downtowner Trenton’s City Paper
February 2024 | communitynews.org
Tapping into Creativity Trenton Arts at Princeton celebrates five years bringing music, movement, and more to Trenton youth. Page 3 TDA offers its vision for 2024, page 2; Hip Hop history on the Passage Theater stage, page 6.
STATE OF THE CITY Trenton Downtown Association’s vision for 2024 Bryan Evans, chair of the TDA, sent the following letter to the community outlining the nonprofits goals and plans for the new year.
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s we enter a new year, we are passionate and steadfast in our commitment to revitalizing downtown Trenton. Our vision is to craft a cleaner, safer, and incredibly inviting downtown for all community members. We fully understand the enormity of this task, and we recognize that the challenges ahead are complex and impact everyone who lives, works, and plays downtown. Achieving this transformative journey requires meticulous planning, collaborative spirit, unwavering support, innovative ideas, and, above all, empathy. While these words may sound familiar, let’s celebrate the many tangible actions that brought a significant and positive change in the past year. The Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) poured its heart and soul into empowering the TDA “Clean Team” with the necessary resources and support to carry out its mission. We’ve expanded the team and
Bryan Evans is chairman of the Trenton Downtown Association’s board. brought on board an experienced inhouse operations manager to enhance their efforts. This is fantastic news for our diligent Clean Team, who dedicated over 6,500 service hours, collected more than 17,000 trash bags, and performed more than 18,000 public amenity cleanings within our Special Improvement District. If you happen to cross paths with a member of the TDA Clean Team in your neighborhood, please extend a warm greeting and take a moment to admire their smart new TDA-branded uniforms. Last year, we disseminated information across all TDA platforms in our relentless pursuit of reducing illegal dumping and improving trash and recycling management. This was, and continues
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Trenton Arts at Princeton celebrates fifth anniversary By Rebekah Schroeder
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ith Trenton Arts at Princeton, founder Lou Chen tapped into a project right on the rhythmic pulse of understanding between Trenton and Princeton. When he launched the Trenton Youth Orchestra in partnership with Trenton Central High School while still a student at Princeton University in spring 2017, cultivating a small group of Trenton violinists and Princeton volunteers who would set the stage for a new alliance, Chen sounded the first beat in a now-fiveyear symphony of artistic synergy. Chen is the program manager of Trenton Arts at Princeton, or TAP, a collaboration between Princeton University’s Department of Music, Lewis Center for the Arts, and Pace Center for Civic Engagement that brings Trenton and Princeton University students together for artsbased programming and performances. After Chen graduated in 2019 with his bachelor’s degree in music, former University Provost Deborah Prentice hired him to officially continue the program he had begun as a sophomore into what became known as TAP — making the Trenton Youth Orchestra, or TYO, the overture to TAP’s now-expansive artistic initiative. Now, as the organization’s fifth anniversary approaches, TAP will celebrate with an arts education panel this month and a showcase in April honoring the
to be, part of our broader strategy to keep the front of businesses free from unsightly refuse. The aesthetic appeal of downtown Trenton received a delightful facelift with the introduction of new spring and fall plantings, festive holiday decorations, pole banners, and upgraded façades for several businesses. In 2023, we breathed new life into the TDA Grant Façade Program, now offering eligible businesses up to $5,000 for façade and signage improvements. If you’re curious about this opportunity, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. As of January 2024, there’s still up to $20,000 in available funding. We recently introduced the TDA Start-Up Grant, a valuable resource for budding businesses in our district. The goal is to reduce the burden of start-up costs and reduce retail vacancies in our district by providing up to $5,000 per applicant for eligible start-up costs. Learn more about this exciting opportunity by contacting us or visiting our website. Our communication efforts have expanded, aiming to keep stakeholders and community members well-informed
relationship between the two Mercer County creative communities. The TYO, which Chen still directing, is one of four groups included in TAP’s Saturday Morning Arts Program, or SMArts, which rehearses each week from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lewis Arts Complex: the Trenton Youth Orchestra, Singers, Dancers, and Theater. In addition to being able to devote these three-hour sessions to the discipline of their choice, Trenton students are guaranteed free transportation to and from rehearsals, as well as breakfast and lunch. Each Saturday session opens with a performance by a Princeton student group and a Q&A session before SMArts participants break into their respective groups. “Every Saturday, we bus 70 Trenton Public School students to the Lewis Arts Complex to engage in theater, dance, orchestra, or choral programming, supported by a team of about 60 Princeton student volunteers,” as well as staff and faculty members, Chen explained. The active collaboration between the two locales has been “gratifying,” Chen, who was awarded the 2023 Tiger Entrepreneur Award last year for his efforts, shared in an interview. TYO is open to students at both Trenton Central High School, or TCHS, and Trenton Ninth Grade Academy, or TNGA. Trenton musicians can practice and even work one-on-one with their Princeton student coaches to rehearse pieces in a myriad of genres and compo-
