Winter Carnival Food Drive

With Winter Carnival quickly approaching, it is important for us to recognize the String Cheese Incident, one of our longest and most dedicated supporters. It is hard to say where Conscious Alliance would be without the support of this all-star band comprised of mandolinist/violinist Michael Kang, guitarist Billy Nershi, bassist Keith Moseley, pianist Kyle Hollingsworth, drummer/percussionist Michael Travis, and percussionist Jason Hann. These members got together in Boulder, CO in 1993. We met them nine years later.

We held our first ever ‘Art the Feeds’ food drive in 2002 at a String Cheese Incident show. Since then, Conscious Alliance and SCI have become almost synonymous in holding food drives and collecting donations to help fight hunger across America. Together we have been able to re-distribute several hundred thousand pounds of food. For this we would like to extend a huge thank you to all the members of the band.

We are excited to work in conjunction with the String Cheese Incident once again at the upcoming Winter Carnival. If you are coming to the shows on March 10-12 at the 1^stBank Center, please remember to bring your non-perishable food items to our ‘Art That Feeds’ Food Drive. Phil Lewis has created an amazing 3-panel poster set that will be given to everyone that donates 25 cans of food. Hope to see you all there!

Mountain Standard Time Joins the Fight Against Hunger

Since our inception in 2002, dozens of musicians and bands have joined Conscious Alliance to help fight hunger across the United States. One such band is the bluegrass group Mountain Standard Time. Nick Dunbar, the mandolin player in Mountain Standard Time, took a moment out of his busy schedule to talk to us about Mountain Standard Time’s support of Conscious Alliance’s efforts.

Dunbar says that Mountain Standard Time decided to start working with Conscious Alliance because “All of us had been to shows in the past and seen Conscious posters and we have always been into what Conscious Alliance stands for.” He explains, “It’s always a win-win situation working with Conscious Alliance, we always like to put out a poster and if we can help a support a good cause as well.”

In 2010, we collaborated with Mountain Standard Time for the first time to create a poster for their Fall Tour. This past week we were fortunate enough to join them once again for the band’s Colorado Run and album release. Renowned artist Josh Pollock created a poster in celebration of this event. “It is amazing that he (Josh Pollock) is going to be doing artwork for us. It is amazing that he is supporting it and Conscious Alliance is supporting us,” says Dunbar. Dunbar, along with the rest of the band members, is very excited for the upcoming Colorado shows, “We really hope a lot of people come out to see our shows, grab a poster and have a really memorable weekend.” A portion of the poster sales will benefit the Houma Native American Reservation near New Orleans, LA.

We appreciate Mountain Standard Time’s constant support, and we would like to extend a thank you to each and every band member for helping us fight the United States’ battle against hunger.

A Word With Artist Robert Marx

Throughout the years, Conscious Alliance has worked with many different talented artists. One of the most common contributors is Robert Marx, who has dedicated his time and artistic abilities to create over sixty unique posters for Conscious Alliance since 2003.

Robert Marx heard about Conscious Alliance about a year before becoming an active artist for our organization. While selling his art at shows, Marx was repeatedly told that he should get involved with Art That Feeds. Finally, during the String Cheese Incident Tour in 2003, Marx met Conscious Alliance founder Justin Baker. He became a part of the team after discussing Baker’s mission to bring food to communities in need: “After sitting down and learning exactly what was going on and what their goal was and what they were all about, it was stuff I agreed with 100%,” states Marx. Not only does Marx agree with our goals, but he also appreciates the relationship Conscious Alliance promotes between art, music, and the fight against hunger. “The fact that you see the end result when they come to pick up the food or the results at the reservations from the food drives, it is really rewarding,” says Marx.

In addition to working with Conscious Alliance, Marx also devotes much of his time helping with a number of different organizations, including a family-operated nonprofit called TOCO, which raises money for children in need, and an organization that provides children with musical instruments.

Since Marx has created so many posters for Conscious Alliance, we asked him what inspires his artwork. He explained, “Everyday, my life, whatever I am focused on at the time. I read a lot, so a lot of times the stuff that is cycling through my head fills out the pages. It is vast and varies.” Currently, Marx is taking time out of his busy life to create Conscious Alliance posters for upcoming Boombox and Umphrey’s McGee shows. Marx wants to express to our supporters that, “Even if they can’t do much, when enough people come together and they all provide even the smallest parts, in the end they can exceed your expectations.”

We'd like to send out a huge thank you to Robert Marx for his continual donations and support for Conscious Alliance. To check out Marx's posters, click here!