Guests mingle and view featured artwork at the 2024 BREACHxMSP Gala. Credit: Courtesy of BREACH
The annual BREACHxMSP Art Gala will return Friday, bringing student artists, performers and advocates together for an evening centered on healthcare, wellness and lived experience. The event will be from 5 to 8 p.m. in the MLK Lounge in Hale Hall.
Hosted by BREACH in partnership with the Morrill Scholars Program, the event builds on BREACH’s year-round interest in exploring racial inequities in healthcare. Organizers said the gala transforms those recorded conversations into a live, creative gathering where students can interpret healing and caregiving through art.
“The art gala is a way for students to showcase their own experiences and perspectives,” said Ekansh Seth, co-president of BREACH.?
While this marks the organization’s third gala in total, last year’s event was canceled after the university’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion was discontinued, per prior Lantern reporting, ending a key partnership and funding source. Organizers said the interruption forced them to seek new partnerships and funding before bringing the event back.
“Just because certain things change in the political sphere, that doesn’t mean that the issue of racial inequities goes away,” said Yuva Vidwans, co-president of BREACH. “ I think it’s still important to rephrase that conversation and still have [an] Art Gala, because to take that away would be taking away a platform for students to voice their thoughts.”
This year’s themes focus on healthcare, caregiving and wellness, which Vidwans said is a broader theme that remains connected to BREACH’s mission. She said a different theme is selected each year so returning artists have something new to work with.?
“I think healthcare is something that’s universal,” Vidwans said. “Every single person is going to have to worry about healthcare. By shifting that focus to healthcare and healing, inevitably someone is going to talk about their experience that has to do with their identity.”
Unlike a traditional art exhibit, Seth said the gala will try something new by incorporating live elements and expanded performances alongside visual art submissions.
“A cool thing we’re trying to integrate this year is trying to have a live podcast happen at the art gala, where we interview the artists,” Seth said.
Seth said the event is open to students regardless of artistic background.
“We like to tell everyone it is very open to submission,” Seth said. “You don’t have to be super experienced in art. We just try to be as open as we can be, just to get everyone’s opinions and their own experiences out there.”
Vidwans and Seth said they hope attendees leave with a deeper understanding of others’ experiences within healthcare systems and a stronger sense of empathy across campus.
“I feel like a lot of what goes on in our world is, like, dehumanization,” Vidwans said. “I think that understanding and connecting that story to the individuals is so important.”
More information about the event can be found on the Morrill Scholars Instagram page.
