The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission created an Arts Advisory Board to promote the arts within the district at the July 14 commissioners’ meeting.
“We need to do a better job tapping into our cultural assets,” said NJMC Chairwoman Susan Bass-Levin. “We need to harness that to make living in the Meadowlands even more enjoyable and to attract the added benefit of dollars that come with cultural tourism.”
The board will have a representative from each town. Towns will be able to lead and advise each other in projects that might include public art in parks, local artists displaying their work in town halls, or turning a room into a gallery.
NJMC Spokesman Chris Gale stressed that the specific function of the board will unfold as the board takes shape later in the summer.
Art rounds out Meadowlands activities
The Arts Advisory Board is the next in a series of initiatives to regionalize projects within the 14 towns of the Meadowlands District and to help them work together.
“The idea is that we’ve addressed issues of environmental education, and arts is something we haven’t tackled yet,” said Gale. “There is a strong arts community in the district and the areas next to the district. It’s something to take into account when creating a vision of the future.”
The NJMC was created in 1969 as a state-level zoning agency, then called the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission. When Gov. James McGreevey introduced the smart growth initiative last year, the Meadowlands became a focal point for regional planning.
The NJMC controls zoning for parts of 14 towns, creating a large region meant to be developed where appropriate and preserved where appropriate.
Recent projects include the redevelopment of the Continental Arena site into the Xanadu family entertainment center and the Encap Golf Redevelopment project, which will cap dangerous landfills in Lyndhurst will create shopping and entertainment hubs.
A recent initiative involving the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and environmental groups focused on eco-tourism, an effort to bring visitors and consumers to the district to experience the environmental sites. The NJMC also partnered up with Ramapo College to create educational training opportunities teaching students. The arts initiative was created to allow the 14 towns to work together and to work with the NJMC to create or implement arts projects.
The board will have 16 members – one appointed representative from each town, one representative from the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, and one from the environmental community.
“They will get together and compare notes as to where things can improve,” said Gale. “The initial part of this project is the cross-pollination of ideas.”
Gale said that one of the goals of the board is to enable the NJMC to take an active role in promoting the arts in district towns without imposing their own vision. “We want them to set the agenda,” said Gale.
Gale said that in hosting art events, “townships need to be aware of issues such as insurance, lighting, security, and scheduling. The Arts Advisory Board can serve as a clearinghouse for what arts activities are happening in the district. You can produce a pamphlet to list all the arts events going on.”
Bass-Levin created an Arts Board in Cherry Hill in 1988 when she was mayor of that town.
“My experience as a former mayor of Cherry Hill taught me about the importance of the arts as a tool to do that,” said Bass-Levin. “I know it’s unusual for an agency like ours to be involved with the arts, but we should be.”
NJMC art projects Since 2002, artwork has been displayed in the Flyway Gallery of the NJMC headquarters in Lyndhurst. The Flyway Gallery is the enclosed causeway that leads to the Marsh View Pavillion, which lies in the middle of the water. Currently, there is a watercolor and aqua media exhibit by Cliffside Park artist Sanders Rabinowitz called “Wrapped-Up in Raptors and Birds of a Feather,” on display until August 25, 2004.
In April, the NJMC approved $100,000 to put together a committee led by a representative of the New Jersey Arts Council to commission a sculpture for the NJMC headquarters at Dekorte Park in Lyndhurst.