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In Bay Shore's Great South Bay Brewery, a crowd swelled up to over 200 people last Thursday night as they traveled in 14-degree weather to make it to The Next Big Wave artist showcase.
At some point, Long Island resident Jose Tutiven, founder of the events company Colored Colors, thought to himself, "How do I create something out here on Long Island for other artists to be involved in their communities?"
The answer to Tutiven's question was The Next Big Wave artist showcase, an event where creatives who couldn't afford a high-priced submission into a gala or show could put their work out into the Bay Shore community. There were over 20 artists: painters, sketch artists, poets, musicians, rappers and singers.
The Colored Colors founder who has been hosting similar events for two years, said this was the biggest one he's ever thrown.
"It just blew up," said Tutiven. "The amount of messages I received in the last couple days is how I knew it was gonna get crazy. We had an hour wait at one point to get in."
Tutiven is the sole engine behind Colored Colors and put together every aspect of the showcase. Although he took on the enormous task of planning it from start to finish, he pushed through to see his vision come to fruition.
Tutiven is originally from Ecuador and left when he was 7-years-old for Long Island. The rest of his childhood was spent in Huntington and then Bay Shore.
"It was cool to bring this event back home," said Tutiven. "I think it would be 10 times bigger if it were in Brooklyn or the city, but my main purpose is to put Long Island on. I care about Long Island and what we're missing, which is this."
Others also said that showcases like this on the island are scarce.
"I think you can find 30 events like this in the city," said Long Island resident Walpole Jean-Philippe. As a sketch artist, he said he saw The Next Big Wave as a great way to connect with fellow artists in the area.
"Long Island desperately needs a younger crowd of artists putting out things like this," said Jean-Philippe. "I hope they continue to have events like this because I will definitely be attending."
An artist showcase on Long Island was a first for artist, attendee and Bay Shore resident Shavon Wilkins.
"I'm in the area so it's easy for me to come down and show support," said Wilkins. "It's really cool to see how different the artwork can all be in one community."
Ironically, she heard about The Next Big Wave from people who live in Brooklyn. Living on Long Island and being an artist, Wilkins said she could easily relate to local artists who try to gain exposure. She reminisced about the artist struggle of having to go from place to place on the trains in Manhattan and Brooklyn while clutching onto large pieces of artwork.
Yaphank resident Alyssa Monique could probably relate to Wilkins' struggle as well. One time Monique refused to go to a showcase in Brooklyn that she paid to participate in because of snow and a lengthy commute. With Bay Shore being a shorter commute than Brooklyn, Monique decided to come out and knew that if she didn't she would regret it.
"I was like 'let me just take a chance,'" said Monique who started painting back in 2015.
She decided to take a break from art after having her son, but after her son grew a little older and discovering her inspiration, Connecticut artist Fiyabomb, she decided to pick the paintbrush back up again in 2017.
One of her main focuses are women of color because that is who she is and she doesn't often see their natural beauty celebrated in art.
"A colored woman is one of a kind," said Monique. "A lot of women want to hide and enhance stuff. Instead of being their natural self."
Monique also said Nola Darling, a artist in Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have It" who paints the natural bodies of women of color, serves as another inspiration of hers.
"That's my life," said Monique. "Spike Lee came in and made that movie and I was like 'how does he know my life?' I love Nola Darling!"
The inspiration for Artist Romeo Kings a.k.a. Dattface comes from cartoons and himself. The Brooklyn born Brentwood raised artist who had a passion for graffiti art switched to painting and does "plugged-in art" because it allows him to express and take care of himself.
"This is probably my last show on Long Island for a little while, so why not go out with a big bang with big wave?" said Kings.
Kings came out to not only display his art before taking a break, but to support his fellow Brentwood artists, which was one of Tutiven's main goals for the event.
"At the end of the day, we should all support each other," said Tutiven. "We shouldn't be jealous of one another. If someone has a good idea, go along with it. Why not? They're gonna put on for your community."
"I think it's good to bring Long Islanders together to see what we have." said Bay Shore resident Deitra Weaver who decided to come out with her friends Wilkins and Stephanie Lucero. "You don't really have any events on Long Island. Most of them are in the city. It's kind of cool that they're actually out here."
"I like the vibe," said Long Island-born Brooklyn resident and Artist Sam Roldos. "I thought I wasn't gonna fit in at first and I'm really happy that I do."
Roldos started as a tattoo artist and felt a sense of familiarity as The Next Big Wave wasn't that much different from a tattoo showcase.
Roldos' inspiration comes from surrealism and her desire to make art that she herself would want to look at.
Other artists also said they felt a real sense of community.
"The place is packed, the vibe is great and the artists are really talented and supportive of each other," said photographer and Patchogue resident Michael Sauer.
The theme within Sauer's photography is to find objects and places that have been left behind and find the beauty in them like Kings Park Psychiatric Center for example.
"I think the psychiatric center is probably the craziest one I’ve done," said Sauer. "It's falling apart, it's littered with dangers, you wear a mask, but you find some great stuff."
Besides photographers, painters and sketch artists, there was also a spoken word poet, musicians and rappers who were able to gain exposure.
Idris Jones a.k.a. GucciLou has been rapping for 13 years but was inspired by his older brother to start taking it seriously last year. He has also been inspired by Biggie, Fabolous, Eminem, Drake and his childhood friend Kizzy to put his work out there. The Baldwin native came out for many of the same reasons as everyone else: to network and have a good time.
Tutiven proudly warned, "Don't sleep on us! I think this is a good step forward for Colored Colors. I think people are actually gonna notice us and know that we're here."
Tutiven said that up until now, Colored Colors has been more underground. Now with a recently hired intern and a successful showcase under his belt, he feels his company has and will continue to grow with more events to come that will unite and empower the community.