ARTS By The People - 2017 Update

As we approach the final few months of 2016, we at ARTS By The People would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the developments we have made and share our plans for 2017.

This past year, we have continued to enhance and expand our youth programs and art residencies in New Jersey. Our widely successful literary open mic series, The Platform, has allowed local students to read and perform their original works in public along with other experienced writers who not only participate in the series themselves, but also serve as enthusiastic, encouraging audience members. This year we expanded partnerships with many organizations and school districts including residencies at Newark Arts High, Morristown High School, and Morristown Neighborhood House. ARTS By The People believes that exposure to art, collaboration, and the creative process truly enriches lives. Our goal for 2017 is to offer more programs and events in communities where funding has been slashed.

ARTS By The People continues to offer a wide range of creative workshops for senior citizens in New Jersey and New York City where we emphasize social interaction. We believe it is important for our participants to also share their work, so in addition to the annual “ARTS Day” celebrations held at our senior facilities, we host art exhibits, performances, and a quarterly reading series that enables our writers to read original works from their published anthologies. For 2017, we hope to publish more memoir anthologies as our books continue to be heralded by participants and family members alike. Our goal for 2017 is to integrate more programs and help design Creative Spaces in senior facilities. These spaces will be decorated with their original artwork and books. A new program for 2017, Rhapsody in Technicolor,mixes original songs and videos created by our seniors, which will culminate in an evening of live performances. We will also introduce technology into our workshops so our participants can discuss and exhibit their art with other seniors in the US and abroad, fostering interaction and collaboration between communities.

Since establishing our internship program, we have had over forty interns representing twelve different universities and high schools throughout the country. These creative students have been an integral part of our program development. In 2017, we plan to broaden our internship relationships with Drew University and Skidmore College to further develop mixed media projects that nurture collaborations with local communities and global partners.

We are excited to announce three new programs. On a Sunday Afternoon, a multi-pronged community art project that engages seniors, youth, college students and professional artists; True Story, a monthly, open mic series that focuses on the art of live storytelling; and in partnership with the Santiago Abut Foundation, Moving Words, an international collaborative project between writers, art animators, and voice actors. We also plan to launch our first literary journal, Platform Review in 2017. The journal will showcase the literary voices and visual art from our growing community. In November, we will re-start our popular artist lecture series, Spotlight in our new, expanded space at Short Stories Community Book Hub in Madison, NJ. If you would like to stay updated on our projects, performances, and event dates, please visit our website and join our mailing list.

What we have accomplished so far would not be possible without your support. We hope you will consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us achieve our goals in 2017.

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Contributions are 100% tax-deductible. All donors will receive a receipt for their records.

On behalf of all the people that we serve, thank you for supporting ARTS By The People.