All in BIPOC Voices
Our clothing makes a statement. It tells the world who we are at any given moment and allows for a sense of expression that words cannot convey. Newark has a storied history within the fashion world and the Newark Museum of Art is honoring that history with their latest exhibition, "The Story of Newark Fashion: Atelier to Runway."
Guided by the Ancestors, African Warrior Queens, a woman named Sister struggles to find a place of self-reconciliation and acceptance in the world as she is given a glimpse into the lives and legacy of Black women—past and present, young and old. This is the story behind “Black Girl Magic,” a powerful show coming to West Windsor Township, NJ, hailing from the Underground Performing Arts Collective in Suffolk, Virginia.
As soon as the banner announcing the retrospective of Freda Williams hung from the red brick façade of Artworks Trenton, the excitement began. “She has so many stories to tell,” Artistic Director Addison Vincent said of the 86-year-old artist who has lived all but the first five years of her life in Greater Trenton.
Alonzo Adams has been using his paintings to tell stories of the contemporary Black experience for over 25 years. In his first solo museum exhibition at Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, his own story as an artist is being told, from his very first painting to pieces that have not been seen publicly for years. We went to New Brunswick to speak with the artist about putting this exhibition together, and how it feels to return to Rutgers, where he once studied. “Alonzo Adams: A Griot’s Vision” is on display through February 25.
A restaging of the Caribbean-infused musical “Once On This Island” is coming to the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey, running for four performances from February 9th through February 11th. Filled with immersive storytelling, the show is directed by Domonic Barnes and choreographed by Olivia Cruz. Conducting a live band is music director Bryan Broughton.
New Year, New Fortunes! Once again the lunar New Year is upon us, with those celebrating ushering out the old year and bringing forth a year of prosperity and good fortune. The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company honors this tradition annually at the NJPAC with a cross-cultural, immersive dance performance.
As we near the end of the 2023 calendar year, the Discover Jersey Arts team decided to take a look back at the things we've accomplished. We've published a wealth of content this year, but these five pieces are the ones we're most proud of—these exemplify the Discover Jersey Arts mission most.
We want to tell exciting, unique stories that will pull you in and seat you in the theatre, dance hall, concert venue, or museum floor. We aim to provide a platform for voices to be heard in a space where they may not normally be seen, and above all else, we're here to help you discover (New) Jersey arts.
"Black Nativity", a gospel song play inspired by the Gospel of Luke and with a book written by Langston Hughes, first premiered on Broadway in 1961. It has since been performed all over the world as a joyful, musical celebration of the Nativity story. Dunbar Repertory Company will bring its vision of this timeless classic to the Count Basie Center for the Arts this December 30th.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) is celebrating the Kwanzaa holiday this year with an African dance performance starring the acclaimed New York-based troupe Forces of Nature Dance Theatre on Saturday, Dec 12 at 3 p.m. in the Victoria Theater on the Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch Stage.
How do women artists take up space and scale in their work? That’s the primary question asked in the new exhibition, “Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale,” at the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) on view through Jan 7, 2024. Inspired by a 2021 show at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the exhibition offers twenty-three works in a range of media including paintings, sculptures, paper, photographs, and more. Among them are ten alluring artworks from PAFA alongside thirteen foundational works from the Montclair Art Museum’s collection of American women artists. The exhibiting artists represent a range of ages and diverse cultures in their work, demonstrating how to take up space with stories of their identities and cultural heritages.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, with celebrations planned nationwide. Keeping the momentum going this fall is New Jersey’s largest city, as the Newark Arts Festival (NAF) 2023 will feature arts and culture events spanning all five wards of Newark from Wednesday, September 27 through Sunday, October 1. The free four-day festival is produced by Newark Arts in association with The Newark Museum of Art and is expected to attract thousands of artists, collectors, aficionados, and creatives.
A signature event at this year’s Newark Arts Festival is a celebration of 50 years of Hip Hop on Saturday, September 30 at 8 p.m. in The Newark Museum of Art. This one-night-only experience, called “Strings and Stanzas,” and sponsored by Audible, will honor not just the music genre, but also Newark-area pioneers who paved the way in Hip Hop. Some of the famed rappers who hail from Newark include Redman, Lords of the Underground and Rah Digga.
Gloria Gaynor is best known as the queen of disco with her mega-hit dance anthem, “I Will Survive,” but this Jersey girl has never stopped taking risks and building on her success.
JerseyArts chats with the music legend about growing up in New Jersey, how she got her big break, the legacy of disco, her new “Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive” documentary, and her Sept. 16 concert at bergenPAC.
Vanguard Theater will present the coming-of-age musical “Spring Awakening” from June 22 through July 16. A celebration of youth and rebellion, censorship and its consequences, “Spring Awakening” fuses issues of morality and sexuality with alternative rock music into an emotionally charged story.
