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For Immediate Release
March 23, 2005
Media Contact
- Allison Tratner
- 609.292.4524
- allison@arts.sos.state.nj.us
State Arts Council Announces Great Things Begin With Vision: The New Jersey State Governor's Conference on the Arts April 7 & 8, 2005
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins to be Keynote Speaker
(TRENTON, NJ – March 23, 2005) The New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA), on behalf of its planning partners, has announced that the New Jersey Governor’s Conference on the Arts will be held in Trenton, New Jersey on April 7th and 8th, 2005 at the NJN television studios and nearby locations. Entitled “Great Things Begin With Vision,” and co-partnered with The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJN Foundation, NJ Theatre Alliance and ArtPRIDE NJ Foundation, the conference will bring together arts and civic leaders and others for two days of discussions intended to refresh Arts Plan New Jersey, the overarching blueprint for a better New Jersey through the arts, first adopted in 1998.
Acting Governor Richard J. Codey will participate in the conference and Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate (2003-05), America’s most widely-known poet, will deliver a keynote address.
NJSCA Chair Carol Herbert explains, “Since its adoption in 1998 after a three-year planning process, Arts Plan New Jersey has brought together thousands of individuals and leaders from all walks of life both to implement the plan and great things have been accomplished. However, the world has changed greatly in the last six years. Consumer behaviors have changed since the tragic events of 9/11. Technology has advanced far more rapidly than we can keep pace. In order to remain relevant we must re-examine Arts Plan New Jersey in the context of 2005, looking toward the future.”
Over the past several months, scores of leaders from a broad array of fields and professions have been engaged in the planning process. They have reviewed the original Arts Plan and have outlined new goals, objectives, strategies, partnerships, performance measures and value statements in each of five established theme areas: Arts Education, Artists’ Services, Arts Access and Participation, Community and Economic Development Through the Arts, and Technology and the Arts. This work establishes the basis for the conference and its goal of consensus building, along with that of a sixth group exploring the challenges that will be faced by the arts community.
The conference will begin on Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey will host a special reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Masonic Temple in Trenton, at which he will honor “New Jersey Jazz Masters” nationally recognized jazz greats and New Jersey residents Slide Hampton and Paquito d’Rivera.
The conference will continue on Friday, April 8th with members of the Governor’s Cabinet participating in breakfast roundtable discussions at 8 a.m. Poet Billy Collins will deliver the keynote address at 10:00 a.m. Facilitated discussions on implementation strategies to further build the arts community and connect it to the broader civic agenda will continue until the Conference closes at 4:00 p.m.
Anyone with an interest in partnering with the arts is urged to register and participate in this groundbreaking conference, but seating is limited. To register for “Great Things Begin With Vision: The New Jersey Governor’s Conference on the Arts,” visit the Arts Plan New Jersey website at www.artsplannj.org. The cost is $65 per person for the complete conference, $25 to attend only the Governor’s Reception on Thursday, April 7. Registration deadline is Friday, April 1, 2005.
In addition to the support of the Conference sponsors, The New Jersey Governor’s Conference on the Arts has also received generous funding from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb, S. Dillard Kirby, PSE&G, Princeton Social Capital, the Karma Foundation and Amper, Politziner & Mattia. The sponsors also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Wallace Foundation through its START grant to the Arts Council.
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