When freshman Ness Reliford and junior Chris De Leo’s desire to help expose local student artists coincided with a project for their Entrepreneurship 200 class, the NICE Collab event was the end result.

The brainchild of Reliford and De Leo, the NICE Collab is set to be held at O’Gara’s Bar & Grill May 9 and will feature a variety of artists performing their songs for restaurant patrons.

De Leo and Reliford said although they still have the class in mind while figuring out a venue and marketing their efforts, local music has long been a passion of theirs. Both are excited to be able to give the performing artists some exposure.

“Artists need to get promoted. Not enough people know about local artists or appreciate them,” De Leo said.

Reliford counts herself among the many local artists in St. Paul. In addition to attending school, she writes lyrics and produces music.

The event has three hours of stage time reserved, and De Leo and Reliford are allowing 10 minutes for each act.

Senior Maxee Whiteford, who is one of the performing artists, said music has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember, and she thinks NICE will be a great way for local artists to further their personal careers.

“Making the presence of our student artists known is important. It’s rare to have people that are ambitious and passionate and follow through, so I really appreciate what Chris and Ness are doing,” Whiteford said.

Because they had to set up the event in just one semester, only one performer from outside of St. Thomas will appear, even though the collaboration is open to all ACTC schools. Chris and Ness hope that word of mouth will successfully market for the upcoming event and allow them to fund another one, which will hopefully attract more artists.

Ness hopes the word will spread in St. Thomas’ music community.

“I think that as an outsider looking at St. Thomas, you don’t necessarily see it as a great place for music. You think of law, business and the sciences,” Reliford said.

Reliford is part of the Music Industry Club and KUST radio and is excited to show people the strong musical presence on campus. She wants to showcase those for whom music is a primary career path rather than a hobby.

“Music can be seen as secondary. That’s been something that I’ve been dealing with on a personal level in terms of trying to explain to friends and family,” Reliford said.

De Leo agreed that although she cares about promoting the business and name of NICE, the performers are the real stars of the event.

“It’s musicians for their music, it’s writers for their blogs, it’s photographers for their photography, it’s everyone who is trying to develop a sense of artistry in their own way,” De Leo said.

De Leo and Reliford had some trouble finding a venue and they contacted three or four different options. Finally, they were able to find a host in O’Gara’s.

Even though it originated as a class project, De Leo and Reliford have no plans to limit their efforts. Stressful as it is, they are ecstatic to put on the event and are investing in a future for NICE.

“This is our first time putting on the event, so if we make any mistakes they’ll be learning experiences,” De Leo said.

“Our hearts are going to be in it for the long run,” Reliford said.

Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.