Arts Council of Princeton
102 Witherspoon Street
Princeton, NJ 08540

Telephone: (609) 924-8777
Fax: (609) 921-0008
Contact: Michael LaRiccia, Program/Public Relations Manager
E-mail: mlariccia@artscouncilofprinceton.org
Website: www.artscouncilofprinceton.org

The Arts Council of Princeton, founded in 1967, is a nonprofit community arts organization whose mission is to nurture and support the arts in the greater Princeton area. Through its own programs and in partnership with other nonprofit organizations, artists, and arts educators, the Arts Council functions as a vital cultural center, bringing together diverse segments of our community through classes, programs, and events and enriching the cultural life of area residents of all ages and backgrounds.

The mission of the Arts Council is to:

• build community through the arts;
• serve the greater Princeton area;
• nurture the artist within each individual;
• open up its doors to anyone interested in the arts and reach out to those who would not otherwise have access to the arts.

The Arts Council is located at the Paul Robeson Building on Witherspoon Street and houses clay and sculpture studios, a photography darkroom, artist-in-residence studios, and rehearsal and performance space.  The Arts Council has recently expanded their space and renovated their building.  Its alternative art gallery exhibits the artwork of local artists and students at the Arts Council, giving lesser-known artists a chance to publicly display and present their work. The Arts Council is always a busy environment, hosting year-round classes and workshops for children and adults as well as open mic nights, poetry slams, dance programs, film series, and Summer and Spring Break Arts Camps for children.

The Arts Council's programs encompass a wide array of art forms and levels of expertise. The backbone of the Arts Council's programming is its arts enrichment classes for adults, teens, and children (with scholarship opportunities). Programs range from pottery and sculpture to poetry and prose, from drama and dance to classical drawing and painting. Professionals in their respective fields teach all classes: authors, painters, photographers, and choreographers.

The Arts Council also sponsors many community-wide programs, including a Valentine Workshop, where children and adults can create personal Valentines; an Annual Hometown Halloween Parade; Christmas Eve Caroling on Palmer Square; and, of course, Communiversity, the "welcome to spring" annual street festival of the arts that is cosponsored by Princeton University students. The Arts Council also publishes selected poetry, prose, and artwork of Central New Jersey students in Under Age, its annual anthology that gives young writers and artists the experience and joy of having their work published. Many of these programs are offered free to the public.

Community and Population Served by the Organization

The Arts Council offers quality arts education classes and programs to all members of its community without barriers of race, class, economic status, or education . Neither proof of residency nor membership is required to participate. Its ceramics studio and darkroom are the only facilities of their kind open to the public in Princeton, and its performance spaces are also available to the public, often free to community groups. Annually, over 20,000 people attend classes and programs sponsored by the Arts Council.

Research Questions

• Students can develop a strategy for collecting data from the residents in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood on their needs and wishes concerning programming in the Robeson Center.  What programs would community members most like to see implemented by the Arts Council? What aspects of the Arts Council’s current programming does the community wish to see improved in the coming years?  How can local residents be encouraged to take ownership of the newly renovated space in Paul Robeson Center?  This project would be completed working closely with Arts Council staff.   Students could also work in collaboration with the Arts Council’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee.
• How do community arts bring money and resources back into the community? The Arts Council would like students to investigate the effects and outcomes of art programs on community welfare. This information could be compiled and formatted for use in grant proposals. Students may look at the research done by Americans for the Arts (http://ww3.artsusa.org/), a nonprofit organization working on bring art into communities.
• The Arts Council is interested in investigating the role of its location on its ability to benefit the community. How does its location influence participation in its programs? How does its location impact the community economically?  Students may look at the ways their events impact the community.
• The Arts Council would like students to devise a method for evaluating its effect on participating community members. What is the residual influence of their experience with Arts Council, and how does that influence eventually play into people’s lives?  What is our effect on children, and how is it different from our effect on adults?  Students may want to contrast the Arts Council’s interactive and engaged approach with other, more passive methods of arts appreciation.
• What are the demographic characteristics of Arts Council members (age, gender, race, ethnicity, approximate income)?  How do the benefits of programs differ across these groups?
• The Arts Council also awards scholarships. How do the scholarships affect those who receive it? Were they beneficial? What was their impact?
• The Arts Council would like a student to observe and participate in the “ArtReach” project to assess the progress of students from low-moderate income households who participate in the art enrichment programs. How has the students’ communication improved? How does art affect their development and behavior? In particular, the Arts Council would like a student to assess how its program at the Princeton Nursery School helps the preschoolers to improve their language and social skills before entering public school. Does this program help to put these children on an even playing field for kindergarten?  The student will also work closely with Princeton Young Achievers to assess our expanding outreach programs.   
  

Continue searching profiles in alphabetical order.

Continue searching profiles by area of interest.

Continue searching profiles by geographic location.