sitional styles in the Lee Rehearsal Room. TYO previously performed for Venezuelan conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel as part of his welcome to campus in December 2019, when he arrived as Princeton University Concerts’ inaugural Artist-in-Residence in recognition of its 125th anniversary. Dudamel is co-chair of the Dudamel Foundation, which “expands access to music and the arts for young people by providing opportunities and resources to shape their creative futures,” an idea influenced in part by his personal experience with Venezuela’s famous “El Sistema” program, known for “promoting social development through music education.” TYO then worked with PUC on a new outreach program, the “Neighborhood Music Project,” which was “conceived to reinforce Maestro Dudamel’s commitment to music as a force for uniting communities, empowering young people, and promoting positive social change” by supporting six different initiatives to expand access to the arts and music in Trenton. Trenton Youth Singers, or TYS, came next, serving TCHS and TNGA, as well as Trenton middle schools such as Hedgepeth-Williams Intermediate School and Arthur J. Holland Middle School—also known as all four of TAP’s institutional partners. According to the TAP website, trentonarts.princeton.edu, “TYS members engage in a mixture of full choir and
about crucial topics: downtown developments, available funding and application procedures, new business ventures, TDA services, additional resources, and accessible avenues. We’ve utilized flyers, postcards, and newsletters and are actively engaged through our social media platforms and website. Our communication endeavors will continue to grow in the coming year with the exciting addition of a new digital platform. We are thrilled to announce the installation of innovative digital wayfinding kiosks thoughtfully placed throughout the district in early January. Each kiosk includes a district map with critical attractions marked, an events calendar, a news feed, and a space for announcements. What makes these digital signs truly special is their 100% solar-powered nature and ease of updating. TDA’s commitment to promoting local artists and nurturing our vibrant creative community remains unwavering. Last spring we installed nine Seward Johnson Atelier sculptures, followed by a successful, docent-led walking tour. Looking ahead to 2024, we’re gearing
up for a new public art installation. Stay tuned for more exciting developments! What’s more, we’re delighted to share our plans for acquiring a dedicated vehicle for the Clean Team, which will enhance their mobility and equipment transport capabilities. We are also eagerly anticipating the arrival of several new businesses in 2024, including Trenton’s first official cannabis dispensary and a new coffee shop and cafe, both located on South Warren Street. While we savor the vibrancy on South Warren, we acknowledge the pressing need to ignite positive change in other parts of the district, particularly the vicinity of State and Broad Streets. TDA remains firmly committed to partnering with the City of Trenton and various nonprofit organizations, including those focused on mental health. Our aim is not only to seek compassionate solutions to complex problems but also to secure the resources needed for their success. We are fully aware of the challenges in making these spaces safe and inviting, but we view this as the cornerstone of revitalizing and rejuvenating
Lou Chen is the founder of Trenton Arts at Princeton. small group singing with their Princeton student coaches, learning an eclectic mix of repertoire while building their musicianship skills, vocal strength, and confidence,” with free private lessons available and SMArts rehearsals held in the Lewis Arts Complex Forum. Both TYO and TYS hold annual recitals and showcases. Trenton Youth Dancers, or TYD, is a dance program for TCHS and TNGA that aims “to educate Trenton students in a wide variety of dance styles so that they are equipped to develop their own choreography” through workshops and rehearsals at the Roberts Dance Studio. Trenton Youth Theater, or TYT, is the final SMArts group, providing students
See TAP, page 4 our entire district. Through our supplemental police program, we’ve enlisted an additional offduty police officer to provide robust support for our businesses, and we’ve also installed security cameras to enhance safety measures. None of this would be possible without the incredible dedication and passionate support of our engaged Board members. Join me in welcoming our newest members: Dr. Gonzalo Perez, Quayshaun Williams, and Rob Willborn. With these collective endeavors and an unshakable resolve, I am confident that 2024 will be a year of transformation for downtown Trenton, bringing us closer to our vision of a vibrant, inclusive, and thriving community that benefits one and all. As we embark on this exciting journey, I extend my warmest wishes for a Happy New Year, filled with positive transformations. For more information on the Trenton Downtown Association, visit www.trenton-downtown.com.
