Monthly Archives: June 2018

CINCINNATI, OH – On June 2, fellow Cincy Fringe artists banded together to raise funds for Brooklyn performer Tom Montagliano whose pop-up venue was rendered unstable after a flash storm ripped through the parking lot adjacent to the Know Theatre on Jackson Street and punctured his 40ft. inflatable igloo. The artists’ hand-crafted, electronic equipment was also damaged due to the sudden blast of rain and wind. All of this occurring on the afternoon of his first scheduled performance at the Cincy Fringe. But, there’s a happy ending…the fundraising goal was met in two days, the igloo was repaired with the help of fellow artists and volunteers, and the show is going to resume performances on Wednesday June 6 at 9:00 p.m.

Organizers of the “Fringe Family Help: Tom Montagliano” shared the fundraising campaign on social media with Fringe festival organizers around the world, asking performers and producers to donate anywhere between $5-$15 to show Tom how the global Fringe family takes care of each other. $1,817.00 was raised from fellow Fringers, local artists, and audience members who heard about Tom’s story. These funds will help cover temporary repairs, lost ticket sales from the cancelled shows, and more permanent repairs after the Cincy Fringe run. Aaron Young, a fellow visiting artist from Colorado, sewed up the gaping hole while local volunteers aided in the process of organizing and drying out the electronic equipment, restoring the lighting and the igloo itself, and reinforcing the structure.

Tickets to Immersive Igloo can be purchased here: https://knowtheatre.vbotickets.com/event/Immersive_Igloo/27399

BIO
Tom Montagliano: As a musician with over 12 years of engineering experience, Tom Montagliano combines his experimental and whimsical writing style along with his passion for developing software to create ambient, psychedelic soundscapes for multiple speaker arrays.  Utilizing his degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, he has written his own software effects in order to control the movement of sound and provide people with a meticulously crafted auditory experience, while simultaneously affecting the senses and the soul.

LINK TO GOFUNDME: https://www.gofundme.com/fringe-family-help?member=254268

CINCINNATI, OH – Visiting artists at the Cincy Fringe have joined forces to come to the rescue of fellow visiting Brooklyn performer Tom Montagliano who was in the process of setting up his pop-up, 3D sound experience, housed within a 40ft. glowing, inflatable igloo when a flash storm ripped through the parking lot adjacent to the Know Theatre on Jackson Street – puncturing the structure and rendering it unstable. His hand-crafted, electronic equipment was also damaged due to the sudden blast of rain and wind. All of this occurring on the afternoon of his first scheduled performance at the Cincy Fringe. Tom has since been forced to cancel the entire run of his immersive experience at Cincy Fringe and other engagements for the foreseeable future.

“We all just met Tom a few days ago amidst the madness of getting our shows up and running, and we were really excited to experience his show,” says NYC-based fringe performer Peter Michael Marino. “When we heard that he’d have to cancel the run here, we knew we had to do something to help him not only repair his igloo and equipment, but also to assure him that he’d financially recover from cancelling the shows.”

Organizers of the “Fringe Family Help: Tom Montagliano” are sharing the fundraising campaign with Fringe festivals around the world, asking performers and producers to donate anywhere between $5-$15 (the cost of a ticket) to show Tom how the global Fringe family takes care of each other. The goal is to raise $2,000 by the end of the festival. In the past 24 hours, the GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $400 from folks around the world.

Monica Dionysiou, an artist here from Colorado, also jumped on board to help. “As fringe artists, we’ve all taken the leap to invest our time, money, imagination and love into a performative experience to share with communities around us. Tom traveled in his mint green van from Brooklyn to Cincy on this same leap of faith – only to have the storm wash away his possibilities. Instead of being the life of the party (because let’s face it we were ALL super excited to take part in his work) Tom is now left out in the cold.”

Immediately after the storm, “Van Gogh Find Yourself” creator Walter Michael DeForest kicked off his shoes and spent hours inside (and outside) the soaked plastic structure helping Montagliano salvage what he could, and also joined the pop-up fundraising team to, “Help make a bad situation beautiful.”

Tom Montagliano Bio: As a musician with over 12 years of engineering experience, Tom Montagliano combines his experimental and whimsical writing style along with his passion for developing software to create ambient, psychedelic soundscapes for multiple speaker arrays.  Utilizing his degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, he has written his own software effects in order to control the movement of sound and provide people with a meticulously crafted auditory experience, while simultaneously affecting the senses and the soul.

LINK TO GOFUNDME: https://www.gofundme.com/fringe-family-help?member=254268

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