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DOWNTOWNER TRENTON’S CITY PAPER

SEPTEMBER 2020 |

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Mural Project Keeps Art in Focus. Page 11.

Year in review for Trenton’s police director, page 4; New president at the Trent House, 8.

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Up front THT receives national AARP grant to fund bike share program

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from the Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange for community residents of all abilities, especially older adults. THT will work with each site to create a process for borrowing and monitoring the bikes. As the program gets underway this fall, THT and partners including Trenton Cycling Revolution will share safe biking route maps, as well as host bike safety workshops and a community ride.

In addition, this project will set the stage for a citywide conversation about expanding bike programs, improving the D&R Canal, and enhancing street safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Trenton Cycling Revolution is dedicated to making cycling safe and fun for all our neighbors,” said Wills Kinsley, president of TCR. “A bicycle share allows more folks the opportunity to tour the town, get exercise, or run errands.”

This project promotes wellness for all ages, with a special focus on older adults. Indeed, this bike share project links generations, providing Trenton older adults bikes built and refurbished by youth at the local Boys and Girls Club.

The Trenton Bike Exchange/Boys and Girls Club “is pleased to be able to provide bikes for the new bike share program,” said Ira Saltiel, volunteer director. The all-volunteer organization repairs donated bikes for sale, with all proceeds supporting Boys and Girls Club programs.

he Trenton Health Team was recently named an AARP Community Challenge grant recipient and is partnering with Trenton Cycling Revolution and Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County to create a model community bicycle sharing program based in the city’s West Ward.

THT Executive Director Gregory Paulson noted that opportunities for safe, outdoor activities — such as biking — will be key to residents’ health and well-being during a time when COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of regional recreation and social activities.

“This project will help Trenton residents be active while still following COVID-19 safety guidelines,” Paulson said. “Thanks to AARP, THT will partner with community groups to provide a safe and fun way for residents to be outdoors and active right in their neighborhoods.”

AARP is a nationwide leader in making neighborhoods, towns, and cities more livable for all residents. The AARP Community Challenge funds innovative projects that inspire change in areas such as transportation, public spaces, housing, smart cities, civic engagement, coronavirus response, and more.

This pilot program will include For more information on the Trenthree sites offering a set of bicycles, ton Health Team, visit www.trentonadaptive cycles, and adult tricycles healthteam.org.

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September 2020 | Trenton Downtowner3

the state of the CITY Trenton Police Director Sheilah Coley’s year in review

By Dan Aubrey

‘E

nlightening and disheartening at the same time,” says Sheilah Coley summing up her first year as director of the City of Trenton Police Department.

The enlightening was discovering “how far behind we are” regarding technology and staffing. The disheartening was that the department isn’t catching up.

One of the problems, Coley, 57, says during a recent interview at police headquarters at 225 North Clinton Avenue, is Trenton’s status as a recipient of the State of New Jersey’s Department of Community Affair’s Transitional Aid Program.

The program provides state support for economically distressed communities.

“The biggest challenge is the DCA approvals, which delay the process so you can’t move as quickly as possible,” says Coley, who has been in law enforcement since 1989.

The former chief of the Newark Police Department (2011-2014) and public safety director for East Orange

(2015-2018) says it also hinders her two days of peaceful Black Lives Matability to hire or to purchase at the ter protests and in which Trenton police participated. right moment.

A video recording Coley seeming“If I need to do something, I can’t wait three weeks for approval” to ad- ly telling a Trenton police unit to do nothing rather than address a group of dress an immediate need, she says. looters became Officially bea lightning rod coming Trenton’s police director in ‘This is an agency I think for critics who called for her to May, 2019, Coley I can help, and if I help resign. says she took the Coley re$131,844 per year the agency I can help sponded publicly job in order to imto the criticism plement successthe city. If I’m given the at a July 14 Laful practices that tools I can move the tino Symposium helped Newark at Trenton City and East Orange agency forward.’

Hall. and help change She told the the capital’s city appr oximately future.

Although a preliminary needs as- 50 attendees she stopped the unit sessment report to kick start her first because information was unclear and full year as director of the $50 million unit members were not trained for department was delivered to the city crowd dispersal. She said participatat the start of the year, her efforts ing auxiliary units from the region have been hampered by the pandemic were trained and present.

“I didn’t tell (the Trenton police and its effect on city operations.

Other situations affecting Coley’s unit) not to do anything. (I meant), tenure include criticism of her actions ‘Let me go see what’s going on, and during the May 31 riots that followed then I will tell you what to do next.’

Because that’s what leaders do. I will not send them where I won’t go.”

She also told the audience, “I will not be stepping down. Let’s be clear about that.”

