Community Calendar

The mission of the Museum of American Glass at WheatonArts is to preserve and continue the tradition of glassblowing in South Jersey. The Museum gathers historical artifacts and contemporary artworks tied into the South Jersey glass tradition and the WheatonArts Glass Studio in its acquisitions. The Collecting & Connecting exhibit displays a variety of techniques, concepts, and materials, including glass gramophone horns, biological materials encased in glass, and artisan glass directly from South Jersey designers. These recent acquisitions help expand the Museum's current collection and our understanding of glass history and provide insight as to where the future of glass is heading. Open April through December 2022. For current hours, tickets, and visitor guidelines, visit https://www.wheatonarts.org/tickets/.

In the WheatonArts Down Jersey Folklife Center, this exhibition provides a visual comparison between traditional textiles of two indigenous communities of Latin America—the Chilean Mapuche people and the Guatemalan Maya. Both Mapuche and Maya artists create artworks about identity and cultural heritage in a modern interconnected world, weaving ancestral knowledge and wisdom into present-day ways of life. The story of the spider who taught the first woman how to weave in the mythological past is present in both cultures. Many designs and motifs are interpreted in similar ways. However, the creative process reflects differences in techniques and materials employed in the two different geographic regions. Revealed in the exhibition are the complex characters of Mapuche and Mayan garments with weaving patterns interpreted in the context of a broad spectrum of regional, social, ritual, and aesthetic meanings and viewed from the perspective of our shared humanity. The exhibition also features Chilean horsehair (crin) miniatures of religious and secular objects—flowers, animals, or human figures—that aim to engage viewers in a conversation about the dynamics of living traditions over time, their social, artistic, and ritual messages conveyed by the artworks and by the nature of the creative process. For current hours, tickets, and visitor guidelines, visit https://www.wheatonarts.org/tickets/ Developed in partnership with the Embassy of Chile to the United States, the Foundation of the Folk and Traditional Artists in Chile, the “Friends of the Ixchel Museum” (FOIM), and local collectors and artists.

Catch the next generation of great jazz artists from right here in New Jersey. This annual concert event, co-presented by NJPAC’s Arts Education Department and the New Jersey Music Educators Association, brings together some of the very best young musicians and vocalists from across the state for a dynamic group performance. The NJMEA All-State Jazz Band and NJMEA All-State Jazz Choir will be joined by special guest Christian McBride—NJPAC Jazz Advisor and acclaimed jazz bassist, bandleader and composer.

It’s impossible to sit still when Issac Delgado and Alain Perez take the stage. They won a 2021 GRAMMY® for their platinum album Cha Cha Chá: Homenaje a lo tradicional, and now they’re bringing their dazzling style of salsa and jazz to NJPAC. Issac Delgado is one of Cuba’s most famous salsa and timba vocalists, best known as the lead singer of ‘80s group NG La Banda. Alain Perez is an exceptionally versatile multi-instrumentalist forging new paths in modern Cuban jazz. The duo will have you on your feet as they honor the musical traditions that came before, and dance fearlessly toward the future.

Bethany Baptist Church hosts a free screening of the jazz documentary Oscar Peterson: Black + White. The film explores the life and music of Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, told through rare archival footage and interviews with jazz greats including Jon Batiste, Herbie Hancock and Branford Marsalis. Jazz aficionados won’t want to miss this story of a young piano prodigy turned legendary icon, directed by Barry Avrich (Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art, The Talented Mr. Rosenberg). Join us at Bethany Baptist Church, 275 W Market Street, Newark, New Jersey.

NEA Jazz Master Maria Schneider returns to NJPAC with her genre-defying orchestra. Widely acclaimed for her sophisticated large-ensemble recordings, Schneider is a gifted arranger and composer whose highly original work often blurs the lines between post-bop, classical and the avant-garde. Her GRAMMY® winning albums include 2005’s Concert in the Garden, 2008’s Sky Blue, and 2015’s The Thompson Fields. Schneider’s dedicated passion for artist’s rights informed her GRAMMY® winning album Data Lords, which was also a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize.

NEA Jazz Master Maria Schneider returns to NJPAC with her genre-defying orchestra. Widely acclaimed for her sophisticated large-ensemble recordings, Schneider is a gifted arranger and composer whose highly original work often blurs the lines between post-bop, classical and the avant-garde. Her GRAMMY® winning albums include 2005’s Concert in the Garden, 2008’s Sky Blue, and 2015’s The Thompson Fields. Schneider’s dedicated passion for artist’s rights informed her GRAMMY® winning album Data Lords, which was also a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize.

With Rakim, Speech, Chuck D, Nikki Giovanni, jessica Care moore, Ravi Coltrane, Mayor Ras Baraka, The Last Poets, Javon Jackson and Christian McBride Situation

Christian McBride – Musical Director

For one unmissable night, NJPAC’s City Verses program unites the leading voices in jazz, hip hop and poetry. The legendary lineup includes hip hop stars Rakim (Paid in Full), Speech (Arrested Development), and Chuck D (Public Enemy); award-winning poets and spoken word performers Nikki Giovanni, jessica Care moore, Ravi Coltrane, Mayor Ras Baraka, and The Last Poets (Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, and Babadon Babatunde); Musical Director (and NJPAC Jazz Advisor) Christian McBride and the Christian McBride Situation. We’ll also celebrate the young poets who have participated in City Verses this year, and hear some of their incredible original work. Blaring horns and baring souls, these masterful artists exclaim their vision of justice, change, and joy.

This program is made possible by NJPAC and Rutgers-Newark’s City Verses: Elevating Voices through Jazz and Poetry initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This unique partnership between NJPAC and Rutgers University-Newark celebrates the rich historical connection between jazz and poetry, creates opportunities for public engagement, strengthens community ties through the arts, amplifies the authentic voices of the people of Greater Newark, and engages a new generation of poets, jazz musicians and teaching artists.

Join us for another edition of Dorthaan’s Place, the legendary jazz brunch series curated by Newark’s First Lady of Jazz, Dorthaan Kirk.

Kick back with a mimosa, NICO’s mouth-watering brunch menu and the Vanessa Rubin Trio. Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, Vanessa’s voice exudes crystalline clarity, hearth-like warmth and playful lioness sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to the microphone, including the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother, traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father, and her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like the Supremes.

There are two brunch seatings to choose from: 11am (performance begins at 11:30 am) or 1pm (performance begins at 1:30 pm). Dorthaan’s Place will sell out! Purchase your ticket now!

Comic bubble artist Casey Carl brings us his amazing one-man show combining spontaneous comedy, Jazzy music and, of course, brilliant bubbling!