By Megan Coppersmith Szerwo, March 2025
Owen Shotwell, an Eagle Scout in Troop 286 (Tonawanda, NY), chose a musical Eagle project: creating, managing, and hosting a musical instrument drive for the Music Is Art Foundation.
Music runs in Owen’s blood. Both Owen’s Father and Uncle work in the live-event production industry. Owen currently plays in indie rock band Prairie Pavement and has a side project called Colour Negative. He’s also active in Stage Crew at Kenmore East High and often helps out his friend’s bands at their shows. Owen has turned his family’s living room into a recording studio on several occasions, recording his friends’ bands. He intends to study recording at SUNY Fredonia in the fall.
Owen’s Eagle Project helped local musicians receive gently-used instrument drive for band and orchestra equipment in coordination with the second annual Riverfront Youth Jazz Festival at Niawanda Park, in June 2023.
Owen Shotwell’s Eagle Scout ceremony
Owen’s project benefited the Buffalo-are nonprofit Music is Art, a federal 501c3 organization founded in 2003 by Goo Goo Dolls bassist and Buffalonian Robby Takac. The mission of Music is Art is “creating opportunities that fuel the unifying power of music in Western NY.”
Originally intending to hold a standalone instrument drive, Owen partnered with the jazz festival to piggyback on its promotion efforts and increase the project impact’s. Robby Takac even partnered with Owen on a promotional video. As a result, a total of sixty instruments were donated to the project.
Owen worked closely with event organizers and volunteers directly, managing the event promotion, as well as the logistics of securing donations and getting them to Music Is Art to be distributed.
“I loved hearing people’s appreciation for my project,” said Owen. “As a musician, I was glad I could remove some of the barriers to playing by passing along equipment to those in need.”
This event laid the foundation for future instrument drives, with the organizers of the Jazz Festival and Music Is Art representatives continuing the effort and holding an instrument drive at the festival annually.
Owen tabling at Riverfront Youth Jazz Festival to collect instruments
One of the donated instruments and its donor
Loading up donations
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