By Nathan Phan, Special Writer
As a member of the Princeton Shakespeare Company, TJ Smith was excited that people of all different ages visited the Shakespeare booth at this year’s Communiversity ArtsFest. While children shouted the famous “Friends, Romans, countrymen” line of Julius Caesar at the booth, Mr. Smith chatted with their parents about getting them involved in theater.
“A lot of people feel that Shakespeare is this ivory tower that you can’t just go into without being British or highly learned,” said the Princeton University senior. “What I like about Communiversity and what we do at Communiversity is that we invite everyone. I would say people often think that Princeton is a very sleepy town. Communiversity really shows that’s not true – there’s actually a huge group of people who can come together to enjoy something like the arts.”
Presented by the Arts Council of Princeton, Communiversity Artsfest – known simply as Communiversity – was held in downtown Princeton for its 46th year Sunday afternoon. Featuring more than 225 artists and local businesses and sellers, the festival celebrated building the community through the arts, having members of both Princeton University and the town of Princeton come together to showcase and encourage creativity.
As central New Jersey’s largest and longest running cultural festival, Communiversity presented a variety of the arts. Around the sidewalks of West Tiger Way, visitors gathered around to view a gallery of chalk art, created by groups and individuals from Princeton High School, Montgomery High School and Witherspoon Middle School.
Started by couple Jim Levine and Lisa Marcus Levine, the chalk art gallery returned to the festival for its 20th year and has grown in popularity since. Ms. Levine described how important it was for the community to see the creativity of youth in the Princeton area and to encourage them to be creative in a fun environment.
“It’s just that kind of thing that keeps us going every year – just being so impressed with these kids being brave enough to come out and work in a medium they usually don’t work in and share their talent,” said Ms. Levine.
Throughout the festival, there were many opportunities for youth to learn about programs in the arts. At the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) booth, Tessa Scortino and Felicia Catney dressed up as Disney princesses Snow White and Cinderella and took pictures with children to promote the YWCA’s summer dance program featuring fairytale ballet.
Although this being their first time at Communiversity, Ms. Scortino enjoyed interacting with the children and encouraging them and their parents to consider arts programs at an early age. Both college students from nearby universities, Ms. Scortino and Ms. Catney admired the sense of community that Communiversity brought, how it helped connect people to groups with whom they normally would not have interacted.
“It gets everyone to look at all the different things that are available in Princeton,” said Ms. Scortino. “People who may not have thought about the summer camps, for example – when they passed the booth, they were like ‘Oh, what’s this, what’s going on?’”
Living in Princeton for almost 23 years, Carolyn Furey has been a vendor at the festival for the past 15 years with her jewelry business Rosebud Jules. Interacting with people both inside and outside of the Princeton community has been one of Ms. Furey’s favorite aspects of Communiversity, which has helped her build relationships with customers and gain first-hand feedback.
“I get a lot of customers that are local, and they come back,” said Ms. Furey. “I like being outside, I like seeing people I know, and I like meeting new people.”
For both children and adults, this year’s Communiversity brought thousands of people to Nassau Street to enjoy local foods and entertainment and eagerly await next year’s festival.
“I have a two-year-old daughter, and she’s having a great time,” said Ed Markey of Princeton, a first-timer at Communiversity. “The food has been great and just the whole atmosphere – the community atmosphere – has been nice. As long as I’m living in town, I will be here.”