Coley also made other headlines in July when she threatened to sue the Trenton City Council for defamation after Councilman George Muschal labeled one of her personnel actions gender and race motivated.

Despite the friction, Coley, who still lives in Essex County, remains focused on improving Trenton through Community Policing.

She says it is the only practice that makes sense when “people are feeling they are over policed,” and says the approach involves having police on the street and developing dialogue with community members in order to learn what citizens expect and if those expectations are manageable.

The practice also calls for building community partnerships and trust.

Yet, for now, she says, “It is a work in progress.”

Part of that work has been to pinpoint five crime hotspots and have police officers walk the streets. “The of-

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ficers are on the same beat and build trust and recognition,” Coley says.

However there are other obstacles.

National studies show that members of the various Latino communities can be leery of the police because of immigration-related fears that were stoked by President Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric, threats to sanctuary cities such as Trenton, and fears of deportation.

Coley says Latinos need not worry about Trenton police in relationship to immigration. “It has been a standard within the State of New Jersey to not ask about documentation. We look at people as victims. We respond, ‘How can we help you?’”

She also is looking for ways to show Trenton Latino community members that the police are different here than in some of their home countries where police are habitually brutal.

Coley says programs to build trust with Trenton youth have also been started.

While newspaper reports show that she developed projects in Newark that gave youths opportunities to keep them from joining gangs, she says her first year in Trenton included gathering information before launching any youth engagement programs.

Although the coronavirus has affected such initiatives, she says the department’s community affairs division is working with youth service investigators in each ward to identify youths who need attention.

Progress for community partnership is also dampened by a popular culture that routinely depicts evil and corrupt cops.

Coley says the idea of bad cops “is nothing new” and has been there since the beginning of policing.

It is a point reinforced by an August 10 Trentonian article detailing a “confidential” police report of 30 Trenton police officers disciplined for alleged misconduct ranging from excessive force to falsifying criminal case records, drug and alcohol abuse, and unauthorized car pursuits.

“The way to fix it is for the good cops to keep coming to work,” Coley says. “There are bad apples on the news repeatedly. So that’s an image we learned through repetition. We identify bad apples and assess them with discipline and penalties, and termination. (But) the public does not believe we do that.”

That thought may connect to Coley’s last year as Newark director, a point when “excessive force allegations against city police officers have declined in each of the past four years, falling from 90 in 2010 to last year’s 27, records show,” as noted by NJ Advanced Media.

Talking about policing as a profession, Coley says, years ago “every kid wanted to be a police officer or fire fighter. But they’re not as likely to sign up for the police, and that’s because of how the police are portrayed. I think

Sheilah Coley has had an eventful 15 months since becoming director of the City of Trenton Police Department in May, 2019. we’re dealing with an image issue.”

Coley, however, sees policing as an opportunity, and her life shows it.

She was born in Brooklyn but at the age of four was an orphan who lived with various relatives and foster families until she realized law enforcement was a way to enter the middle class and build a better life.

According to a City of Trenton biography, “Coley joined the United States Air Force at age 17 and served for three years. She then went on to serve in the Newark Police Department for 25 years, holding each rank, including chief and director. She then went on to serve as public safety director of East Orange, overseeing police, fire, and OEM divisions. Coley earned her B.A. in criminal justice and her M.A. in public administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University.”

D

eclining to provide any personal information except that she hasn’t yet settled on a home in Trenton, Coley says that solving serious city problems — such as the street violence that has claimed 27 lives this year as of press time — is more complicated than the community fully understands.

“Everyone thinks that (crime control) begins and ends with the police department,” she says. “(But) we have the prosecutors’ office and the courts (that release habitual lawbreakers).

None of those decisions are ours, but we shoulder the entire burden,” especially when citizens see the same people committing the same crimes day after day.

She says another problem is that in many communities — suburban to urban — people do “things on a daily basis and they don’t even consider they’re breaking the law.” But when they get a summons, they get angry, complain about the police, and say they are being treated unfairly.

“It’s a tough job,” she says. “It is a thankless job. We encourage and praise each other.”

Combined with the daily potential of violence and danger, it is not surprising the suicide and emotional problems within the ranks are mounting.

“They have all gone through resiliency training,” she says.

Admitting that she has no professional or financial need for serving as the Trenton director, Coley says, “This is an agency I think I can help, and if I help the agency I can help the city. If I’m given the tools I can move the agency forward. I think this department has been stagnant.

“I would like to stay and get this

agency stable. East Orange is still using the strategies in place. You have to recognize when something is working and let it work.”

