ATHENS, Ohio – The Athens Artists Memorial Project is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that is dedicated to commemorating late artists and providing musical, visual, literary and performing arts opportunities to people across southeast Ohio.
AAMP (pronounced amp, like a guitar amp) traces its roots to 1994, when local musician John Bartlett, aka Johnny B., died at age 34. Bartlett’s friends held a benefit concert event in his honor called Lennon Fest at The Union in 2000, to raise money for what was then called the Johnny B. Fund.
“The idea was to turn [the benefit] around and get kids instruments or music lessons, kids who couldn’t afford it, because that was a passion of Johnny’s; he was a teacher and all that,” said Roman Warmke, one of Bartlett’s friends and treasurer of AAMP.
Now, 24 years later, Lennon Fest is now called Lemon Fest, and it is still held at The Union every December. The event features various musicians covering Beatles songs and serves as a fundraiser for AAMP.
When John Spataro, another local musician and friend to those in the Johnny B. Fund, died in 2017, the group changed the fund’s name to the Johnny B. and John Spataro Fund. That prompted Spataro’s brother, Lucian Spataro, to pay the legal fees to help the fund become an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
About six months later, another friend of those in the organization, Rob Quebman, died and the organization decided it needed a name that didn’t need to be changed (and made longer) over time. That’s how it became AAMP.
AAMP is “a pretty humble organization,” Warmke said, with no physical assets and an all-volunteer workforce. Nearly all of its proceeds go to purchasing materials for artists, he said. Although the organization’s endowment is relatively small, it currently has more funds than usual and actively seeks people or groups to help, he added.
“Our goal is to raise money from the community in the memory of our fallen friends,” Warmke said. “It’s expanded from kids’ music lessons and guitars into really anybody interested in the arts who lives in southeast Ohio and has a financial need.”
That’s especially important in a region that struggles with poverty, Warmke said.
“Besides the dwindling resources of the public schools and stuff like that, the community struggles just to put food on the table,” he said. “So getting a kid a guitar is sometimes a bridge too far for parents.”
The organization helps people who can’t afford to explore their artistic aspirations get the materials to pursue them, working with local businesses, such as Blue Eagle Music, as much as possible.
AAMP volunteers collaborate with local organizations; they’ve provided photography equipment for the Athens Photographic Project and instruments for the After School Music and Audio Programs at Stuart’s Opera House, which helps young people learn to play instruments and form bands.
Although AAMP primarily works with musicians, it supports all kinds of artists. For example, AAMP has provided photography tools, paid for marching band uniforms and awarded scholarships for students who wish to work within the arts.
In addition to Lemon Fest, AAMP holds an event every September at Casa Nueva, where children who have benefited from AAMP perform their music.
With support from the Athens County Foundation, AAMP board members will get training in nonprofit fundraising from the MAPS program at The Ohio State University, said board member Dawn Graham.
Supporting the arts in southeast Ohio is important because a lot of Ohio’s major resources are put into major cities like Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, making it harder for other communities to have access to art and music, Graham said.
“The Appalachian culture goes way back in terms of arts, music and craft,” Graham said. “So, we want to continue to support that heritage and to continue to support young kids who are exploring music and arts, whether they stick to it for a year, or stick to it for the rest of their lives.”
Warmke said AAMP is important also because of decreased school funding for the arts.
But ultimately, he said AAMP’s value is in honoring the legacy of musicians like Johnny B., who taught and mentored other local musicians. Warmke said he often plays some of Johnny B.’s music when he teaches children to play the guitar.
“It’s sort of magical to pass [the music] on from one generation to another,” Warmke said. “I’ve kind of explained the math of it, but the soul of AAMP is that spark when you realize ‘This kid plays like John played, it’s working.’”
Learn more about AAMP on its website.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Rob Quebman’s last name. It has been corrected and we apologize for this error.
