Update from the FRC Education building

By John Keller, Member of FRC and Director of Education at coLAB Arts

Since moving into the second floor of the education building at FRC, coLAB Arts has been holding a series of arts and community gatherings in fellowship hall. The space has been an incredible gift to coLAB Arts and an opportunity to engage with new and diverse communities in this historic structure.

FRC and coLAB Arts played host to two outreach events in February. The first, on Thursday February 20 from 7pm-9pm FRC was a regional art networking mixer. coLAB Arts was joined by reTHINK Theatrical and Thinkery & Verse to co-create a space where artists and arts interested volunteers could gather together to learn all about what these three arts organizations do. Susan Kramer-Mills who is both a member of the FRC congregation as well as a coLAB Arts Board Member gave a great opening and welcome. The event also feature an organized “speed networking” activity which allowed the 40+ participants to get to know one another and exchange contact information. The three arts organizations also provided a little background on their upcoming projects and ways to get involved.

The second event on Monday February 24 featured a full evening of arts related programming and conversation with coLAB Arts and our partners at New Brunswick Tomorrow and the Esperanza Neighborhood Project. The event featured a formal launch of Teatro Esperanza which is a bi-lingual (English and Spanish) theater company formed through a grant coLAB Arts received from the National Endowment for the Arts. Last year was a pilot year and the project has become so popular that New Brunswick Tomorrow and coLAB Arts have committed to making the theater company a permanent fixture in the city. In addition to a presentation from company members of Teatro Esperanza the event featured a community forum with mural artists Bob Aherns and Leon Rainbow who are tasked with taking community ideas and creating large freestanding sculpture/murals. The community got a chance to see the large figures set up in fellowship hall and had the opportunity to ideate with the artists around the themes of “Strength” and “Beauty.” These sculptures will be installed in Joyce Kilmer Park at the end of March just in time for the community Mercado season!