Yeah, like actually in person is the best feedback. I totally agree. It's so tricky with online presence. Everything is so virtual now, so you end up posting something and then kind of counting likes and like basing reality in that idea, you know. So yeah, this is different. This is in person. It does become a big event. We have like around maybe a hundred people in a room at some point, but it feels very cozy and intimate. It feels very personal event, basically. So yeah, it's a important element of it. Coming to meet each other in person, to look each other in the eye. And I will say, because of that, we also have this moment in the show where we take a little break. It's like an intermission. And sometimes because the event can run longer than we anticipated, I'm always like, let's shorten the intermission. We must be on time. I'm the control one in the group. And then the rest of them are like, hey, Marija, chill out. Intermission is important. It's like the intermingling of people, this community, you know, like they have to talk. So it's important to create elements, I learned, like that, where people can actually talk to each other. Then you will see in the intermission, people are commenting on each other's acts, and they're like, Oh, we should do something together. And you will see over time a lot of collaborations come out from these encounters that happen here. It’s the best. Like one open mic, there's like a bunch of solo acts. Next open mic, those solo acts got together. So it's like really cool. Cool to observe that. Yeah.
Matt: 20:12
So maybe we'll talk a little bit more about the actual organizing of it. And, you know, for someone out there who has an idea, like, ah, I want to do, I want to bring people together to do something. I mean, how do you even take the first step? Like, even when you were starting in your backyard, was that you reaching out to friends and being like, hey, we should just play in my backyard? Did you have an idea of growing it? Like, where are the different steps in growing it to what it is?
Marija: 20:35
Yeah, great question again. I'm trying to think back how we started, and it really did feel organic. So I think that there is something to take from that. Like, start small. We started very small. In fact, before we did our backyard open mic, because it started basically during COVID, because we were really worried about exactly that, like in-person encounters in the community, right? That was what was the problem at the time. So my husband was like, let's do Zoom calls that revolve around us sharing our artistic projects. Because we're all, everybody did something artistic during COVID, but like, how do you share it? That was the problem. And we started doing open mics on Zoom. That is actually the truth. The truth is revealed. I almost forget that that's how it started. We just reached out to our friends, and everybody, I think ultimately, inherently in our nature, art is a big part of it, right? Everybody can do something or does something for their soul that can be interpreted as art. So we just reached out to all of our friends who identified themselves as artists or not. And we were like, this is an open mic online. Show us what you got. Let's just share. And it was really awesome. It was a year of open mics online before it came to the backyard. I think that's why when it actually happened in the backyard and we all got to see each other in person, it was a huge event in our backyard. It was a big one of the biggest events in our backyard. We didn't know we can hold like more than 60 people in our backyard, but it happened. So yeah, start small. And even on Zoom, apparently it works. As long as you nurture an environment where people get to share a part of themselves, you know, and actually communicate. And then it will grow. It usually grows because if people are honest and they bring themselves there, they just want to be there, you know. So it grows naturally. That will be the first step. And then when you need more space as it grows, then definitely look for art centers. That would be my advice. I remember when we decided to do open mics in an art center, I went around and visited different open mics in bars. And no shade against bars. Bars are great. Go to a bar when you can. But I was like taking notes. I was taking notes. What happens here that I like, what happens that I don't like, that I want to nurture, that I don't want to nurture. And I realized that there is this, there is this moment in a bar where people are just not paying attention. They're like doing their own thing. And there's maybe a random person who came just to be in a bar. They didn't really want to come to an open mic. And that gave me a lot of information because I wanted this open mic to be a place where people want to come, right? So make it a space that's going to have the focus of the community, right? Make sure people know why they're there. So that would be the next step, finding the right space that can accommodate that. It doesn't have to be necessarily an art center, but in my experience, talking to different art centers and working with different ones and organizing a few different events, they're the most open to give you the space where you get the full attention, where you can actually focus on what you want to do. So there is an advice in there somewhere.