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TAP, continued from page 3
from TCHS and TNGA with an educational experience that encompasses theater arts skills such as directing, acting, lighting design, and more, “inspired by Princeton’s holistic approach to theater.” Over the course of the program, members will eventually produce their own original theater works with support from their Princeton student coaches. Weekly rehearsals are held at the Godfrey-Kerr Theater Studio and Light Lab. Another facet of TAP is the Trenton Arts Fellowship, which allows five Princeton students interested in arts education to participate in paid leadership roles, at least one for each SMArts group, for Saturday rehearsals. They also meet throughout the week to coordinate and invite guest speakers. Applications for the 2024–25 Trenton Arts Fellowship will open in the summer of 2024. But in a two-pronged approach to the anniversary, Chen has designated equal opportunities for both the communitycentered dialogue and performance that make TAP truly unique. He will moderate TAP’s upcoming “Performance, Policy, and Pedagogy: A Conversation About Arts Education” event, which invites four “thought leaders” to discuss the state of arts education on Tuesday, February 13, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Taplin Auditorium’s Fine Hall. These speakers include Anne Fitzgibbon, the founder and executive director of the Harmony Program nonprofit organization; Baffour Osei, the manager of Princeton University’s new robotics lab in the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Engineering Quadrangle; Anna Yu Wang, a music theorist, ethnographer, and assistant professor of music who joined the Princeton faculty in November of last year; and Elizabeth Zwierzynski, the acting supervisor of visual and performing arts and partnerships for Trenton Public Schools. True to the collaborative spirit of arts education, a whopping 18 campus partners came together to sponsor the event, including the Keller Center, McCarter Theatre, Princeton Entrepreneurship Council, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton Innovation, Princeton University Concerts, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and more. The event is free to attend, with no ticket or prior registration required for entry. For more information, see the events page on the TAP website, trentonarts.princeton.edu/events. “I think it does feel like a very appropriate way to celebrate our 5th anniversary. One, because TAP has always embraced a very interdisciplinary approach to the arts. Every year, we host an Arts Switcheroo Day for our students, where the
Trenton Youth Orchestra performs at the SMArts winter 2023 showcase. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski. theater students try out dance, the dance students try out singing,” and so on, Chen explained. “Oftentimes, conversations about the arts are siloed into ‘we’re going to do a conversation with dancers,’ and then ‘a conversation with musicians,’ but to bring them together, inspired by Princeton’s very uniquely interdisciplinary approach to the arts.” Fitzgibbon, the self-described “social entrepreneur” behind the Harmony Program, is a Princeton graduate and experienced nonprofit leader who first met Chen about five years ago on a music education panel with Dudamel. Since their friendship was founded on such a similar topic, Chen decided that she would be a worthwhile addition to the conversation. Fitzgibbon started the Harmony Program in 2003 as a policy administrator for the New York City Mayor’s Office and incorporated the nonprofit the following year. She was even awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 2007 to study the same “El Sistema” youth orchestra system that Dudamel did, and Fitzgibbon brought those principles back to New York City. According to its website, the Harmony Program provides young people in underserved communities “with free, intensive musical training with the goal of supporting their healthy social development and academic achievement” that prioritizes both “community-based instruction and the social value of ensemble learning.” As the Harmony Program’s online mission and impact page continues, the group’s outreach has brought musical education resources to “over 7,000” children, with an estimated more than 3,000 active participants at 20 sites across five boroughs. Zwierzynski was the founding dance educator at the TCHS Visual and Performing Arts Academy, or TCHS-VPA, one of five small learning communities that make up the TCHS campus. She laid the foundation for the school’s dance curriculum before taking on a new role
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overseeing the visual and performing arts programming of the entire district school system. Trenton teacher partners like Zwierzynski, who was also instrumental in helping Chen start TYD, work together with TAP on programming and engaging students. “She’s a brilliant, brilliant thinker and a dear friend, so I thought [about] bringing someone from Trenton into the fold alongside Anna Yu Wang, who’s a scholar of music who just joined the faculty [and] specializes in making music pedagogy more accessible, or Baffour Osei, who brings the STEAM perspective of someone who develops makerspaces around the world that encourage students to create visual art out of 3D printers. It’s a very diverse group of people that I think will have a really interesting conversation,” Chen said. “Each of them brings such a unique perspective.” He noted that this lineup of speakers consciously embraces the diverse disciplinary strengths of its speakers from