Bergen County, NJ -- The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Hackensack, New Jersey, opened National Arts and Humanities and Jersey Arts Month in October with a celebration of its ArtsBergen initiative’s tenth anniversary supporting the arts, artists, and creative placemaking in Bergen County, New Jersey.

The NNJCF’s ArtsBergen celebrated with a special Connect the Dots networking and workshop event on October 1 featuring the artist collective, Works on Water, at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Works on Water is a collective dedicated to making art on, in, and with water in response to climate change, increasing urban density, and other critical environmental issues, including flooding and pollution. Artists, environmentalists, and municipal and community leaders throughout the region attended to learn more about how public art raises awareness about environmental issues, while building beauty and community.

New Future Imagined for the Hackensack River

Artists Emily Blumenfeld and Sarah Cameron Sunde from Works on Water presented an interactive, informative workshop to imagine a new artist-designed future for the Hackensack River. Participants learned about the evolution and growing importance of Water Art and how it can be used, as a powerful tool to address environmental issues. Sunde discussed her global project 36.5 /A Durational Performance with Sea and continued the celebration in a contemplative workshop along the Hackensack River’s edge, where attendees imagined the water rising and reflected on the potential effects of environmental occurrences. The group brainstormed to create concepts for public art related to water that would preserve the environment. Participants also networked and learned more about getting involved in Works on Water’s Triennial Exhibition in the tristate area.

ArtsBergen Connects and Strengthens the Community

ArtsBergen has worked with artists, arts organizations, businesses and municipal leaders, who use the arts to shape the social, physical, cultural, and economic identity of communities. For ten years, this regional alliance produced and promoted public art projects in several municipalities, including Bogota, Englewood, Hackensack, Oradell, New Milford, and Ridgefield Park to address a range of community issues, such as downtown revitalization, gentrification, mental health, and environmental concerns. In addition to becoming a leader in public art production in Bergen County, ArtsBergen also offers services in creative placemaking, assisting municipalities to develop creative placemaking and public art plans.

ArtsBergen also advocated for local and state funding for the arts. In 2021, the initiative spearheaded the campaign “5% for the Arts”, rallying the local arts community to advocate for the allocation of 5% of Bergen County’s American Rescue Funds (ARP) towards the arts. This campaign resulted in the successful creation of a new $500,000 grant program to support artists and arts organizations.

Connect the Dots Program

Since its inception, ArtsBergen’s Connect the Dots program produced an ongoing series of 21 networking events for the arts community and those interested in the arts. Held in different venues, each event presented a range of exciting activities and time to network. These activities included exhibitions, speakers, and unique, interactive arts experiences.

Connect the Dots continues to create a safe and open environment, where artists and other community sector representatives can spark relationships and collaborate. The program also strengthens and connects the arts community through professional development presentations and the sharing of creative ideas, work, resources and talent.

NNJCF Enriches Life in Northern New Jersey

The NNJCF builds connections, pools resources, and provides leadership to enrich quality of life in these eight counties in New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union and Warren. Through its work in northern New Jersey, the Foundation seeks to develop more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity. For further information about the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, ArtsBergen, or Connect the Dots, contact [email protected] or call 201-568-5608.  

About Northern New Jersey Community Foundation

Founded in 1998, The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life. Through collaborative partnerships, regional problems are identified and resolved. Opportunities are discovered and explored by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources. The Foundation works to grow more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, or contact Associate Director Danielle De Laurentis at [email protected], or call 201-568-5608.

About ArtsBergen

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s ArtsBergen initiative, a regional arts alliance, works with a range of stakeholders, encompassing artists, arts organizations, businesses and municipal leaders, who use the arts to shape the social, physical, cultural, and economic identity of communities. Creative placemaking, a community-led, arts-driven approach, is used to increase vibrancy, spur economic development, and build capacity among residents to take ownership of their communities.

ArtsBergen is the only initiative in Bergen County, New Jersey offering a range of services in creative placemaking. The initiative has partnered with multiple municipalities facilitating creative teams, developing public art and creative placemaking plans, and directing and managing public art projects to preserve and express community culture. For more information about the ArtsBergen initiative, visit www.nnjcf.org/artsbergen/.