06 Nov 2019 How Love Your Rebellion Builds an Inclusive Arts Scene in Southwest Florida with the Help of SecondMuse
by Angela Page, Founder, Love Your Rebellion
photo by Jesi Cason Photography
What is Southwest Florida known for? My guess would be tourists, retirees, or snowbirds. It’s probably safe to say most people don’t associate Southwest Florida with arts diversity or alternative culture. However, that is exactly what Love Your Rebellion (LYR) is trying to change.
Love Your Rebellion is a 501(c)3 that empowers marginalized groups through the arts. I created the nonprofit after noticing a need for diversity in the arts in Southwest Florida. In 2015, LYR hosted our first event, a music and zine release party at Howl Tattoo and Piercing. Since then, LYR has built a reputation for hosting a variety of music, art, and writing events and publishing a semiannual zine with a focus on diversity.
LYR’s upcoming season presents concerts and festivals that support our mission, plus the grand opening of Love Your Rebellion’s Zine Library. The Third Annual Rock for Equality brings rock and hip hop together on November 8 to fundraise for LYR and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. Palace Pub and Wine and No. 3 Craft Brews and Beer Bar host this dueling-venue microfestival, co-produced by Frankie Orion.
Then, on November 17, Songwriter Sunday Brunch returns to Remedies Parlor. This series features a songwriter’s round between performers, plus different food vendors. The first concert in the series showcases songwriting duo Byron and Daymi Sellers from the Heart Attack Guns and St. Pete-based Mountain Holler. Additional concerts in the series include Emma Arnold and Carlene Thissen on January 12, 2020, and Kiki Lane and Kyle Anne on March 8, 2020.
Fort Myers Zine Fest is our most anticipated event of the fall because it celebrates the grand opening of LYR’s Zine Library. On November 30, experience the Zine Library’s permanent collection of English and Spanish bilingual zines. Rescheduled due to tropical storm Nestor, the event will host zine, art, and artisan vendors, food, music, and zine readings. LYR has also partnered with Neenie’s House to have artists create stunning murals inside and outside of the library. LYR’s Zine Library serves the East Palm community, a neighborhood that is in dire need of access to arts and culture.
In 2020, LYR hosts the Fifth Annual Babefest. I would consider Babefest our flagship event. Even the first zine release party at Howl included the concept of a diversity-first music and art lineup. Babefest will return to Fort Myers and Tampa in April. Dates and venues for Babefest 2020 will be announced prior to the end of the year.
Every month, I receive messages from event-goers, journalists, venue owners, and more saying how much they appreciate the cultural diversity we’ve brought into the area. I am so pleased SecondMuse understands the norms LYR is trying to break, and the connections they’ve helped us make to transform the arts community into a more inclusive, accessible scene.
The SecondMuse cohorts brings likeminded entrepreneurs together who really want to make Southwest Florida a place where people of all ages can live, work, and play. It shows me just how invested SecondMuse is to help our area grow into a booming, eclectic city.
For more information, please visit www.loveyourrebellion.org
About SecondMuse
SecondMuse is an international company that collaborates with visionary governments, corporations, foundations and startups to build 21st-century economies. At the core of our economies are people, communities and networks. From Brooklyn to Bali, our programs span geographies, sectors and size of business. We tackle essential challenges in manufacturing, energy, capital, education, mental health, data, civic engagement, food, blockchain, disaster risk and more around the world. Located in Collaboratory and in partnership with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, SecondMuse launched in February 2019 and is currently working with its first cohort of Southwest Florida entrepreneurs.
Some of SecondMuse’s current programs include NASA’s Space Apps Challenge, NYCEDC’s Futureworks, the M-Corps cleantech manufacturing program with NYSERDA, The Incubator Network with Circulate Capital to battle ocean plastics, and LAUNCH, accelerating technologies for the circular economy. Explore SecondMuse at SecondMuse.com, follow on Twitter and Instagram, or reach out any time at Secondmuse.com/contact/.
