“Music and artistic expression exercises the muscles in a different part of your brain, and helps you become a well-rounded individual. ”
Community support is at the heart of BMS. One of our most cherished corporate sponsors is North Street Collective, a creative agency focused on branding, strategy, design, and web development for corporate and nonprofit organizations. Tom Conlon is the Founder + CEO of North Street Creative, launching business operations 12 years ago and growing it into a company of 14 people with offices in New York’s Seaport district and Providence, RI. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with him and get his perspective on community involvement in the arts.
What about BMS’ mission excites you?
We’re big music fans at North Street; we love sharing artists and playlists with each other. Music is also an incredibly interesting and effective way for kids to learn. There are things you are taught in school that can wire you a certain way. Music and artistic expression exercises the muscles in a different part of your brain, and helps you become a well-rounded individual. It opens up opportunities that standard school subjects don’t! Arts education isn’t available to everybody, and it’s important for everybody to be able to experience it.
Growing up, what was your relationship with performing arts?
When I was growing up, we had the annual school play that the whole class was a part of. I had the esteemed privilege of playing the Mayor in the Wizard of Oz. After elementary school I wasn’t really into the drama scene, and I didn’t take any formal arts/music classes, but I played the bass guitar. I took lessons and played in a band in college. I took a class in high school called Music and Computers where you could make compositions on the computer and it was really fun!
What’s the best way for someone to show their support for BMS?
Honestly, any way you can. We actually got involved with BMS through a client of ours, and we did pro-bono branding and design for the 110th anniversary, so we were able to contribute as a team in that way. Of course, monetary donations are great, but any way you can support BMS will help the cause.