Arts Council’s programs enjoy community support
By Christian Kirkpatrick, Special Writer
During a mini-monsoon Saturday night, some 400 people left their dry homes to attend a block party.
Thank goodness it was held inside.
At the Atrium in Skillman, the Arts Council of Princeton served the first course of its Dining by Design: Block Party. Guests nibbled casual, block-party fare and bid in a silent auction of 14 fantasy dinner parties.
Cindi Venizelos of Princeton observed that a block party was a good theme for the event because it reflected the organization’s mission: building community through the arts. Proceeds from the gala will fund the Arts Council’s community education programs, some of which benefit at-risk youth.
Several block-party patrons talked about the ways that the Arts Council relies on and creates community ties. Event chair and Princeton resident Regan Tuder noted that the council is fortunate to have strong support from the Princeton-area community. Jamie Herring of Princeton said that he enjoys the community of creative people he encounters through the organization. Princeton resident Jessica Durrie declared that she believes deeply in the ability of the arts to connect people.
Jeff Nathanson, the Arts Council’s executive director, said that the organization has been asking its community of what it thinks of the organization’s programming. The responses have led the council to expand its offerings in the performing arts and to hold more classes at popular times.
One reason that the Arts Council can make these changes is that, for more than a year now, it has operated from its spacious, new facility, the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts.
”I’m so happy about the building,” said Chris Lockhammer of Hopewell. “I’m a big Michael Graves fan,” referring to the center’s architect.
The building cost $10 million, of which about $2 million was funded through a mortgage. Tim Andrews, president of the council’s board of trustees, said that the organization’s capital campaign, 5 in 5, is raising money to retire that debt and to provide the beginning of an endowment. “It will give us some money in the bank, so we won’t be living hand to mouth,” he said, noting that the organization receives no taxpayer funds.
After the block party cocktail hour, Dining by Design guests retired to area houses for dinner and entertainment.
I went to the Princeton home of Judith and Bill Scheide, where Mrs. Scheide began the evening with “a toast to Michael Graves and his dream for the Arts Council.”
Her appreciation was echoed at my table by Fay Abelson of Princeton, who lives close to the building with her husband, Herb “It is a great asset to the neighborhood,” she declared, “and it’s gorgeous.”
”For me, the site of the Arts Council somehow puts it in the center of Princeton, the population, and cultural dimension of town,” said Mr. Graves after dinner. “To see it used as it is today is so gratifying.”
Dining by Design dinners are always memorable events because they take place in private homes. Guests at the dinner I attended sat at three round tables in the Scheide’s living room, surrounded by Mr. Scheide’s famous pipe organ, phalanxes of bookcases and scatterings of family photographs. It is a gracious and well-lived-in room.
Mrs. Scheide drew our attention to some of the art that hung on the walls, all of which has a personal meaning for her husband, a musician and music scholar. The photograph by Ansel Adams was given to him by the artist, in thanks for a concert that Mr. Scheide performed for him. On another wall is “The Enraged Musician,” an engraving by William Hogarth of a cacophonous street scene. On a third wall hangs a beautiful and well-known portrait of J.S. Bach, one of two painted during the composer’s lifetime. Next to it are smaller portraits of Mozart and Martin Luther.
But this wasn’t the only art being sampled that night. In addition to the meal — which was gastronomic poetry — the Scheides provided performance artists to amuse their guests. Before dinner a mime covered in ivy portrayed a very fetching and animated tree trunk. After dinner, the Give and Take Jugglers tossed plates, juggling pins and even a bowling ball in a delightful performance that ranged from tomfoolery to modern dance.
Conversation is always warm and free-flowing at Dining by Design dinners. At my table it ranged from the civil rights movement, to research polls, to ice skating on Carnegie Lake. By the end of the evening, guests who hadn’t known each other were embracing and exchanging e-mail addresses. Once again the Art Council had succeeded in its mission to build community through the arts.
Corporate sponsors of the Dining by Design: Block Party included Bloomberg, Glenmede Trust and PNC Wealth Management.