7/23/2020
Greetings Artworks Community,
The news around us may be sobering, something none of us can ignore, but in this COVID-19 update I do have good news to share, some exciting announcements about our 24-hour arts festival Art All Night, and our city-wide open studio tour Art All Day!
While the COVID-19 situation is encouraging in New Jersey – with the rate of infections way down and the Governor moving forward with reopening plans – it is anything but encouraging elsewhere in the country. With this in mind, and in the interest of keeping our community as safe as we can, Artworks will not physically open to the public before the end of the summer. Instead, we hope you will join us for our 24-hour all-virtual Art All Night, taking place from 3 p.m. Saturday August 15 and running online straight through to 3 p.m. Sunday August 16.
We are incredibly excited about virtual Art All Night 2020. Just about everything that artists and attendees know and love about Art All Night – the huge variety of art on display, live music, live demonstrations, the Art All Night film festival, tours, master classes and more – we will be presenting all of them online for everyone to participate in and enjoy safely on their phone or computer on August 15 and 16. Anyone can submit one work of art, as always, so get your art ready and take a good picture of it to upload! Submit your art to our digital art gallery at https://gallery.aantrenton.org/.
We hope you will support our virtual Art All Night by “attending,” but also with a donation too.. COVID-19 has hit Artworks, and our ability to maintain programming like Art All Night, hard. We have set a goal of raising $1,000 an hour over the 24 hours of virtual Art All Night 2020, $24,000 total, to help us produce and stream the virtual event, as well as support Artworks in this difficult time, helping us bring back Art All Night physically in 2021. Help us get a jump by donating now or pre-ordering your cool 2020 t-shirt at https://www.artallnighttrenton.org/
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I have more good news, this time about Art All Day, Artworks’ open studio tour and creative showcase throughout Trenton. Art All Day will be taking place on Saturday, September 19 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. and will mark our physical return and reopening to the public. And Art All Day will take place on the same day as, and in partnership with Trenton Ciclovia, the city’s annual open streets festival, marking a wonderful “Open Studios, Open Streets” joint event where we can safely enjoy art and each other again, in person.
With COVID-19 still a risk, this year Art All Day attendees will need to wear face masks and practice social distancing in order to gain access to carefully selected and staffed indoor and outdoor artist sites. Artists and attendees can get regularly updated information on Art All Day/Ciclovia 2020 on Facebook and through other media. Stay tuned!
Enjoy a safe and creative summer,
Lauren Otis
Artworks Executive Director
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5/29/20
Greetings Artworks Community,
I thank you for doing your part to keep yourselves and others safe during this time of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is still very much upon us but we have made progress towards containing the coronavirus and can begin to look towards a time of reopening and return to some semblance of normalcy. Artworks staff has already begun planning how we can return to physical exhibits and programming when it is again safe and sanctioned by the City of Trenton and State of New Jersey to do so. In the meantime, your creative spirit continues to help all of our community in these isolating times.
After much deliberation and soul-searching, Artworks has made the decision that Art All Night, our iconic arts festival which was postponed until the weekend of August 15-16 because of the coronavirus pandemic, will now become fully virtual. As uncertainty continues over when and how New Jersey will recover from COVID-19, the likelihood of holding a festival in August, in Trenton, with thousands of attendees seemed increasingly remote. We realized it was prudent to make other plans, and the more we explored the idea of a virtual event, the more we realized how exciting the possibilities were.
I know many of you will be extremely disappointed by this news, as there is really nothing which can compare to the wonderful in-person experience of Art All Night. I would like to invite you to join us as we embark on this new chapter for Art All Night. Just as each and every one of you is what collectively makes Art All Night such a wonderful event, your participation in this new virtual adventure is sure to ensure that it becomes a memorable success!
We believe that just about everything that you artists and attendees know and love about Art All Night – the huge variety of art on display, live music, live demonstrations, our film festival, children’s activities, master classes and talks – we will be able to present online for anyone and everyone to participate in and enjoy safely on August 15 and 16. Even more exciting is we will be able to provide the Art All Night experience not just to those who can travel to Trenton, but to anyone tuning in from across the country or around the world!
