By: Jude Harvey and Scarlett O’Comartun
Spring Fest, the Baltimore School for the Art’s school-wide celebration that is usually set the day before spring break, did not happen as the students know it this year. The student government is working towards a solution but is aware that Spring Fest is either going to be very different than we have known it to be, or will not happen at all.
Spring Fest originally started in the 2021- 2022 school year. The festival celebrated spring break and the warmer weather, serving as a day for students to relax from the latest school stress and take a look at student-run booths. The event also gives students, particularly visual artists, an out- let to promote and sell their personal work with their peers. But, what some people may not know is that Spring Fest was originally not intended to happen at all.
In the years past, Spring Fest has featured food trucks and activities supplied from outside sources. This funding has come from within the Student Government and The Foundation.
During the first post- lockdown school year, BSA students were excited to have the Holiday Bazaar in December. The event was planned by SGA President Sydney Layne-Ryer along with the rest of the newly formed Student Government.
The Holiday Bazaar was then canceled the week of, due to COVID. The cancellation caused an excess amount of money that didn’t get used for the Student Government to decide what to do with. From that money came the first Spring Fest.
“That year we had put a lot of effort into planning, it was this huge Holiday Bazaar, and the Omicron Variant hit, requiring us to cancel it,” says Meg Grouzard, an SGA faculty advisor.
Coincidentally, that year the city gifted a video game truck and a Kona ice truck to the school for a one-time use because of how well BSA had handled COVID cases. The SGA decided that Spring Fest would be a perfect time to use these prizes to make the event even more special.
By the next school year, Spring Fest had become an event that many students looked forward to. But, by the time the Student Government had put on the Holiday Bazaar, there were almost no funds left for another event in the Spring. So the SGA put their heads together and decided to fundraise.
“Like every club at BSA, the SGA got $500 dollars in start-up funds, and that was it. We are also the only club who has to pay dues to the city SGA to be part of that group, and to the state, and after three years of paying dues, we don’t have a lot of money left in our budget,” says Grouzard.
The only problem was, this Spring Fest fundraiser was planned right when The Foundation’s most vital Expressions fundraising took place in Spring 2023.
Fearing that it might take away donors and distract from Expressions, The Foundation told the SGA that they were not allowed to hold a fundraiser.
Quinn Bryant and Brayden Hamilton, the SGA president and vice president at the time, were adamant about having a Spring Fest, and eventually The Foundation gave the SGA a grant to support it. With the grant, Spring Fest was put on, even sporting a Taharka Brothers and video game truck to entertain the students.
Although all seemed well, the Foundation was very clear about the fact that the grant would not be allowed again.
“We were told explicitly that this is a one-time thing, and we would need to clear all fundraising with them in the future,” says Grouzard.
This brings us to the present day. As of now, Chloe McNeill and Jamir Lawson, the SGA co-presidents are not certain about what the future of Spring Fest will look like.
“Spring Fest costs a lot of money and as of right now there aren’t enough funds to create what we had in the past,” says Lawson regarding the future of Spring Fest.
“Having some kind of spring event wasn’t one of the main priorities we picked out. We really do still want to have it,” says Aminah Ebron, SGA’s vice president. “If we have Spring Fest it would have to be completely reimagined, in a way that is feasible for us to do.”
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
Featured image of SGA Co-Presidents Jamir Lawson and Chloe McNeill with SGA Advisor Jocelyn Providence captured by Asad Ali for the BSA Muse.
