Why is LUMA begging for donations a week before the event?

[Beaver]

We are told LUMA is the top event of its kind in the country. They are on national shows like the CBS morning show and in national publications.  With that kind of exposure, why are they begging for donations a week before the event? Either they are terrible business people, who don't know how to plan and budget, or there's something fishy going on with the money.

[a taxpayer]

My thought is because no one really gives a shot about luma

[guest11]

Joshua B is a clown.  LUMA was a nice event when it was about the actual projection shows, and not about Joshua.  When it became all about Joshua they started having problems.  My family helped out for a few years, but we don't give money anymore.  There's a lot of that going on, which is why he's begging for money in incoherent Facebook posts at 4:00 AM. 

[Ithaca sucks]

You know it's crooked if Bob Murphy is involved with it. 

[guest11]

With the storm last night there's still parts of downtown Binghamton without power.  Rumble Ponies and Amici to name a couple.  What a joke.  Cancel LUMA and let these businesses get their power back on. 

[guest11]

There's also business owners and residents complaining about street closures, which they weren't notified of.  LUMA has become terribly organized. 

[Skyhawk]

It was a disaster.  Many people ran to the parking ramp for cover.  Only a few updates were posted to Facebook by LUMA and by that point thousands of people left.  No one knew what was going on.  

[Tammy Dodson]

I saw a woman who lost her daughter running around hysterical asking for help.

[Mr. Met]

19 hours ago, guest11 said:

There's also business owners and residents complaining about street closures, which they weren't notified of.  LUMA has become terribly organized. 

Using BC Transit busses to block off streets is a piss poor look.  

[Chestnut Inn]

Yeah, using big busses and even garbage trucks to block streets looked horrible. I thought this was supposed to be an artsy event?  It looked terrible.  But the biggest problem was the strong smell of marijuana everywhere.  You could barely walk around without getting high.

[Skyhawk]

Last night they did very little to inform or update the public.  Looks like they learned their lesson. 

[Beaver]

LUMA won't cancel like they should because it's all about the money.  They would have to refund the money to the ticketed events and credit the vendors.  But it's all about the money, not about the art. 

[bballcoach]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:01 PM, Chestnut Inn said:

Yeah, using big busses and even garbage trucks to block streets looked horrible. I thought this was supposed to be an artsy event?  It looked terrible.  But the biggest problem was the strong smell of marijuana everywhere.  You could barely walk around without getting high.

My family doesn't go to downtown Binghamton after dark when SUNY is here, unless it's a hockey game.  But the one thing I did hear about LUMA (other than the rain) was how much weed there was.  Yes it's legal now, but so is alcohol and I'm sure they didn't have people walking right up to the building displays with beers in their hands.  How good can art be, if you need to be high to enjoy it? 

[DJC]

There was marijuana everywhere!  You'd think it was a cannabis festival and not LUMA. It was not an event for families, if you have children I wouldn't bring them.  And I'm not going back next year unless they do something about all the marijuana, it was ridiculous.