initiative reaching out to ethnic artists
Transcultural
initiative reaching out to ethnic artists
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff Marianne Ficarra is coordinating a statewide effort to bring recognition to the state’s ethnic artists and the influence art from different cultures has on the mainstream art world.
A wave of immigrants is making New Jersey one of the most diverse states in the nation, but you aren’t likely to find art created by the new arrivals in the state’s museums and galleries, according to a local art historian.
"New Jersey artists for the most part are neglected and not recognized, in particular coming from these ethnic groups," noted Marianne Ficarra, project coordinator for Transcultural New Jersey: Diverse Artists Shaping Culture and Communities, a statewide arts initiative aimed at bringing visual art created by ethnic artists into the cultural mainstream.
"The purpose of this initiative is to make the general public aware of the existence of these artists and their traditions, their cultural heritage," she said.
The statewide Transcultural NJ initiative is a collaboration of stakeholders in the cultural life of the state, explained Ficarra, a Fair Haven resident.
“Picasso” by Emma Amos
The educational institutions, arts organizations, museums, galleries and libraries participating have undertaken a year-long project whose focus is to explore and document the creative achievements in the visual arts of non-European immigrants -— Asian-Americans, Latinos, African-Americans and Native American artists, she said.
A series of exhibitions, educational programs, public events and community projects, Transcultural NJ will take place at venues throughout the state ranging from classrooms to museums, beginning in mid-December and running through 2004.
Arising out of the Office for Intercultural Initiatives at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, Transcultural NJ aims to examine how the contributions of the ethnic artists, who are not represented in the cultural mainstream, are reshaping that mainstream in communities throughout New Jersey.
Objectives are: to develop exhibitions on the achievements of ethnic artists; to interpret and map New Jersey’s shifting demographics; to foster cross-cultural dialogue that leads to better understanding of the state’s diverse communities; and to research and document new artistic narratives that are redefining the American cultural mainstream.
As she began an outreach to identify diverse artists, Ficarra found that museum exhibits largely reflect the work of mainstream artists and that artists of diverse ethnic backgrounds, particularly the "second wave" of immigrants to the United States, are not well represented.
What’s more, curators at some museums she contacted were unaware of immigrant and diverse artists who were working in their communities.
"It’s been an eye-opener; there have been instances when I have been talking to a museum about diverse artists who live in their town who they didn’t know about — right in their midst," she said.
Ficarra’s primary role is that of liaison for the multifaceted project. As coordinator, she is a hub for the project’s 20 participating museums and the diverse artists whose works will be represented.
In addition, she is coordinating with essayists, scholars and curators who will write essays for a two-volume publication, Transcultural New Jersey: Diverse Artists Shaping Culture and Communities, that will document the initiative.
A returning student who earned a degree at Douglass College after raising her family, Ficarra has taken on another role she may not have anticipated — overseeing the Web site, www.transculturalNJ.org, scheduled to be up and running by Nov. 1.
The arts initiative, she explained recently, was inspired by data collected in the 2000 U.S. Census.
"Transcultural NJ was spurred by the 2000 Census which showed a tremendous rise in ethnic populations in New Jersey," she said.
The Census showed a 71 percent increase in the Asian community, a 39 percent increase in Latinos, and a 15 percent increase in the African-American community, she said, and recent figures indicate the Latino population as of 2002 is even higher.
That data generated interest among arts groups, Ficarra said, and led to discussions between Isabel Nazario, director of Rutgers’ Office of Intercultural Initiatives, and Jeffrey Wexler, senior curator of the Zimmerli Museum, New Brunswick.
The two looked at the rise in these populations and the under representation of artists from those ethnic backgrounds in museums and galleries.
"Often times they’re overlooked by galleries, and that’s the only way they come to the public eye. As a result, they’re not recognized by curators," Ficarra explained. "The challenge is how do they get their work out? Also, many can’t afford to be full-time artists and to market themselves."
The new demographics presented a challenge for Ficarra, who had to use alternate methods in her quest to identify artists from the ethnic groups included in the project.
"A lot of these folk artists don’t consider themselves artists, so if you put out a call for artists, they don’t recognize it as such," she explained. "So you find them by being referred from one person to another."
In addition, Ficarra tapped various arts groups like the Monmouth County Arts Council, the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, and the folk life program of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Another resource was a registry compiled by the Center for Latino Art at Rutgers University that provided names of Latino artists. As a result of the project, the registry has been expanded to include African-American, Asian-American and Native American artists.
And, she expects to discover more artists as a result of the initiative.
Ficarra came up with a cross spectrum of ethnic artists — some established and some unknown — including men and women of all ages, working in mediums including fiber arts, painting, sculpture, installation art and video.
But Transcul-tural NJ isn’t just a year’s worth of exhibits of ethnic art, Ficarra noted, because some diverse artists create art that fits within the mainstream, while some artists of European descent assimilate ethnic elements into their work.
"It shows how these groups impact on each other, that’s transculturation," she explained. "It’s more than multiculturalism, which is an acknowledgment of other ethnic groups.
"This project is putting all of these groups together and looking at them as a whole and their impact on each other."
As part of the initiative, Ficarra is curating "Exploring Cultures and Memories Through the Fiber Arts," an exhibit of quilts created over a 15-year period by classes of ESL (English as a second language) students as a learning tool that will open at the Monmouth Museum on the campus of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft next July.
In total, 20 exhibits will take place at museums, galleries and libraries beginning in December at the Paul Robeson Gallery at Rutgers and culminating next fall.
Themes will range from an exhibit contrasting art created by new immigrants with works by immigrants who have lived in America for a long time to an exploration of the connection between the art of Latino, African-American, Asian-American, Native American and Middle Eastern-American women.
The project’s educational component aims to foster curriculum development on all levels that includes the history of the state’s multicultural communities, she explained. Programs will take place at each institution as well as in the classroom.
Transcultural NJ will enrich our communities by expanding the boundaries of mainstream art, predicted Ficarra.
"It will give us a better appreciation of the work created by these artists that reflects on their heritage. It will foster tolerance.
"I don’t think we’ve even begun to understand what an impact this initiative will have in terms of communities and their awareness being developed," added Ficarra, "of art, of traditions of various cultures and the artists in our midst."