Agenda

8:45 am – 9;45 am

Breakfast and Networking

9:45 am – 10:00 am

Welcome: Dr. Yeurys Pujols, Ed.D., Vice President for Institutional Engagement and Excellence, Hudson County Community College

10:00 am – 11:00 am

Plenary Session

Creative Financing for the Arts in New Jersey
With so many unknowns about federal funding for the arts, it’s important to have other ways to support the field. Learn about the various strategies used by the state and municipalities in New Jersey to finance public art, cultural facilities and more.

Panelists:

1. Phil Abramson, AICP/PP, Founder + CEO, Topology, Inc.,
2. Christine Goodman, Director of Cultural Affairs, City of Jersey City
3. Tai Cooper, New Jersey Economic Development Authority
4. Cristin Cricco-Powell, Head of Cultural Affairs, City of Hoboken

Moderator: Leo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Executive Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation

11:00 am – 11:15 am

Break

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Breakout sessions

1. Find Your Place in Creative Placemaking. What is creative placemaking and how can it benefit communities like yours? What role can you play?
   Speaker: Kadie Dempsey, Principal, CORE Creative Placemaking
2. Public Art, Process + Hip Hop. This session is for artists of any discipline who want to get public art commissions and do social practice art. Public artist, Sherwin Banfield, will discuss his experience as a sculptor and process in creating his Hip Hop themed public art, plus his exhibit ‘Hip-Hop Models to Monuments’ now on view at our North Hudson campus.
   Speaker: Sherwin Banfield, Artist
   Track: Supporting social and public artist
3. Resilient, Mutual, Development: How to Use Art and Design to Help Communities Grow. Using design and creative strategies as a catalyst to help communities develop offers endless opportunities for long-term cultural, social, and economic transformations. How can we make sure that these practices and its results are resilient to change and challenges over time? Beyond creating infrastructure, institutions, festivals, art projects, business, regulations, etc. it is about challenging or creating new systems of mutualism. This session offers a theoretical and practical background for attendees on how to achieve sustainable practices of community engagement when using art and design in process for community development.
   Speaker: Juanli Carrion, Assistant Professor of Design Strategies, The New School Parsons
   Track:  Supporting Social and Public Artists; Inclusive and Accessible Communities
4. Working with Artists. This session, designed for professionals in business, real estate, or community economic development, will help you learn how to collaborate more effectively with public and social practice artists.
   Speaker: Lauren Craig, Executive Director, Newark Arts
   Track: Community Economic Development
5. Community Colleges as Local Cultural Centers. When you think of big art collections, you probably imagine museums, galleries, and libraries. But a community college? Hudson County Community College has more than 2000 art pieces, many of which you can see in its buildings. See some of them in this special tour.
   Speaker: Dr. Yeurys Pujols, Ed.D., Vice President for Institutional Engagement and Excellence, Hudson County Community College and Salma Abdelwahed, Coordinator of Cultural Affairs, Hudson County Community College.
   Tracks: Inclusive and Accessible Communities

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Lunch

Award ceremony: Paul Silverman

1:30 pm – 2:45 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Public Art Adaptation for Hospitals Hear the story about the repurposed Stefan Knapp mural and its adaptation for a hospital campus. You’ll learn about the restoration and reviving process of this iconic public artwork well-known and loved by the community, and how Valley Health, as a prominent hospital/healthcare provider, recognized the value of public art and invested in the process to install it on its campus.
   Speaker: Robin L. Goldfischer, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Valley Health System, Inc.
   Track: Arts and Community Health, Supporting Social and Public Artists
2. The Healing Stage: Examining the Therapeutic Impact of Dance and Art. By merging dance, research, multimedia, best practices and interactive engagement, The Healing Stage Workshop invites participants to not only understand but feel the profound connection between dance, mental health, and recovery. This session provides an in-depth look at how The Healing Stage Workshop, a groundbreaking experience that fuses arts and healing through dance, improvisation, and expressive arts, has provided a safe space for participants to explore mental health, addiction, neurodivergence, disabilities, and recovery. As part of Project BrOKen, this workshop engages individuals in creative expression as a pathway to healing, resilience, hope, and multidimensional well-being.
   Speaker: Maria Daniel, Dancer and Adjunct Instructor, Hudson County Community
   Track: Arts and Community Health
3. Getting Started in Public Art for Creatives Are you interested in competing for public art opportunities but don’t know what a public art project involves or how to start? In this session learn about resources for identifying public art opportunities and examples of proposals that include initial submissions for qualifications, winning design concepts, descriptions, project plans, budgets and installation considerations.
   Speaker: Emily Gilman Beezley, Public Artist and Founder of Springboard, a collective of women artists
   Track: Supporting Social and Public Artists
4. Integrating Arts Effectively into Downtowns and Commercial Corridors. Art and craft fairs. Pop-up galleries. Public art displays & installations. There are almost as many ways to integrate arts into places as there are forms of art. Which ones are right for you?
   Speaker: Tracy Gavant, Founder, Chief Brand Officer, Main Street Pops
   Track: Community Economic Development
5. Creative Cures: Exploring the Role of Art in Health and Healing. The intersection of art and well-being plays a vital role in enhancing quality of life, fostering social connections and making cities more livable. In fact, studies have continued to demonstrate the many health benefits artful environments and art-making can have, including its ability to decrease stress and depression, improve cognitive function and memory, combat isolation, help to develop a shared identity, reinforce self-efficacy, decrease graffiti and blight, and simply activate the imagination and elicit awe. Join moderators Stephanie Daniels and Brooke Hansson of the Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services as they explore the various avenues through which municipal governments can harness the power of art to reduce personal and environmental stressors along with a panel of Jersey City based creatives.
   