Matt: 24:01
Yeah. No, I think that's a good idea of like checking out the different things that you want to do, whether it be open mic or some other event, and then seeing what you like and don't like, what it is that you're trying to nurture. That's a, it's a great way to go about it. And then once you start to grow, how do you manage that? Like how big do you want to get? Are you trying to keep it? Because now you probably have more people applying, then you have spaces on the slot. So, like, how do you manage the growth of it too, is another whole thing.
Marija: 24:27
Yeah. Yeah. That is interesting because it does grow. That is one thing that also changed in our signups because as you grow, you have to change the signup. I remember there was a time when we had to like invite people and be like, hey, you should sign up for this. We're doing this event. Come show up, you know. And then I remember one open mic. So many people signed up, and we did not put limitation on the signup form. And it was getting to be long. Like we were like, oh, we can't. There's no space for everyone. So then we had to put a limit on the signup form. And then one open mic, because people are starting to learn about what it is, and a lot of people have already went there and they want to come back. We had signups from everybody who was there last time. And they filled up the space so much that nobody new could sign up, right? Because new people don't know until much later. They don't hear about it on time. And we opened the signups always on the first of the month. Except for January, that will be the second. We don't want to do that to people. So first of the month, and it happens every other month. So people learn that and they start signing up. So then we had to introduce, okay, we're gonna have to have two signup forms. One is for people who are coming back and want to perform again, and one is for people who are new. They haven't performed here before. So let's give them some space. So that was a learning process for us. And obviously, we didn't have to worry about that in the beginning. It just wasn't a thing. And then it became very much a thing. And now it gets filled up on both. And it works out really well. It's a mixture of things. Like it's good to have steady, committed community members show up. It's really important to keep that because it's a community event. But it's also good to open space for new people to blossom and show us what they got and become a member of the community. And then of course there's the wait list for everyone who didn't make it, then you have to have a separate list that's the wait list. So yeah, it does take some organizing to let it grow how you want it to grow. So it doesn't go in directions that become like restricting in any way, you know. It's funny. For it to grow properly, you have to kind of have a little bit of control in the process because otherwise you kind of lose the sense of what it's supposed to be about. So it's a balanced path.
Matt: 26:43
Yeah, I mean that seems to be kind of a running theme throughout this is giving a box for people to play in, but there is the box.
Marija: 26:51
There's the box.
Matt: 26:52
Yeah, you need, for yourself and for them. It's good to have that, the box and the constraints. Anything else on the organizing that I didn't particularly bring up that you think is important to mention?
Marija: 27:04
Yeah, it can get hard sometimes. I do want to say that too. It's important to say because it is a lot of work. All these things we're talking about. There's also you have to write a narrative every time to post on the website. We have elements that became very important, which is like we have the feature act, somebody who has been coming a long time, then we give them a little more time. And that's important to have this one moment to honor someone who's been there for a long time. And then you have to obviously communicate with the arts center, anybody else who comes to do to record the session, the sound person, we, you have to, you know, to be able to pay some of the people who are helping you make this happen. So this event is very affordable. We want it to be accessible, very important thing, but we still want people who are doing the hard work, our sound person in particular is like probably the most important because sound is important for open mics, to get paid. So how do you make that happen? You have to apply for grants sometimes. You have to make sure it all flows. So it is a lot of work and it does get hard. And there were moments where you will ask yourself, why am I doing this? Like it's a lot, but it's really worth it. When push comes to shove, and when it comes down to it is so rewarding that even in those hard moments, it's really worth it just remembering that. So yeah, that's really important to say.
Matt: 28:31
Yeah. Do you have any tips on not burning out? Because I know a lot of community organizers in various ways burn out on these things because it is so much work, and I think people don't realize how much work it is. And but then you feel this obligation to keep it going, right? So, like, how do you not burn out on it?
