History
Porchfest has been a pillar to the JP community since 2014, bringing together performers and community members for a day of music, dance, theatre and more on porches throughout JP’s central streets. Originally founded by Mindy Fried and Marie Ghitman, Dunamis had the pleasure of taking over the festival in 2021. Dunamis as an organization is geared towards serving as a nexus of transformation and agency for artists and arts-managers of color, through internal programming, community arts events and fellowships.
Porchfest aims to bring joy and exuberance not only to the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, but to artists and art lovers alike, who yearn to experience live art in a way they have been missing during the pandemic, and to experience the strength of the JP community. Since 2014 this event has managed to bring strangers together to share in the joy of art, and this year that connectivity is more vital than ever.
Meet The Producers
Neo Gcabo (She, Her, Hers) is an R&B, Jazz & Neo-Soul vocalist from Pretoria, South Africa, and the Director of Marketing and Community Development at Dunamis Inc. She has toured internationally with the University of Pretoria Youth Choir and has performed with Grammy Award–winning artists Esperanza Spalding and John Oates. She has been a featured vocalist with the Silver Arrow Band since 2017 and toured with the Brown Box Theatre as a performer in 2019. Neo has performed alongside artists such as Lisa Oduor-Noah, Wambura Mitaru, Marcus Prince in addition to Skybridge, a band for social justice led by Utako Toyama. As a manager, Neo has worked at La Roque MGMT, a boutique artist management company and subsequently managed Tim Reynolds: a young violinist, singer, composer, arranger from Rome, Georgia. Neo is currently a voice and piano instructor at the Onset School of Music.
Eliza Malecki (She, Her, Hers) is a Cambridge-based dancer, choreographer, administrator, and producer with a BA in Dance from Goucher College. Her passion for arts non-profit work arose during her time serving as Studio Manager for Green Street Studios in Cambridge, MA. Eliza is a founding member of The Picnic Sisters, a quirky dancing duo comprised of herself and collaborator Molly Hess. Her production credits include Laugh Track (2019), Social Disdancing (2020), Jamaica Plain Porchfest (2021, 2022), Almost Normal Almost Party (2021), and Flow and Gather (2022). Her choreographic projects have been funded by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture and The New England Foundation for the Arts. Eliza has been a resident artist at Bearnstow (ME), The Iron Factory (PA), Izizwe Dance Studio (MA), and the Studios at Mass MoCA (MA).
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