This summer, the Alhambra church parking lot was transformed to host the ONE House music and arts festival showcasing various Adventists artists, such as musicians, crafters, photographers, cooks, designers of apparel, and more.
“We often highlight many of same people and spaces, like health ministry,” shared Celeste Harrison, pastor of Alhambra church, “but we tend to overlook musicians and artists. We wanted to give a platform and showcase the artistry in Adventism.”
Finding artists was a challenge for the ONE House team who hadn’t previously tapped into creative spaces like this. Through determination, vendors were found through social media outreach and by word of mouth.
In some cases, one connection led to another. Harrison recalled that one of her former youth from Norwalk church, a young lady who attended Los Angeles Adventist Academy (LAAA), was confirmed to perform, but a week before the festival she had to pull out. Harrison asked if she knew anyone, and she suggested her friend, Nicholas Miller, who also attended LAAA and is an artist.
“He has such a love for the Lord,” Harrison said. “He writes his own music and plays the guitar. He’s a performer in a very Godly way. It was a huge blessing to have him, especially not knowing what we were getting.”
This summer’s music and arts festival was the first from ONE House, and the team is already strategizing for future festivals.
“Our hope as a team is to do this three to four times a year; maybe once a quarter,” Harrison said. “It’s a lot of work to put this together, but we’ve already had vendors tell us they want to work with us again for future events. Our goal is to move it around to different churches.”
Plans for the next such event are already underway. ONE House will host a holiday music and arts boutique at Temple City church on November 19.
To connect with ONE House, visit https://www.onehousesocal.com.