Marija: 28:48
Well, there were moments where I would be burning out. I think I do dedicate myself a lot to it, so it can be, and I'm an artist, my schedule is flexible, so I take on a lot of this. And what we learned is that if you push yourself too hard, you create like an imbalanced relationship and it cannot be good. So I needed to step back and delegate, share, right, share the responsibility. And that can be scary too because as the event grows, you actually have to understand and accept that it's not just on you anymore. So then you have to reach out to the community and you have to ask for help. And that's what we've been doing. So it really became the archetype of a community event because now it's not just that it's for the community, it's also like the community does it themselves and it's a shared responsibility. And I'm really happy to say our last open mic, my husband and I, we were not even able to be here. We had a really important journey to go on, and we delegated. We asked friends from the community to step up, and everybody did. Turns out really good open mic, and a lot of people showed up more than usually maybe. And I was like, okay, that's good to know. And that was so good to experience to see something that you really invested in and basically started, has grown so much that it's self-sustainable. And that is the key for community events. They have to be sustainable. It should never be like one or two people, it can't work for a long time. So the advice is share and invite people. You'd be surprised, like invite them to help. Because they will. If they come there and they want to share their art, if you ask them, do you want to help more in a different way? More often than not, you'll find people being very, very open to helping and interested in super invested too. So yeah.
Matt: 30:47
Yeah. I think you hit on a kind of a key difference, is that it might be difficult for artists in general. Artists are usually so controlling of their own work, right? Even people who don't call themselves control freak, I think all artists are very like particular about their work. And if they view this event as their work, it's harder to let go of it. But it is, it really truly does have to be a community event. And that means letting them be controlling part of it too. Yeah.
Marija: 31:12
Oh yeah. Yeah. You have to let go of a lot of stuff. But it's so healthy to let go of a lot of stuff. It's like good for any artist to practice that, I think. Because it's not, it's definitely not just about you when you do community events for sure. But it's also if it's not just about you, you have to let other elements come through. And other people, if they're gonna pour their soul into this project that may be yours to begin with, you have to make room for their soul to shine, you know? So it's a good practice as a human being, I think. Yeah. Um, yeah, so.
Matt: 31:47
Yes, definitely. Well, I think we hit on the major points. Was there any major point we didn't hit on?
Marija: 31:55
No, I think we touched on the main topics. Of course, there's like the nitty-gritty of like applying for grants, for example, or how do you sustain the project like this financially? And where do you balance how much to charge for an event that's like this and how to go about making it super accessible and free for people? So we've also had to go through a little bit of a journey with that, like figuring that out. So if there are questions about that or anyone wants to talk more about that, they can reach out to us. We are so easy to reach out to. Just yourfriendopenmic @ gmail.com or easy to get to us through MCA as well. So.
Matt: 32:34
Yeah. All right. Do we have any questions from people here? Yeah.
Speaker: 32:39
I was just gonna ask, you talk a lot about your journey as an artist and then your journey building this community space. And how has your artwork changed as you've, I think a lot of times you talk about art being something that you create in a space and then you share it out. And how has that process of creating art for you changed since you've started focusing so much on highlighting other people's art?
Marija: 33:05
Wow, that's a beautiful question. Yes, I think there's no way not to be influenced by your environment and your community, right? So whether you're more aware of it or less, it happens, right? Creating a community space for people to share, it's like a feedback loop. You open the space so people can share, and then you get so inspired. You get so incredibly inspired by people pouring their souls out. And then that absolutely, not only will inform your art, but it just more than that, maybe broadly informs your life and who you become as a person. It's an incredibly healthy and beautiful feedback loop. I think that's why we keep coming back to it and why people who come for the first time, they're like, oh, next time I'm gonna sign up and do more. It is really transforming in a very spiritual sense, you know, like in a soulful way. And that's what arts can do, you know. Art is a medium, a form of communication of this true soul of the community, right? So yeah, it definitely informed my art, especially musically, because it is a performative open mic, right? There's a lot of poetry, there's comedy, and that can be nice. And we like to change it up, right? And a lot of music. And as a musician who's in a band, it has been so uplifting to have a space to share our music with other musicians and then bring them into our band and see how that affects our next upcoming album. Which, you know, it's really a beautiful, beautiful process. And I think imperative for an artist. Because if you keep doing your art in your own little space, in your own room, or completely cut off from other humans, it's like you're trying to communicate with no one to hear, or it's like a monologue, not a conversation, you know. So it's a conversation, right?
