In 1860, Florence Nightingale recognized the profound effect “beautiful objects” have on sickness and recovery. “Little as we know about the way in which we are affected by form, by color and light, we do know this – that they have an actual physical effect,” Nightingale wrote. Studies have confirmed Nightingale’s instinct. Infusing a patient’s experience with artwork can improve recovery and...

Would you rather spend your remaining days in a hospital bed or jumping out of an airplane with Jack Nicholson? That is the premise behind the film The Bucket List, when two terminally ill cancer patients receive news that they have just a year to live. Ed (Jack Nicholson) and Carter (Morgan Freeman) become friends during their respective cancer treatments and embark on a journey to complete their...

The arts have brought of herd of painted oxen to the fields of Hopewell Valley, a mural to the wall of a city garden in New Brunswick, and Monet to Toms River -- actually, a very realistic sculpture of the artist. Throughout the Garden State, artists and the arts community have been welcomed by municipalities for their skills, the lessons they can share, and the beauty they bring to the streets...

One of my many jobs when I was the Executive Director of the New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts was to work as “crisis manager” for the very many arts nonprofits that would call with issues on a daily basis. Since the main job of an arts organization executive director is handling day-to-day matters and putting out their own crisis ‘fires,’ I’d often get calls when all hell broke loose on a...

We have until the end of the year let everyone know that the nonprofit arts industry makes a real difference to New Jersey’s economy. If you’ve not yet completed the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 organizational survey online, here a chance to still be counted by completing a ONE PAGE PAPER SURVEY! The survey is available as a Word doc and as a PDF. When completed, please email, USPS mail, or fax...

For the past 18 months, a team led by the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership has been developing the next multiyear statewide arts education advocacy campaign: Arts Ed Now. The Arts Ed Now campaign officially launched yesterday as part of National Arts in Education Week, with advocates featuring the initiative at both the local and statewide levels all week long providing a springboard for the...

If you are a writer, comedian, actor, painter, photographer, choreographer, sculptor or an artist of any type who creates work on a regular basis, you might feel like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” walking through a dense forest when you start to think about how you protect your intellectual property: “trademark, copyright and registration---oh, my!” Here are the Top 10 Things Every Artist Needs to...

ArtPride NJ can confirm that "As of August 29th, The [New York] Times will discontinue the regional editions of the Metropolitan section of The New York Times, which include Connecticut, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey. Those areas will receive the Metropolitan edition that currently circulates in the five boroughs." This means, without a regional Metro edition, readers will no longer...

Walk this way… if you will. The year is 1986. The Bears win the Super Bowl. Whitney Houston asks, “How Will I Know” and Bon Jovi accuses, “You Give Love a Bad Name.” Ferris Bueller skips school, Lt. Ripley takes on Aliens, Maverick loses Goose. Amongst Molly Ringwald getting pretty in pink and golden gal Betty White winning an Emmy, something's stirring in New Jersey’s arts scene. In his fiscal...

For nearly 60 years, Americans for the Arts has convened an annual convention for arts and community leaders to network and discuss strategies for building stronger towns, counties, and cities through the arts. As our professional field has grown, so has this gathering. This year's Annual Convention explored the role of the arts in creating and sustaining healthy, vibrant, equitable communities...