Voices from the Field Blog

The mission of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance is that it “connects, empowers, and advocates for artists, communities, and organizations to promote engagement and investment in arts and history in our region.” As Julie Hain, Executive Director of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance, states, “South Jersey is unique and we want to be recognized and celebrated for our uniqueness.” It is that belief...

Emanating passion, it is hard to ignore the exuberance of the Jersey City Theater Center matriarch, Olga Levina. I had the pleasure of speaking with her for just under an hour and in that time, I became enamored with the ardor and dedication which Levina brings to her work. Admittedly, she brought me to tears a number of times as I listened to her speak of her purpose with an intensity beholden to...

The United States recognizes eleven federal holidays, the most recent of which is Juneteenth. The name is a contraction of “June Nineteenth,” commemorating the milestone juncture in which federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation which had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln a full two years prior. The harsh reality of history proves...

"Son, take a good look around. This is your hometown…" (My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen, 1984) Who knew that almost 40 years after The Boss released this iconic song, arts, history, tourism, economic development, and community revitalization would come together under those words to give the borough of Freehold dynamic new meaning? On March 8, I attended the news conference at the Freehold Fire...

More than 13 years ago, I started as the part-time director for this small-but-mighty program at Third Westminster Presbyterian Church at 780 Salem Avenue in Elizabeth called the Institute of Music for Children. As the arts were being cut in schools, the Institute was started by the church in 1995 to help provide arts education to their neighborhood youth, where children could learn and grow...

Join the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey on October 15 for a workshop on connecting community development, creative placemaking, and more! Through the trials and tribulations of the pandemic, community art has become a beacon of light in uncertain times. New Jersey’s local painters, sculptors, community gardeners, musicians, poets, dancers, and all other artists have proven...

“We always have a choice of how we respond to the crisis. That’s what arts does: it gives students a voice.” Since the onset of the pandemic and throughout the past year, the landscape of arts education has changed dramatically. At schools throughout the state of New Jersey, students were forced to communicate and create from home, or through major restrictions. However, in spite of this blow...

Visual ethnographer Michael P. Smith often described New Orleans as a “cultural wetland."1 It is from this framework that I similarly consider Waterfront South, the Camden neighborhood where my organization Camden FireWorks is situated. Often non-residents describe Camden using deficit-based descriptors like “underserved,” “disenfranchised,” or “poor.” Although Waterfront South people implicitly...

Words are important. Words are all around us and with you right now as you read this. Words, to me, are among the most beautiful gifts that I have ever gotten from or given to anyone. I believe this so strongly that I’ve dedicated myself to ensuring that words play an important part in the lives of others. I currently serve as my hometown’s Poet Laureate. As the first ever poet laureate of...

The Windows of Understanding (WOU) public art project, which launched on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is now underway in New Brunswick, Highland Park, and Metuchen. Celebrating its fourth year, the WOU initiative unites local artists, organizations, and businesses to promote awareness and informed conversation around social justice issues impacting our local communities. The vision for this...