Music & Arts in the Park showcases local talent in Albany

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - People in Albany came out to Turtle Grove Park on Saturday to listen to live music and poetry at the Music & Arts in the Park event on Saturday.

Nia Michelle is the organizer of the event. She is a part of Albany Underground Art, a new organization that aims to showcase local talent and creatives in Albany.

“We put it together because there’s a lot of amazing talent here in Albany and it’s a Saturday. Always wanted to keep events going and keep things for people to do here. So that’s kind of the idea behind the Music and Arts in the Park,” she said.

Reginald Sweet was one of the performers at the event. He performed spoken word poetry at the event. He believed that spoken word is important because when it first started, it was how people got their news.

“We were the newspaper,” he said. “We were the news outlet, and so people would come to open mics and come to poetry events to get in the latest news. Whenever there’s an opportunity where I can speak, especially to my community, I am all with it.”

When asked if they would like to see more events like this in Albany, attendees said they would.

“Definetly. I feel like the community could use it, I feel like everybody could really use it,” Andromeda Kelley, event attendee, said.

“Absolutely, absolutely. I think this is a beautiful, beautiful time for people to come together, especially our community. We’re living in a climate now where a lot of things are separate, a lot of things are segregated and events like this bring us all together, whether you like country, whether you like poetry, whether you like R&B or rap events like this bring us all together. And I think universal, I think, music,” Nia Michelle said.

Kuee Daniel’s is part of “The Unapparant Magazine,” an international magazine, and an extension of that magazine is UAA Underground Arts Albany. They wanted to provide an opportunity to give back to the community through art.

“So we figured that if we can get out and at the park and get people involved that it would give us a better opportunity to embed art into the community,” he said.

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