As we have continued to support artists since the COVID-19 lockdown began, we are particularly excited to be able to support artists and musicians through a virtual Art All Night, putting money in their pockets at this precarious time. Your generosity helps us to do so, so please consider a donation to Artworks to help us produce a virtual Art All Night. Any amount is welcome.
DONATE TODAY
Stay tuned for instructions on submitting artwork online to Art All Night, as well as submissions by music performers, filmmakers and other participants. Follow Art All Night Trenton on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check in regularly at the Art All Night Trenton website, artallnighttrenton.org, in order to receive timely updates on the new registration processes.
Thank you all for your strength and support. We’re excited to be able present a virtual Art All Night to you, enabling us all to connect and interact happily and safely as we celebrate our large, diverse and creative community in these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Lauren Otis
Executive Director
Artworks
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3/31/2020
Greetings Artworks Community,
We hope you are weathering the ongoing crisis, and looking out for yourselves and others in the way we know the best communities always do. At Artworks we know the power of art to salve the soul in difficult times, and are working on virtually presenting as much of our programming as feasible for you to enjoy in the safety of your homes. Our current Art Educators and Youth Art Month exhibitions are available to tour online, and we’ve presented participating artist interviews and related programming online too. We are developing live online art classes and enrichment to help you, your children and families through these isolating times. We are also disseminating information and resources to our artist community, helping you cope financially and professionally. Keep abreast of all we’re doing on our website and social media pages.
Our physical galleries continue to be closed to the public for the month of April, in keeping with the continuing state-wide emergency declaration. Unfortunately, this means our Art Educators and YAM receptions on April 11 will not take place. Artworks has also made the difficult decision to postpone Art All Night until the weekend of August 15-16. As circumstances evolve we will keep you posted.
Artworks is committed to continuing to pay our staff and teaching artists in this difficult time, enabling them to keep providing you and your loved-ones with much-needed programming. At the same time, our operating revenue is now down to almost zero. We ask, if you can, to please consider making a donation to Artworks, helping us defray our operating costs and continue to serve you. Anything helps, no matter how modest.
Thank you. Don’t let COVID-19 stop you from being creative (safely).
Sincerely,
Lauren Otis
Artworks Executive Director
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3/16/2020
COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: In keeping with the City of Trenton’s recently announced measures to curtail the spread of coronavirus in our community by closing recreation and cultural facilities through March 27, Artworks will also be closing our gallery space to the public through March 27.
We will post virtual tours on our Facebook page of both the Art Educators and Mercer County YAM exhibits to give you the opportunity to see these great shows of art made by Mercer County students and teachers even if you cannot visit them in person.
We wish everyone health and fortitude in these difficult times. We will post updates as circumstances evolve. Thank you.
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3/13/2020
Artworks is committed to serving our patrons in the safest possible manner at the present time of increased concern over and measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus in our community and beyond. At present our Main and Community Galleries will remain open, but all March classes and events will be postponed until April. All Art Making Day activities scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at our three partner sites (the Boys & Girls Club Centre St. Clubhouse, NJ State Museum, and Trenton Free Public Library) have been cancelled.
The receptions for the Art Educators Exhibition in the Main Gallery, and the Mercer County Youth Art Month (YAM) Exhibit in the Community Gallery, scheduled for this Saturday March 14, have been postponed until April 11. Our galleries will remain open on Saturday, March 14. and during regular gallery hours in March for visitors wanting to take in the Art Educators and YAM shows individually or in small groups.
Artworks will be regularly cleaning door handles and other surfaces, and providing hand sanitizer for gallery patrons. Our gallery space is well-suited to enjoying an art viewing experience while also maintaining the norms of social distancing required in these times of heightened public health awareness. Artworks will make further announcements if and when circumstances change.
Thank you for your understanding in working with us to ensure the safety of all of our community members. We look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely,
Lauren Otis
Executive Director
