Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Saturday is the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience‘s 31st annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series (MTW). It is New Jersey’s largest and most prestigious conference commemorating Black History Month.

This year’s program, Beauty and the Black Body: History, Aesthetics, and Politics, will explore the evolution over time of the concepts of black beauty, featuring a day of distinguished speakers and a free reception at the Newark Museum to view Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present.

The lecture series was co-founded in 1981 by Dodge Trustee Dr. Clement Price, who is the Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University, and the late Giles R. Wright, from the New Jersey Historical Commission. Since its inception, the conference has drawn thousands of people to the Rutgers-Newark campus, and has attracted some of the nation’s foremost scholars and humanists who are experts in the field of African and African American history and culture.

The annual conference was named for East Orange native Dr. Marion Thompson Wright, a pioneer in African American historiography and race relations in New Jersey, who served for many years on the faculty of Howard University. An honors graduate of Newark’s Barringer High School and Columbia University’s Teachers College Class of 1938, she was the first professionally trained woman historian in the United States.

MTW is held at the Paul Robeson Campus Center on the Rutgers University’s Newark Campus. It is free and open to the public. For a complete printable program of the day’s events, click here.

For additional information about the program, contact the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, 973.353.3891.

Image: Pickin’ by Lauren Kelly, part of the Posing Beauty exhibit at the Newark Museum

Wendy Liscow, Program Officer

I don’t know about you, but as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are crammed into the refrigerator, I start to think about two things: sending year-end donations to my favorite nonprofits and tackling my holiday gift list.  I have come to dread the latter task, not just because I hate crowds and making gift decisions, but also because I don’t want to spend money on more “stuff” that people don’t really want and that will ultimately end up in a landfill.   I am part of a growing number of people who want their purchases to reflect their values.  In fact, one of New American Dream’s holiday polls revealed that 82% of Americans would rather receive a photo album filled with memories than a gift from a store.  New American Dream offers a great list of ideas on how you can make more socially responsible choices.

I’ve committed to using my purchasing power for dual purposes:  delight the gift-receiver and support New Jersey’s nonprofits.  Just a little bit of brainstorming will reveal a plethora of ways to do this.

How about giving your friends and loved ones tickets to a concert, play, or dance?  Or even better, consider a subscription.  How about a class at your favorite community arts center or nature reserve?  Or a membership at a museum.  Or check out a New Jersey Audubon birding tour and workshop or a Hackensack River Eco-Cruise. Or consider a donation to your friends’ and family members’ favorite charity/nonprofit in their name!

If you are thinking that you would prefer to give your lucky family members and friends something more tangible that they can unwrap and keep, why not consider a gift that also supports the herculean efforts of a nonprofit organization and  bolsters the livelihood of an artist.  For example, you can help ArtPride NJ raise $10,000 to support the Arts in our state by bidding (before December 11, 2009) on almost 70 items of memorabilia, travel packages, and tickets to cultural events at their online auction.

I have found some of the most unique, one-of-a-kind gifts at museum stores and holiday art sales.  This weekend there are some fabulous events at some of the greatest art centers in our state.  Be sure to check these out:

On December 5^th and 6^th you can catch Millville’s WheatonArts holiday happening which features some excellent discounts.  Make a day of it and watch artist Deborah Czeresko and her team create an amazing large-scale blown-glass snowman and other holiday related pieces.  According to Dodge Foundation President and CEO David Grant, who witnessed this artistic feat several weekends ago, it is something you won’t want to miss.

Princeton’s D & R Greenway has a history of bringing the arts and environment together, and Sunday December 6^th their Winter Green: Gifts of Nature holiday sale will showcase watercolor calendars featuring creatures of the wild, jewelry and wearable art, ceramic works, photography note cards, and mosaics and tiles.   35% of the proceeds support D&R Greenway’s preservation and stewardship efforts.

December 3-6 you can visit the GlassRoots studio in Newark for demonstrations, studio tours and holiday shopping.  GlassRoots is also participating in a range of other holiday sales events at New Jersey Performing Arts Center and PSE&G.  A purchase of these beautiful glassworks made by Newark youth makes it possible for young people to learn a distinctive craft and develop entrepreneurial skills.

Museum shops have become one of my favorite shopping haunts.  In fact, this past spring I made lots of graduating teens happy with unique gifts made from recycled materials from the Newark Museum Shop.    Morris Museum kicks off their holiday sale and special events this weekend and you can use a special 10% off coupon for Montclair Museum’s Holiday Sale on December 3-6.  If you are in Oceanville, NJ be sure to stop in at Noyes Museum.  The Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick is offering fabulous art at “ridiculously low prices” at their holiday blowout on December 14 and 15^th.

These ideas represent only the tip of the iceberg of possible gift ideas that will please the most finicky people on your list and make for a more socially responsible holiday season.  So, help us out, and please share your ideas  for supporting nonprofits while tackling that holiday list.

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By Wendy Liscow, Program Officer

Fly: Giver of Life and Light by Judith Harzer

Can you remember your first experience with art and feeling creative?  I can still close my eyes and smell the green thick paint that my kindergarten teacher squirted on a blank shiny white piece of paper and how elated I was when she gave me permission to paint with my fingers.  Such freedom, such ecstasy I felt as I proceeded to get messy and create beautiful art.  As my years in school progressed, those opportunities became rarer and rarer, but I continued to look forward to any art class I could squeeze in, making  the campaign posters for just about anyone who asked, and turning a research project into a shoebox diorama whenever possible. (more…)