across the realm of arts education: incorporating public schooling and dance from Zwierzynski; music, public policy, and the nonprofit sector from Fitzgibbon; scholarly music analysis and pedagogy from Wang; and science and engineering from Osei. “I have a couple of hopes for the audience. The first is to realize how general principles of pedagogy transfer to everything. The way you teach visual arts is also the way you would teach dance and music, but also the way you would teach science,” Chen explained. “We’re going to be speaking about general themes about how to create a culture or an environment of creative vulnerability. I think that has a lot of relevance to any discipline, especially when engaging a lot of first-generation low-income students,” he continued. “When you want to create an environment that is tailor-made to their needs and wants, it requires a lot
of intentionality, and those are questions that I think all four of the panelists have been thinking a lot about.” He is also looking forward to hearing how Zwierzynski and Fitzgibbon acknowledge the significance of policy in the conversation, adding that many Princeton students may not quite realize or “understand how nitty-gritty arts education policy can get at the district level.” Chen emphasized the importance of knowing that major decisions are regularly made in school board meetings and by people elected to positions of power, reinforcing the value of both attention and attendance as a way to advocate for funding the arts. “I think politics becomes so nationalized in general that we don’t realize how essential local government is,” he said. “Who you vote for school board will dictate how good your child’s orchestra program is going to be, so having an understanding about localized centers of power and what it actually takes to get a program off the ground within a public school system—or in [Fitzgibbon’s] case, outside of it, but directly in collaboration with it—I think will be a useful lesson for Princeton students who often maybe don’t understand what it takes to get an idea off the ground.” In a transition from pedagogy to performance, TAP’s “Saturday Morning Arts Fifth Anniversary Showcase” takes the program to its largest venue yet with a concert in Richardson Auditorium’s Alexander Hall on Saturday, April 6, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. “To be in Richardson Auditorium is an incredible honor. That’s an auditorium that houses professional orchestras and concert series, so to be able to use it is, I think, going to be a real culmination of effort for our students,” Chen said. “The showcase is going to be special in the abstract because it really is a beautiful culmination of the program, which has grown very quickly in a very short amount of time.” The event consists of two premieres, the first being a TAP-produced documentary film about SMArts with perspectives from the people who made it happen, including Zwierzynski, while the second is a collaborative performance involving—for the first time—all four SMArts groups. Over an exclusively arranged medley of songs by artists like Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, the orchestra will make history as they play their instruments, the choir sings, the dancers execute choreography, and the theater group delivers monologues over music. Chen said that the SMArts groups are eager to show the public what the program has been working on so they can encourage people to “be invested in the next five years.” “It’s a very ambitious collaboration. I
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Passage show celebrates the hip hop artistry of Poor Righteous Teachers By Dan Aubrey
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assage Theater in Trenton has been marking the 50th anniversary of the creation of hip hop by developing a new stage work based on the artistry of Trenton’s own hip hop trio, Poor Righteous Teachers. The group featuring Wise Intelligence (aka Timothy Grimes), Culture Freedom (Kerry Williams), and Father Shaheed (Scott Phillips) formed in 1989. The first of their socially conscious albums was the 1990 “Holy Intellect,” which also included one of their most noted songs, “Rock Dis Funky Joint.” They followed with three additional albums: “Pure Poverty” (1991), “Black Business”(1993), and “New World Order” (1996). According to Star-Ledger music critic Tris McCall, Poor Righteous Teachers was part of the early ’90s New Jersey hiphop explosion, a period when “it was possible for a parochial fan to imagine that the Garden State was becoming the center of the rap universe.” The trio toured nationally and internationally with listings up to 2009. Then, Father Shaheed died in a motorcycle accident in 2014. The Passage project, called “Ghetto Gods in Divineland,” is set to debut from February 8 to 25, the project started in late August when Wise Intelligence and Culture Freedom came to the Mill Hill Theater in Trenton to have a public discussion with Trenton community activist Darren Freedom Green about their art and hip hop. The following excerpts are based on the conversation and have been edited for flow and brevity. Green: Growing up in Trenton what inspired your creativity? Culture: I’d like to start with my mother, food, and music. She was a chef to me, and I would enjoy her cuisine. She had vast record collection of soul and jazz. She would connect ourselves through