“’Spring Awakening’ is really an exploration of what it means to live and love in a world that strives to keep you completely in the dark about such issues as sexuality,” says Janeece Freeman-Clark, the show’s Director and Vanguard’s Founding Artistic Director. “We're not going to talk about it in our homes. We're not going to talk about it in school. We're not going to talk about it in church. This musical shows what can happen if you withhold information from young people as they wrestle with adult issues.”
There will be talkbacks after the show on select dates, which will give audiences and cast members a chance to discuss the musical’s themes. This production is recommended for ages 12 and over.
There are two kinds of Pow Wows, the competitive and the traditional. "The competitive is, of course, one where the singers and dancers compete in different categories and ages for prizes," said Tyrone "Dancing Wolf" Ellis, "and the traditional is more about coming to dance to educate as well as to pray."
The Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation 42nd Annual Pow Wow will be held Saturday, June 10, and Sunday, June 11, at the Salem County Fairgrounds, 735 Harding Highway in Woodstown. The gates open at 10:00 a.m., with the Grand Entry happening at noon.
“Our Pow Wow is competitive, with both dancers and singers vying for prizes,” Ellis said. Regardless of the type of Pow Wow, he said "It is an opportunity for our people to gather as a family, to see each other and spend time together, and a way for us to enlighten the public and raise cultural awareness."
The historic James Howe House was home to a formerly enslaved man, abolitionist and Montclair's first African American homeowner. Thanks to a large-scale collaboration between historians, preservationists, artists, and the teams at Luna Stage and Crossroads Theatre Company, the story of Howe House over the last nearly 200 years will be told through the upcoming play "The Ground on Which We Stand."
Luna Stage artistic director Ari Laura Kreith and award-winning playwright and screenwriter Richard Wesley join JerseyArts to discuss this period of Black history in New Jersey as told through the lens of the historic Howe House.
The exhibition, “Cycle of Creativity: Alison Saar and the Toni Morrison Papers,” on view at the Princeton University Art Museum’s Art@Bainbridge galleries through July 9, brings together the writings of Morrison, whose papers from her career as novelist, essayist, playwright, professor and editor, are held in the Princeton University Library, and the sculpture, prints and textiles of Saar, to create a conversation they might have had if they were in the same room.
No, Morrison (1931-2019) and Saar never met, but the exhibition shows how both women share a dedication to giving voices to the African American experience, particularly the lives of Black women. And both spoke about the importance of using their work to foster the creativity of future generations of Black artists.
The city of Newark, New Jersey unveiled its long-awaited Harriet Tubman monument March 9 with great excitement. Four days of community celebrations and events followed. With visual, audio and tactile components, “Shadow of a Face” is not a statue to view from a distance, but a place to see, hear, touch, spend time and reflect on stories. Designed by Jamaican-born, Montclair-based Nina Cooke John, this unique public art project will be visited, studied, and celebrated for years to come.
Gazing out the window on NJTransit south to Trenton, and then on Amtrak further south to Philadelphia and Baltimore, one sees brick row houses, sometimes crumbling, sometimes boarded up, covered with words that express desolation. There are solitary figures here and there, or perhaps a face looking out from a window. Better times might have been in the past, for these places.
This is the world of Leroy Johnson, whose exhibition is on view at the Gallery at Mercer County Community College through March 23. Largely self-taught, Johnson called himself an “activist artist” and “urban expressionist” whose work was shaped by African American history and life in the inner city.
“I wanted to bring Leroy here because a lot of this work transcends generations, and its socio-political content is still very relevant,” says Gallery Director Lucas Kelly.
Johnson’s city – the one he lived his life in – was Philadelphia. He grew up in an integrated neighborhood, and in his lifetime saw many neighborhoods become gentrified. But, says Kelly, it could be any city.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
These words from the poetry of Langston Hughes served as the inspiration for the play “A Raisin in the Sun” and later its Tony Award-winning musical reimagining, “Raisin.”
Focused on the dreams and desires of a struggling Black family in 1950s Chicago, “Raisin” celebrates the persistence and resolve of a family at a crossroads.
Jersey Arts visits the Axelrod Performing Arts Center to speak with the creative team behind the show and learn more about its 50th Anniversary performance of “Raisin,” on stage Feb. 24 - March 12.
Bradley Gibson (“A Bronx Tale,” “The Lion King,” “The Partner Track”) has big sandals to fill as the titular role in “Disney’s Hercules,” but if anyone’s ready to play the lovable demigod, it’s him. As a child, Bradley was a huge fan of the 1997 animated Disney movie, and taking on the character has helped him find new meaning in, and love for, the story. Gibson leads a star-studded cast at Paper Mill Playhouse from Feb. 16 -March 19. He chats with Jersey Arts about his love for the 1997 film, developing a well-known animated character for the stage, and what it feels like to star in a Disney production.
