Northeast New Jersey Folk Arts Program
Park Performing Arts Center
| Kevin P. Ashe |
Meriam Lobel |
The
Northeast New Jersey Folk Arts Program at the Park Performing Arts
Center presents the wide range of artistic traditions of the many communities
in the counties of Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Passaic and Union, New Jersey.
The program is committed to building relationships with artists and developing
opportunities for them to share their art forms with wider audiences.
Simultaneously, the program seeks to create programming that enables the
general public to appreciate the many different art forms that exist within
the region.
A
primary goal of the Folk Arts program is to reach out to children and
provide them with opportunities that strengthen their pride in their cultural
identity and promote cross cultural understanding. It conducts ongoing
research and documentation of community traditions throughout northeastern
New Jersey, and provides technical assistance, workshops, and performance
opportunities to artists, organizations, and communities.
The program was created in 1999 with funding and technical assistance from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and a National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Infrastructure grant. Based on results of an initial survey of the artists, arts organizations, community groups, community leaders, community institutions and media in northeastern New Jersey, the program has partnered with local government agencies, educational institutions and artistic organizations to produce programs that have a broad impact in this densely populated, highly diverse region.
The Northeast New Jersey Folk Arts Program is part of The Park Performing Arts Center (PPAC), a private, not-for-profit arts center in Union City, New Jersey. PPAC reaches out to a wide range of audiences and encourages them to support both traditional and contemporary artistic visions. The Center presents drama and musical performances, school programs, lectures and exhibitions, and provides young people with opportunities to explore their creative potential.
Projects and Programs
Annual Hudson County Performing Artists Showcase
This showcase provides performance opportunities for artists in a professional
local theater; creates broad, informative press exposure; and brings diverse
audiences together at one event. The Showcase has evolved over three years
from a one-evening event to a four-day event that includes two previews
for school audiences and two concerts.
Each program includes both artists performing traditional art forms and those presenting more contemporary art forms, with many of the musical styles and dance forms illustrating a long continuum of evolving traditions.
Summer Concert Series
Park in the Parks is a series of free outdoor summer concerts in county
and city parks that presents musicians and dancers whose arts forms reflect
the population of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Arts Education
Arts
education programming includes workshops and assemblies in traditional
visual and performing arts for students in grades K-12.
Formats and venues include in-school classes, lecture demonstrations, and concerts, as well as after-school programs and performances in the Park Performing Arts Center's historic theater.
The Folk Arts Program director is interested in working with school faculty and staff to develop ways in which folk arts can be used to enrich existing curriculum. She has given presentations at school faculty meetings and at the Art Educators of New Jersey Conference in 2002.
Each presentation emphasizes the ways in which folk arts can foster children's self esteem and respect for others and gives suggestions on ways teachers can go about finding artists who practice traditional art forms within their communities.
The Cultural Thread/El Hilo Cultural
This
exhibit on 130 years of embroidery and lace in New Jersey inaugurated
PPAC's new gallery in April 2002 and will remain open until May 2004.
The exhibit tells the story of the central role northern New Jersey has
had in providing commercial embroidery and lace to the designers, military,
club members, and brides of the United States for many decades.
A series of public programming events are held in conjunction with the exhibit and will continue throughout its duration. Workshops in specific styles of embroidery take place on monthly Saturday afternoons. Guided tours of the exhibit, or of the exhibit and an embroidery factory, can be set up for student and adult groups by appointment.
Resources
Available Upon Request:
- The Cultural Thread/El Hilo Cultural, Tours and Workshops. Call 201 865-6980, ext. 15 for appointment.
- The Cultural Thread/El Hilo Cultural, Brochure
Services Available to the Public, Organizations, and Artists:
- Classroom Curricula (developed in conjunction with teachers)
- Presentations on Folk Arts and Traditional Culture
- Technical Assistance to Artists and Organizations
Funders
The Northeast New Jersey Folklife Program receives ongoing support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, and has received additional funding from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, Hudson County Executive Office, and the Freeholders of Hudson County.
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