By Amy Batista, Special Writer
The Cultural Arts Commission, which was created by an ordinance passed last August, spoke about its accomplishments over the past year and its plans for the future during the Oct. 5 council meeting.
Cultural Arts Commission Chairwoman Ann Marie Miller said the commission held its first meeting last September at the library. Rick Pratt from the Planning Board, who was instrumental in supporting the establishment of the commission, presided over the meeting.
“Since November, we have been meeting at the Caspersen Campus House at the Peddie School campus on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m.,” she said, adding that the meetings are open to the public.
The commission developed a mission statement as well as a community survey to gauge interest in cultural activities.
“We are still collecting survey responses,” she said.
From the 60 responses the commission has thus far, it has learned most people are interested in visual arts and crafts. There are also people interested in performing arts, design and literary and culinary arts.
She said that 87 percent of the respondents are interested in festivals and events, 70 percent in public art, 48 percent in galleries and shops and 35 percent in streetscape improvements.
“We developed a comprehensive Public Art Master Plan that addresses many of the goals that were stated when the formation of the commission was considered,” she said.
The commission wants to engage students and will have young commissioners. Commissioner Adam Welch is working on that aspect of the group.
Mr. Welch said he also prepared the Public Art Document Plan.
“We’ve been tasked with creating that and it includes the maps and plans for where public art can be located,” he said.
He said the commission has taken a two-prong approach to the plan.
“One, we have been focusing quite a bit on developing sort of a community gathering place around our meetings and how we can start incorporating the commission in our festivals,” he said. “The Harvest Fair is the first festival we are really sort of investing in. The second-prong of the approach was to create a strategic plan for incorporating public art into the town.
The plan is very close to being completed, he said.
“With this plan, what we are trying to do is set in place something that can be used long after maybe we are no longer on the commission on how to take care of the artwork once it’s part of the town, how to maintain it, how to pay for it and these sort of things,” he said.
The commission toured the borough for potential sites for public art places. Mr. Welch went through the tax maps and found some “good places for public art installation.”
The commission has also adopted a logo, which was designed by one of its commissioners.
Commissioners also wrote and submitted a grant to Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission to support next year’s “Theatre in the Park” program.
The commission has also collaborated with 12 Farms Restaurant in Hightstown to promote its art programs, which include “Creative Mondays.”
The commission has also hosted several guest speakers throughout the year. This past May, a master carver from Alaska lectured at both the Peddie School and Grace N. Rogers School and did demonstrations.
“Besides having some really good discussions about the mission of the commission and goals, we heard from Eduardo Garcia who helped take the West Windsor Arts Council from an organization that was holding programs at a variety of sites in West Windsor for seven years to its current location at the converted Princeton Junction firehouse,” Ms. Miller said.
Mr. Garcia told the commission about the importance of establishing an identity through art programs as well as seizing opportunities while also being patient to realize long-term goals of bringing the community together through the arts.
“We all know that the borough suffers from a lack of space and at the moment that makes it impossible to envision a Community Arts Center, but the commission will continue to seek opportunities to work with the Planning Board, Parks and Recreation and Downtown Hightstown to make sure that the arts stay alive in our town and connect our residents in a way that improves our quality of life and contributes to our town growing as a great place to live and as a destination that is vibrant, attractive, and economically strong,” Ms. Miller said.
Council President Denise “Denny” Hansen thanked the Cultural Arts Commission for all of its work this past year.
“I find it an amazing amount of progress,” she said. “The talent on that committee and commission is very diverse. Of course their artistic abilities is something that the town should be grateful that we have. I think it is really going to move ahead in the second year.”
Councilman Steve Misiura said he was the commission liaison during its first year and is looking forward to seeing the commission’s master plan and it moving forward on all the things the commissioners talked about.
