Report To The Community 2021

eaching out
A mix of approaches brings NJPAC
community engagement
programming to more people than ever
– Stephen Whitty
Engaging with the Greater
Newark community is a core
objective at NJPAC, and a vital
part of its programming since
the Arts Center’s opening.
But how do you truly, personally
engage when your own common
sense, and the CDC, warn you
not to? How do you bring people
together when masks and
social distancing are the rule?
Now we have over 160. In the
past, we would often reach
20,000 people over the course
of a year. In the last year,
we reached about 90,000.”
And just as NJPAC has never
been just one thing — concerts,
lectures or dance — neither
are the programs Marable’s
department promotes.
African dance class with Fritzlyn
Hector, contemporary Caribbean
dance with Shola Roberts, Israeli
folk dancing with Yvonne Peters,
salsa dance with Desiree Godsell
and Indian dance with Reema
Limson, along with sessions on
liturgical dance and ballet. There
was even a session with a Radio
City Rockette, Sally Hong, to get
people in the holiday mood.
Clockwise from top: Summer Fun in Riverfront
Park with Shaquana Jordan; students
dancing in Military Park; Books on the Move
presented at First Avenue Elementary; Books
on the Move in Military Park with Wincey
Terry and a jazz quartet in Riverfront Park.
“You do the pandemic pivot,”
says Eyesha K. Marable.
NJPAC’s Assistant Vice President
of Community Engagement
knew things would have to
change when the first wave of
COVID hit. But the key word
was “change” — not cancel.
Dance lessons went online.
Film screenings became links.
Book readings went virtual.
Two years later, Marable’s
department is now delivering
on its mission with a hybrid
approach — offering
some free events that are
virtual, and some in-person.
They’ve discovered a silver
lining in that pandemic cloud:
Having an online component
has allowed them to still
connect with the community
while now welcoming
participants from around
the world.
“Since COVID first hit, we’ve only
grown,” she says. “We once had
over 120 partner organizations.
“Since COVID
first hit, we’ve
only grown.
In the past, we
would often
reach 20,000
people over the
course of a year.
Last year,
we reached
about 90,000.”
– Eyesha K. Marable
“We co-host Wellness Wednesdays
with RWJ Barnabas, which offers
virtual dance classes, amazing
recipes and wellness tips,” she
says. The diverse offerings
included a hula steps class with
John-Mario Sevilla, an urban and
“Deepening the partnership
with RWJ Barnabas, we also
had a wellness fair with virtual
classes taught by people from
across the world,” Marable
says. “We knew right from the
start of the pandemic that
self-help and self-care were
going to become crucial.”
Crucial, too, was finding a way
to get out of that pandemic
bubble — but safely. So NJPAC’s
Community Engagement team
worked with members of the
Arts Education and Marketing
departments to lead NJPAC’s
involvement in Newark’s Summer
Fun in the Park programs,
produced as part of Mayor Ras
Baraka’s Back Together Again
initiative, which sponsored a
variety of outdoor, in-person
programs during the warm
weather days of 2021.
As part of that initiative, jazz
concerts, children’s programming
and games came to Tubman and
Riverfront Parks. Music lovers had
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