Matt: 35:03
Yeah, I agree. And just to add on, I would say like again, in the digital world, you can discover stuff online, but like it's so much curated list or going through algorithms and stuff. And when it's a real-world kind of amalgamation of different ideas, it's a whole different way to discover things that you wouldn't have come across otherwise. I feel like.
Marija: 35:22
It's super inspiring. It's super inspiring. And then the person is right there, maybe, whose art spoke to you. And then you start getting ideas. Oh wow, maybe we can collaborate and do this together so your art immediately transforms by just the presence of another person. It's really, really cool. It's like jazzing. It's great.
Matt: 35:41
And you can be inspired by beginners too, even when you're farther along. And that's something else you wouldn't discover from someone who has a million likes online, you know.
Marija: 35:49
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. The algorithm has no place here. Yeah. Great question.
Matt: 35:55
Any other questions? All right. Well, any last thoughts you want to wrap up about what to look forward to with Open Mic and all that?
Marija: 36:04
Well, my last thought, just as a kind of message to somebody who's out there listening and who wants to do this but doesn't know how to start, definitely a warm invitation to reach out, to get started by small, you know. And if they need any help along that, MCA is a great place to reach out to. They will find support here, I'm sure. And then for the Open Mic, we do have an upcoming event in January. The signups open on the 2nd of January. And the event is on the 14th, always at 7 p.m. And I think that's it. I don't know if we have anything else to add to that.
Matt: 36:41
And then the next one after that would be in March?
Marija: 36:43
The next one after, yeah, every other month. So January, March, and then May. And then we definitely take a summer break. And I recommend that for everybody who's in this type of work. Take a summer break. And then we come back in September. Hopefully that will keep going. And just yeah, reach out to us. Just a big thank you to everybody here at the MCA and you, Matt, for highlighting our event, everybody in the community who's been just so wonderful. A big shout out to everybody. And yeah, I think that's it. That's all I got.
Matt: 37:15
Great, well, for people listening later, I'll put links in the show notes so you can find all this stuff. Thanks for the conversation.
Marija: 37:21
Thank you, Matt. Wonderful. Thank you.
Matt: 37:25
So that's it for my conversation with Marija. Like she mentioned, there's more Open Mic events coming up. I'll put a link in the show notes to the Mosesian Center site for the one coming up. But again, they do them every couple months, so you can check them out when you have the time or when it's good for you. Just go over to mosesianarts.org and you can find the Open Mic and the list of events. And again, if you want to come out to one of these Creative Chats, they are these nice intimate conversations where you get to hear me chat with a guest about a creative topic, and you get to mingle and hang out with some other creative folks, which as Marija was talking about, is kind of a nice thing to have in your life. So if you want to come out, it's the first Friday of every month, starting up again in February, so February, March, April, May, June. You can keep a lookout for that at LittleLocalConversations.com. You can also go there and find all the other Creative Chats episodes that I've recorded, and just regular interview episodes I do with people around town. You can sign up for my email newsletter there so you know when new events are coming out, new episodes. And that's also the place to help support the podcast if you want to help. Become a Little Local friend by clicking on the support local conversation button in the menu. Again, you can find all that stuff at LittleLocalConversations.com.
Matt: 38:31
Alright, and I want to give a few shout-outs here to wrap things up. First one goes to podcast sponsor, Arsenal Financial. It's a financial planning business here in Watertown. It's owned by Doug Orifice, a very committed community member, and his business helps busy families, small businesses, and people close to retirement. So if you need help in any of those areas, reach out to Doug and his team at arsenalfinancial.com. I also want to give a thank you to the Watertown Cultural Council, who have given me a grant this year to help support the podcast. So I want to give them the appropriate credit, which is, this program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. You can find out more about them at WatertownCulturalCouncil.org and MassCulturalCouncil.org. And a couple more shout outs to promotional partners. First one goes to the Watertown Business Coalition, which is a nonprofit organization here in Watertown, and their motto is Community is Our Business. Find out more about them at WatertownBusinessCoalition.com. And lastly, Watertown News, which is a Watertown focused online newspaper. It's a great place to keep up to date with everything going on in the city. Check that out at WatertownMANews.com. So that's it. Until next time, take care.
