WEST WINDSOR: Arts Council to lift veil on its new home

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — After nearly a decade of planning, the township’s Arts Council will unveil its new building Saturday.
   Instead of holding a ribbon cutting, the council will host a ribbon dance and a maypole weaving. Heidi Kleinman, a founding council board member, said they will represent “our focus on tying together neighborhoods, cultures and other diverse elements of our community.”
   The dance at the ceremonies will itself tie together various genres, including belly dancing and hip-hop. The flash mob-style performance will begin at the Princeton Junction Train Station at 11:40 a.m. and work its way to the arts center at 952 Alexander Road by noon. There, the council will host an abstract ribbon dance for the opening ceremony.
   The center itself will host a free block party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Middle school and high school students will provide nearly a dozen musical and other performances alongside other entertainers.
   Inside the newly renovated building, visitors will get a sneak peak at the center’s inaugural exhibit before it has its opening reception Oct. 2. Entitled “Community Collage: West Windsor Then & Now,” it features over 40 selected works that reflect the cultural heritage and diversity of the region.
   The party will also offer a variety of hot and cold food and refreshments. But for those looking to do more than look, listen and eat, there will be plenty of activities from assorted arts organizations and community groups like Princeton University, Westminster Choir College and the regional school district.
   The firehouse is still home to the West Windsor First Aid Squad, that will eventually move out and turn the large bays over to the arts council. But until then, the council’s domain includes a community room, a multipurpose room for exhibits and performances, and a classroom.
   The WWAC formed when the township brought residents together about a decade ago to think of a use for the building once the Princeton Junction Fire Company relocated. The residents agreed an arts council would be best, and they began putting on programs to show the WWAC the plan could work. The council raised most of the $300,000 needed to supplement the township’s $800,000 investment in the site.
   Executive Director Eduardo Garcia has been with the council almost six years, and he said the project has been “a true partnership” between the arts council and the township, which he said was an integral part of bringing the plans to fruition.
   ”Of course it’s been a very long, long road with a lot of frustrating things, but a lot of truly exciting things,” he said. “Probably the most exciting thing was the way the township has understood the value of an arts center in the community and made a commitment to it in way that they have.”
   The arts council’s capital project fundraising is about 80 percent complete, and while Mr. Garcia said he was “very happy considering the economic environment,” it’s not over yet.
   For information on the West Windsor Arts Council and West Windsor Arts Center, including the grand opening and how to donate to the capital project, visit www.westwindsorarts.org or call (609) 919-1982.
[email protected] 