Rockaway Artists Alliance celebrates solstice

The weather may have made it feel more like a celebration of early fall or emerging spring, but the crowds came out and stayed well into the night for the Rockaway Artists Alliance's first ever Solstice Celebration event on Thursday, December 21.
Bringing an ancient celebration into modern times, the free event commemorated the shortest day of the year with music and good cheer and welcomed the incrementally increasing hours of daylight back into the world.
Performing from a specially-built stage set nearly 10 feet above the main floor of the sTudio 7 gallery building at Fort Tilden, a wide variety of entertainers lent their talents to the fest and kept the jovial mood going through the evening. Will Flow, T.K. Kearney, ZEPS, Kuff and the Buttheads, Walker and the very popular group Indaculture entertained the hundreds in the audience with a rousing mix of slow and fast rock, reggae, rap, eclectic originals, soul, and rhythm and blues. Several times over the course of the evening various artists, employing the ramps running to and from the high stage, joined in together to produce a whole new and exciting sound.
Dancing and spontaneous singing along also ensued, giving this Winter Solstice a proper send off.
Reflecting on this bright spot in the middle of winter, one attendee summed up the feeling of many who were there by saying simply &#8220What a night! It was great.”
The Rockaway Artists Alliance is currently preparing its next multi-media exhibition, &#8220Where Flowers Bloom in Winter,” which runs from January 20 to February 18 in the sTudio 6 gallery.
An opening reception will inaugurate the show on Sunday, January 21 from 1 to 3 p.m. and will feature live entertainment.
Refreshments will be served and many of the artists will be on hand.
Gallery hours are Saturday noon to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.
For information call 718-474-0861, e-mail rockart116@aol.com or visit the RAA’s new website at www.rockawayartistsalliance.org.