Report To The Community 2022

Rhenotha Whitaker, Deputy
Director of CHCA, calls the
ArtsXChange a “game changer”
for NJPAC’s relationships with
residents and partners.
The goal of the new initiative is
to present at least two programs
each month, designed by
residents and local artists, in
collaboration with an NJPAC
producer and a professional
from ArtsXChange.
The South Ward project will
serve as a template for the
launch of ArtsXChanges across
the city in future seasons.
One of Whitaker’s goals for
Clinton Hill’s partnership with
NJPAC is to inspire children to
realize their full potential. “More
and more young people are on
their devices, not socializing or
stretching their minds beyond
that phone,” she says.
She wants to pry them off their
screens and engage them in
plays, musical performances,
festivals and the creation
of walking tours of the
neighborhood’s historic sites.
She envisions behind-the-scenes
workshops on topics such as
set design or how to secure a
talent agent — programs that
will give young people “the
tools they need to continue on
their professional journey.”
Whitaker, a performer herself,
also wants to establish an
Artists Helping Artists exchange,
where local talent can be
resourced and services shared.
For Marable, one of the joys of the
ArtsXChange is discovering and
nurturing emerging talent. “It’s
about sitting down with people
and saying: Who’s here? Who’s
been singing in grandma’s kitchen
and reciting poetry?” she says.
“It’s about finding those artistic
jewels in the community.” •
creative
caring
Breaking new ground
at the intersection of
arts and health
A couple of times a month,
Aly Maier Lokuta receives an
inquiry from a performing arts
center wanting to know how
to replicate NJPAC’s new Arts
and Well-Being programming,
which harnesses the power of
the arts to improve individual
and community health.
“No other performing arts
center is making such an
intentional commitment at
the intersection of arts and
health,” says Lokuta, Senior
Director, Arts and Well-Being.
“We’re putting New Jersey
on the map as an exemplary
state for this type of work.”
NJPAC, an anchor cultural
institution with deeply rooted
community ties in Greater
Newark and throughout New
Jersey, is ideally situated to
lead this cross-sector work.
In partnership with Horizon
Foundation for New Jersey
and RWJBarnabas Health
(RWJBH), NJPAC is breaking
new ground, delivering health
benefits while creating scalable
resources for others to replicate.
“It’s imperative that we create
pathways to access the arts, to
shift hearts and minds so folks
understand that this is really
good for them,” says Lokuta.
“People who engage with the
arts live healthier, longer lives.”
For instance, attending a
concert or visiting a museum
once or twice a month can
reduce the risk of depression in
adults over 50 by 48%. Doing so
just every few months reduces
the incidence of age-related
disability by 46% — a greater
protective effect than physical
exercise. Young people who
engage in the arts have
lower odds of depression,
Aly Maier Lokuta is the Senior
Director of NJPAC’s new Arts and
Well-Being initiative.
antisocial and criminalized
behaviors, maladjustment and
substance use trajectories.
“It’s not about everybody
becoming the next Yo-Yo Ma,
but finding joy, connection
and belonging through
creativity,” says Lokuta.
Arts engagement can come in
many different forms. Examples
include attending a live show,
participating in a workshop on
playwriting, supplying visual
“You don’t need
to be good at
the arts for the
arts to be good
for you. People
who engage
with the arts
live healthier,
longer lives.”
– Aly Maier Lokuta
art projects for patients and
healthcare staff at a hospital or
being welcomed to a medical
facility with live jazz. Community
programs will be developed
with targeted populations
in mind, such as senior
citizens, veterans, formerly
incarcerated individuals and
people with disabilities or
chronic health conditions.
“You don’t have to be good
at the arts for the arts to be
good for you,” says Lokuta.
NJPAC is committed to investing
in the lives of all people through
diverse, easily accessible and
inclusive programs. These
initiatives, rolling out in 2023,
will be developed through the
prism of five pillars: Arts in
Healthcare, Social Prescribing,
Arts in Health Research Lab,
Health Promotion Theater
and Community Programs.
This year has been foundationbuilding,
with stakeholder
roundtables, new hires, planning
meetings and the achievement
of important milestones.
In December, an Arts in
Health Research Lab got
underway with the signing of
an agreement between NJPAC,
Rutgers School of Public Health
and Mason Gross School of the
Arts — the first collaboration
between a school of public
health, a school of the arts and
an arts center. Another early
launch is Social Prescribing
which affirms that the arts are
an essential social service. This
program enables New Jersey
residents to fill prescriptions for
free arts events as prescribed
by physicians and community
health workers affiliated with
Horizon’s Neighbors in Health
program. NJPAC is the first arts
center in the country to have
an insurance carrier as a key
partner in Social Prescribing.
Lokuta is working toward a
paradigm shift, where arts
centers are recognized as
community health centers,
arts education becomes a
public health priority and the
arts are understood as an
essential social service and
a determinant of health.
“The need for this work is more
pressing now than ever,” she
says, “and NJPAC is rising
to the occasion, providing
meaningful arts engagement
to those who need it most.” •
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