Wise, left, Culture, and Darren Green on the Passage Theater stage. music. She would sing lyrics. She was subconsciously passing things in our mind. The kitchen was one of the places I felt connected to her. Whenever I’m in the kitchen, I feel connected to her. Wise: My inspiration was (the DJS), at the block parties. We’d stand next to the speakers. Trenton has been my inspiration from the beginning — on every level. Green: How has hip hop changed? Wise: Hip hop hasn’t changed. It still delivers and is relevant as it is today. What is only allowed now is what mainstream media dictates it is. Mainstream media that has pushed a particular narrative on the public: Sex, murder, is that narrative. Whatever happens to mainstream is in the bloodstream. But hip hop is still pushing those positive narratives and popping up with these themes. Culture: When people think of hip hop, they think of rap. But rap is the language and hip hop is the culture. Once you removed the pillars, the building will collapse. Environments shape reality, reality shapes the expression. Rap is a creative outlet. Michelangelo said a creative world is one where art is more acceptable. The art will create an environment that is better for young people for expression. B-boying, DJ-ing, and art. Hip hop hasn’t changed, but the media controls us. Wise: When hip hop began it was a
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(violence) prevention movement. That part is dropped from discussion, (the) love, peace, having fun message. The (early) crews were gang-affiliated, but they moved (to) let’s battle (with) rap, resolve conflicts without violence, move the young to positive lifestyles. Hip hop has always been positive. Hip hop has been at the front of political action. Hip hop artist do extraordinary work in the community. You have these movements in every part of the U.S. That hasn’t changed at all. Hip hop’s DNA has been to speak truth to power. We have to teach kids to control the intellectual process. Rappers should do more to bring back resources to the community that created this culture. Culture: Draw attention to social issues — women’s rights, pushing positive messages — using our voice to communicate and speak to issues. Other people realize rap and hip hop start trends. Then, you have others that make this happen, and you have the protectors of the culture. Wise: (There is also) the diversity of attitudes, lifestyles, and views. I am in this lane, but I appreciate your view. That is the diversity. As long as you love your neighbor. Once you take (the diversity of hip hop) and make it one thing, you destroy the culture. Green asks about addressing trauma and social problems. Culture: I tell them what I tell my own daughter. I treat others like family members. Parents are the most important people in their lives. I want to impact my daughter by how I treat her mother. I tried to lead by setting an example. Whatever you want to be seen as, you have to model it. The number one thing I learned is being a good listener. As fathers we want to be a super hero for our daughter, but what they want is for us to listen and give them space. If you listen, you may be able to apply wisdom. Wise: We can’t gloss over environment. The parent has to be the first teacher in the child’s life. The family has to be the first school, church. If the family is sys-
temically broken, how much can we rely on accountability and respectability? (Growing up at Donnelly Hall), I knew all these kids’ mothers, but not fathers. I didn’t know any of my friends’ fathers. Broken family, (and) the policy that broke family. Building communities of poverty. I moved in 2015 (back to) Trenton. I got pulled over (by the police) five times a month. It is because of the concentration of poverty. What can a parent do? The family is broke, what can I say to a child? Poor Righteous Teachers were lucky. We found something that we loved enough. Do what you love until it can do something for you. Culture: There is a thing in the African American people, it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community … Green: What legacy would you like to leave? Culture: I would like my life to reflect what grace and mercy could do. Every child has some kind of talent. Something they could use to elevate themselves. I never went to culinary school, but I was head chef at a university. We didn’t take any music programs, but we took our passions to move forth. I didn’t have my father, but I’ve been married for 35 years. I didn’t go to college, but my children did. When you see me, you see grace and mercy. As a group, you see unity. You can’t teach people about unity if you don’t demonstrate it. We never talk bad about another. Wise: I try to be the best human being I can be. Give back at least as much I have taken. I’m not a legacy guy. In terms of the music, I’m documenting the time (when it was created). When you find our music, I want you to say that “this” was happening at this time, it wasn’t just partying bullshit. So you should say, “These guys gave us what we needed.” Green: Final words? Wise: Hip hop has saved thousands of youths from depravity. The Bronx had to be the birth of hip hop. The youth had to learn to improvise. Hip hop should be preserved for its ability to preserve the people. It isn’t about rapping and DJing; it has been about innovation. People came and needed technologies to support what we wanted to do. Hip hop as innovation doesn’t get spoken about enough Graffiti art is on $13,000 bags. Hip hop influences potato chips. Kids don’t have to be rappers but embrace the hurdles in the lane. You don’t have to be the rappers. You can be the engineer. You can create platforms. Ghetto Gods in Divineland, Passage Theater at the Mill Hill Playhouse, February 8 through 25. $33. www.passagetheatre.org.
Capital Health
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