Dear Editor:
I want to publicly thank County Executive Thomas DeGise and Hoboken Mayor David Roberts for taking the lead in lobbying on behalf of restoring arts funding for the State of New Jersey.
As the county legislator who chairs the Freeholder Board’s Cultural & Heritage Committee, I can attest that the Hoboken-Jersey City region of Hudson County bursts with talent and that a large amount of New Jersey’s artist population resides in that area of our state.
The tourism industry ranks second behind pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, and the Arts provide the backbone and drive behind why people come to the Garden State, especially urban centers like New Brunswick and Red Bank. Funding the Arts is tantamount to fueling New Jersey’s economy!
As one who has always had a deep interest in the Arts, advocating its proliferation as a quality of life issue, I first served as Mayor’s Liaison to Celebration ’82, a six-month cultural extravaganza. The brainchild of Hoboken resident Lori Fabiano Della Fave, Celebration ’82 ignited Hoboken’s arts renaissance. A thriving arts environment creates a stable and vibrant community, and is seen as making an area a desirable place in which to live and work.
For example, both Hoboken and Jersey City have successful Artists’ Studio Tours, of which the Hudson Reporter is one of the sponsors, that bring in tourists and residents alike for their self-guided walking tours. As a longstanding resident of the City of Hoboken, I have seen the migration of artists living here, out-priced due to gentrification. Those same artists then came to Jersey City seeking relief, and are now faced with the same dilemma.
Mayor Roberts has been known throughout his governmental career as always being an advocate of the Arts. Very often, his restaurant, East LA, has been a venue for fledgling local visual artists. The Mayor, as a councilman in 1990, had featured a breakfast for Barbara Russo, executive director of the Cultural Trust, along with Sharon Harrington, chair of the New Jersey Council on the Arts, to create a better awareness of Hoboken as an arts center.
David Roberts, both personally and professionally, has supported many artistic endeavors and arts organizations within the Mile Square City. As a member of the Council, Roberts initiated the reinstatement of the position of Cultural Affairs Director, placing Geri Fallo, who still operates in that capacity.
As someone who has traveled New Jersey and worked with many arts organizations over the years, Hoboken Mayor David Roberts is one of the few local officials that fully grasp the importance of developing and sustaining a dynamic and successful arts community.
Maurice Fitzgibbons
Freeholder, District 5
Former Public Relations Director
Waterloo Foundation for the Arts