I was heartened to read a wonderful piece in last week’s Hoboken Reporter about the artist alliance HOBART, a group courageously fighting to keep the arts alive and pulsating in the mile square city. Of course it was artists who first discovered Hoboken back in the late 1970’s, then a decayed city synonymous with urban blight, and infused it with the energy, hipness, and life that sowed the seeds for its revival. Now, these same artists who helped re-invent Hoboken couldn’t afford the price of a studio in town.
Hudson county could learn a lesson from the poor planning in New York’s SoHo-once a cutting-edge artistic community that hummed with a “place to be” vibe, now a slick consumerist mall more likely to draw Euro-trash, shallow strivers, empty-headed models, and armies of the suburban “psuedo-hip”-cell phones glued to their ears-who think the Gap is a cultural attraction. Is this what Hoboken aspires to?
Indeed when strolling down Washington St. one wishes there were more bookstores, art galleries, and cutting-edge cafes interspersed between the retail and restaurants. It would certainly break up the blandness, and create pockets of genuine sidewalk community among the glazed-eyed. Kudos to Symposia Bookstore for paving the way with its wide variety of artistic and community-building projects: open-mic poetry, space for Hoboken artists (including students) to display their work, a digital film club, a weekday morning offering for toddlers, and even a meeting for senior citizens.
Teachers, too, could be taking better advantage of artistic offerings near their schools. Though student visits to the once vibrant gallery at 111 First street in Jersey City are no longer possible (since unthinking politicians allowed a greedy developer to destroy this thriving bastion of the arts), caring teachers can still expose inner-city youth to paintings and sculpture at Hoboken’s Monroe Street Arts Center, or theatre and modern dance at Steven’s DeBaun auditorium. And let’s all free our imaginations to ponder the possibilities for Union City’s best kept secret: The Park Theatre on 32nd street, which might be buzzing year round with a variety of theatre, music and dance projects written and performed by local artists-including student writers and performers.
Speaking of Union City, I see a glorious opportunity here not to repeat the mistakes of Jersey City, and create a thriving haven for the arts that’s supported and nurtured by thoughtful government. Imagine if you will the energy, imagination, and hope that would be unleashed in this ethnically diverse wonderland if a mixture of bookstores, art galleries and poetry cafes broke up the monotony of clothing shops, liquor stores, and nail salons on Bergenline avenue? My guess is that student’s test scores would immediately shoot up, since children learn as much-if not more-from what’s around them in the community as they do at school.
If you’d like to start a task force to implement these ideas, my number is 201.792.0085, or email jfbredin@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time.
John Bredin