   Panelists:

   • Ralph Andre, Principal and Creative Director, Mean Genius, Co-founder of CANVS
   • DISTORT is a Jersey City–based artist
   • Maya Sanders, Multidisciplinary Jersey City–born Artist, Muralist, and Educator
   • Mika Greene, is a former dancer with Nimbus Dance Company and currently serves as the Nimbus2 Associate Director and Community Programs Manager
   • Brooke Hansson, Chief of Administrative Services for the Department of Health and Human Services, Jersey City
   • Stephanie Daniels, Division Director for Community Relations and Social Services for the Department of Health and Human Services, Jersey City

   Track: Arts and Community Health

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Break

3:00 pm – 4:15 pm

Breakout Sessions

1. Curating with Inclusivity. This session will help curators and art event organizers explore strategies for educating and engaging audiences around social causes.
   Speaker: Michelle Vitale, Director of Cultural Affairs, Hudson County Community College
   Track: Supporting Social and Public Artists; Inclusive and Accessible Communities
2. Art, Healing, and Creating Connections Explore how art, thoughtful environments, and guided wellness practices enhance mental and physical health. This hands-on, interactive workshop draws from research and real-world examples—like doctor-prescribed museum visits in Switzerland—while spotlighting Grounds For Sculpture’s local initiatives, highlighting the many programs and activities that support the various aspects of health and wellbeing. We will discuss the pilot year for the “Prescription to Arts, Nature & WellBeing” program at the Grounds For Sculpture. Learn more about this partnership with local doctors from Penn Medicine Princeton Health, where they prescribed a 90-day museum pass that encourages art-and-nature visits.
   Speakers: Rodney Camarce, Manager of Wellness, Grounds for Sculpture; Sam Hwang, Director of Guest Services at Grounds for Sculpture
   Track: Arts and Community Health
3. NJPAC: A Catalyst for Economic Development of its Home City Hear about NJPAC’s commitment to Economic Development of the City of Newark and how it is transforming its campus to a neighborhood.
   Speaker: Timothy Lizura, Executive Vice President, Real Estate & Capital Projects, NJPAC
   Track: Community Economic Development
4. Inclusive Creativity: Building Accessible Spaces in Art and Social Media. In today’s digital world, art and social media are powerful tools for self-expression, connection, and advocacy. But for many, these spaces remain inaccessible. Join us for an interactive workshop that explores how we can build inclusive, accessible environments in both art and social media.
   Speaker: Danielle Lopez, Director of Accessibility Services, Hudson County Community College
   Track: Inclusive and Accessible Communities
5. CAFE 101 – Overview of the NJEDA Cultural and Arts Facilities Expansion Program (CAFE) tax credit program. Learn how the CAFE tax incentive program is strengthening New Jersey’s arts sector by funding the development and rehabilitation of cultural arts facilities. CAFE aims to attract visitors, boost engagement with the arts in underserved communities, and revitalize downtowns. This session will cover the fundamentals of the program, offering insights into how CAFE can play a role in enhancing the cultural landscape of your community.
   Speaker: Barbara Vadnais, NJEDA Team Lead-Brownfield Incentives, Brownfields and Sustainable Systems, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).
   Track: Community Economic Development

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm

Closing Plenary

Growing More Creative Communities in New Jersey Together
Leo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Executive Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation

Ongoing from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm

Express Yourself – Art Therapy Activity

This activity will be ongoing throughout the conference during lunch and breaks.

To support and promote well-being and self-awareness, Express Yourself encourages individuals to explore and identify their current feelings through the creative use of color, lines, shapes, and symbols in a nonverbal, visual format. This approach aims to cultivate emotional awareness, self-expression, and visual communication. By engaging in the process, individuals can gain insight into their emotional states, reduce stress, and improve mood regulation. On a broader scale, art therapy fosters a sense of connectedness, empathy, and understanding within communities by creating opportunities for shared experiences and dialogue through visual storytelling.
Facilitator: Zulisha Morales