GLOWBALL tickets include coupons for beverages and vegetarian samosas from Curry Express, glow-in-the-dark face painting by Arty Mari, plus glow in the dark accessories for guests to don.

On Friday, April 26, 2024, GLOWBALL will transform the Armory Performance Hall into an immersive Glow-in-the-Dark Rave created by DJ Saucy Lady with hypnotic visuals by Jay Medina, all in support of The Center for Arts at the Armory.

GLOWBALL is an anti-gala, and a coming out party for the newly upgraded Armory Performance Hall. There will be no speeches, formal presentations or auction. Arts at the Armory is calling on the community to celebrate and support this glorious space and all of the transcendent moments it has provided to so many.

This year Arts at the Armory will be honoring three outstanding individuals connected to Somerville:
Lifetime Achievement: Lynn Gervens (Mudflat) Community Arts Advocate: Joe Lynch Outstanding Artist: Marcus Santos

Honorees will be regaled while seated on stage with their friends, and also pick the winners of the Best Glow-in-the-Dark Outfit Contest, which all guests are encouraged to enter. There will be performances by Marcus Santos’ Grooversity drumming ensemble, and aerial circus performances by Ellen Waylonis and Sophie Kaufman from ESH. GLOWBALL tickets include coupons for beverages and vegetarian samosas from Curry Express, glow-in-the-dark face painting by Arty Mari, plus glow in the dark accessories for guests to don.

GLOWBALL promises to be Somerville’s most illuminating party of the year in support of advancing Arts at the Armory’s mission to provide an inclusive and accessible venue that creates opportunities for artists and cultural workers, brings diverse audiences together, enriches and transforms lives, and promotes the creative economy.

Tickets are available on our event platform. VIP Lounge tickets (7pm start) are $250 and include an opening reception; general admission and “sponsor an artist” tickets are $100; $40 tickets are available for guests under 40 and over 62.

GLOWBALL Sponsors are still being accepted through the April 26th event date. 

The Center for Arts at the Armory is located at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143. To learn more please visit our website, https://artsatthearmory.org/, our Facebook page, and follow us on Instagram at @ArtsattheArmory.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Lynn Gervens

Lynn Gervens has been the Executive Director of Mudflat Pottery School since 1993. She first came to Mudflat as a studio artist and faculty member in 1978, after receiving a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Illinois, and she has continued to teach and create her own clay work since, for over 40 years. She was instrumental in Mudflat’s relocation to East Somerville in 1985, and again in 2011 when Mudflat undertook a $4 million renovation of the Broadway Theatre into a new home for Mudflat’s 350 students and 36 studio artists.

Lynn has served on the executive board of The Studio Potter Journal and as a board member for East Somerville Main Streets, Somerville Open Studios, and Artisan’s Asylum. She has led professional development workshops for Somerville Public Schools art faculty and has been a visiting instructor at Wentworth Technical Institute, Massachusetts College of Art, DeCordova Museum School, and Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts. Lynn has been a juror for Somerville Arts Council grants, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts scholarships and technical assistantships, and DeCordova Museum School student exhibition. 

Community Arts Advocate Award: Joe Lynch

Joe Lynch has been a supporter of the creative arts for over 50 years. The former Chair of the Center for the Arts at the Armory Advisory Committee, former President of the Board of Directors of the Somerville Media Center and current Board member, and now the Chair of the Somerville Licensing Commission, Joe has contributed his energy and talent to the Somerville arts community for decades.

Since his first exposure as a child to the Museum of Fine Arts, to art classes in primary school, to watching talented film editors at the Somerville Media Center, the creative arts have fascinated and captured his imagination. Movies, painting, television, dance, music, the spoken word, literature, decorative arts, have been an integral part of his lived experience. As the creator, producer, director and host of the long running and multi award winning talk show, “Greater Somerville,” Joe does not consider himself an artist, rather Joe has experienced life through the creativity and talents of others and has been cheering us on from the sidelines. But he has found a way to utilize his own business talents to support the creative work of others. The Boston Center for the Arts, the Boston Theater District Association, the Somerville Museum, Somerville Arts Council, ART Beat, the Somerville Media Center, the Independent Film Festival, the Boston Irish Film Festival, The Dance Complex and so many others have benefitted from Joe’s support. His past and continued support of our mission at the Center for the Arts at the Armory is so appreciated by us and our community.

Outstanding Artist Award: Marcus Santos

A contemporary percussionist and educator, Marcus Santos is a native of Bahia, Brazil. He commits his life to the study, teaching and performance of his hometown’s Afro-Brazilian music and heritage. 

Marcus performed with several world renown artists such as the Gypsy Kings (Spain), Daniela Mercury (Brazil) and the Brand New Heavies (England). He has also performed for the president of Brazil, TEDx and with the “One World Band” produced by MTV. Marcus also played at the Sony Pictures Oscar nominated movie Rachel’s Getting Married with Anne Hathaway. He has been honored with the 2013 KOSA Recognition award, Outstanding Arts Performer Award by the Brazilian Immigrant Center (2008) as well as Outstanding Percussionist Award by Berklee College of Music in 2004.

Marcus currently teaches in the Boston area at New England Conservatory, Middlesex Community College and Somerville High School. He is the author of the DVD Modern Approach to Pandeiro and performed in the music education DVD Musically Speaking II by BOSE. Marcus has led workshops on Afro-Brazilian Percussion and Music for Social Change in festivals, universities and conventions around the world such as Fiesta Del Tambor (Cuba), Carnegie Hall (NYC), PASIC (USA) and Harvard University. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Grooversity global drumming network project that includes twenty-four drumming groups from the US, Canada, Germany, Mexico and France.