Partners Cathy Hyland Moon and Bruce Moon will host the 17th annual Music & Munch Benefit Concert from 2-10 p.m. Saturday at Casper Brewing Co. Fifteen solo artists and three bands will be performing for a cause bigger than music.
The family-friendly event has always been centered around supporting the Therapeutic Arts Program in East Africa, which is “designed to strengthen arts-based programming for vulnerable populations,” per its website. The event in Bloomington sends all proceeds to the program.
“It's just a lot of fun for a really good cause,” Moon said. “It's affirming to see all the artists that are willing to share their music and all the people that come out and just take part in it.”
Moon, a retired faculty from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is an art therapist that joined the program in 2008 and has since put on this event to support it. But the event wasn’t always at a venue; instead, it started at a house in the suburbs of Chicago.
“It started 17 years ago in our living room," she said. "It was like a house concert and it's grown over the years to where we have eight hours of live music and raffles and silent auction items."
In the years up until 2025 the concert was held in different backyards, which caused some concerns on if there would be rain, Moon said. But starting last year the event will go on rain or shine, due to the indoor/outdoor flexibility of Casper Brewing Co.
Family-friendly approach
There will be games in either location for kids, representing a family-friendly approach Moon intends to set every year. That’s seen in her own family as well, with Moon’s grandchildren typically selling raffle tickets at the events.
The concert will have a potluck style, providing a main dish of sandwiches with multiple meat and non-meat options, while side dishes and desserts will depend on what the other event attendees bring. The potluck is not intended to make people bring food, Moon said, but instead to bring the community together in a similar way that music does.
“I personally love the idea of people feeding one another. I think that adds to the atmosphere too, that this is about us… caring for each other,” Moon said. “We do that through how we feed each other through food and through music and through art.”
The event is supported by the nonprofit Collective Arts and Learning Network which also aims to work alongside each other, Moon said. The Collective Arts and Learning Network is a larger umbrella for the Therapeutic Arts Program in East Africa.
The program provides an arts program that is a three year commitment with an annual two week training. Moon, alongside professionals from East Africa, provide paraprofessional knowledge to East Africans aspiring careers in arts therapy.
“In order for them to actually practice the arts therapies, the funding is always an issue there,” Moon said. “This fundraiser essentially raises money that supplies grants, so that once people quote-unquote 'graduate' from the program, then they can apply for these grants.”
The three-year program is an opportunity to gain experience when many aren’t able to get a formal education in the areas Moon primarily supports, Tanzania and Kenya.
“They really don't have any formal educational programs for arts therapy… so this training is a way to support what people are really fascinated with and interested in doing,” Moon said. “And it fits so well culturally too, because the arts are very integrated into the culture in East Africa.”
Together, Cathy and Bruce Moon and the programs associated with Music & Munch put on a yearly all-encompassing event that is much more than just music. The way that art brings people together is why the Moons’ have dedicated their whole lives to being art therapists, Cathy Moon said.
Since moving to Bloomington-Normal about four years ago they have spread their vision of implementing art in the area. Bruce Moon has hosted a variety of open mic nights around town, while Cathy Moon is aiming to transplant the free community art studios that she has held since 2008.
“Both of us really believe in this idea that the arts can address the needs that people have at a community level, almost like a public health practice,” Moon said. “Not by identifying people's problems, but [by] creating spaces where people can support one another.”
“I think this event has that same kind of spirit behind it. It's about people coming together to support one another and in this case, maybe to support people you don't even know,” Moon said.
For more information on Music & Munch, visit their Facebook page.