One thing that will help immediately is the positive response of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department to Coley and Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora’s August request for additional law enforcement officers to be deployed in Trenton.

She also requested that Mercer County Police Academy double the number of new officers eligible for starting with the Trenton Police Department in the fall.

According to one news source, “In order to help investigate and deter future violent crimes, the city’s FY2020 budget includes $4.5 million to establish a real-time crime and intelligence center. This partnership between the Trenton Police Department, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and the N.J. State Police will assist Trenton police officers in gunfire detection, video surveillance, and gathering criminal intelligence. The project is expected to be completed within a year.”

Coley says, as she looks ahead, “I know it seems a little dismal and gray in the city. But I think if we all do our part the outcome will be wonderful for the City of Trenton and we will see crime reduction like we have never seen it before and growth in this city.”

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September 2020 | Trenton Downtowner5

Elevating

Arts

the T

hrough the arts, we communicate and interpret the world around us. And in a time of crisis, we look to the arts to help us heal, express ourselves and build our communities.

Art is not a hobby or a career for Leon “Rain” Rainbow. It’s the way he deals with life. The acclaimed graffiti

artist is currently curating 10 weeks of live mural painting on Front and Broad Streets, as well as a COVIDinspired series of his own called “We Are Survivors.”

We invite you to see these amazing murals and other art by coming out to Art All Day & Trenton Ciclovia on Saturday, September 19th, from 12 to 6 p.m. for a self-guided “Open Studio, Open Streets” tour of Trenton’s vibrant creative district.

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You’ll find Leon Rainbow’s “We Are Survivors” mural at the intersection of Hudson and Clinton Streets in Trenton. Look for the unveiling of Rainbow’s second mural in the series, sometime this fall, at the Sprout School of the Arts.

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Let the team at Exit 7A bring your creative projects to life! Services include sound and video recordings, gear and studios, graphic design and photography, software lessons and technical solutions.

Dave “MekOne" Klama will be painting live between September 3 - 6. Mek is a Trenton-born graffiti and tattoo artist whose colorful, large-scale murals can be seen across the country.

Murals on Front Street is a project of TDA and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

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September 2020 | Trenton Downtowner7

New Trent House president speaks to the past, present, and future

By Dan Aubrey

‘T

he Trent House represents where we began as Trentonians,” says newly elected board president Princess Hoagland about the 1719 brick mansion that was the home of Trenton’s namesake, William Trent.

“It is a place for us to go and learn how we came to be here,” she continues layering the plot of land’s history from the Leni Lenape to the British colonization. “We just don’t know who we are if we don’t look back. The land that (the Trent House) sits on tells us a story.”

To argue her point, Hoagland mentions a July, 2020, archaeology dig conducted by Hunter Research in Trenton. She said that experience showed how history is hidden from everyday living. “Just two feet deep, we were looking at artifacts that the Leni Lenape had left behind. Higher than that were those from the British and enslaved people. I am fascinated by how we can tell a story by the artifacts we found.”

Hoagland says her interest in the Trent House came several years ago when she brought her children and grandchildren to an ice cream social and took advantage of a tour of Trenton’s oldest building.

“It took me until my 50s until I got involved. But I think that is the experience of many Trentonians,” she says.

“Many people are not aware of where it is. And it is hidden behind state buildings. We don’t understand its significance. We take it for granted.

“I lived in Trenton all my life. I heard of the Trent House, but I didn’t understand its significance.”

Yet, she says, what she heard during the tour about the personal lives of the Trents and how objects and materials in the house designated status got her interested in learning more and opening a new chapter of her own history.

Referring to herself a “lifelong learner” engaged in several community projects, Hoagland says she got interested in the house and made several return visits. Then in 2017, after her interest was noticed by the former board president, Carolyn Stetson, she was asked if she was interested in participating on the board.

A person of African ancestry in a city populated mainly by people of the same heritage, Hoagland asked about the makeup of the board. When she heard it was primarily older Caucasians, she agreed.

“I was honored to be asked. Having the opportunity to learn about my history as a Trentonian and our history of our country was appealing to me,” she says.

A National Historic Landmark, the 11-room American-Georgian style structure built by wealthy Scottish-

Princess Hoagland is the new president of the Trent House board. born businessman William Trent later (after Trent died suddenly in 1724). housed both Loyalists and Revolution- There are a lot of missing pieces. aries during Revolutionary War, was “The whole narrative of what life visited by General George Washing- was like for slaves we’re going to have ton, and was the home of three New to extrapolate. It is a painful history, Jersey Governors. but we have to talk about it so we can Privately owned until 1929, the move in the future — all of us. We need Trent House was donated to the City to understand that as human beings of Trenton, which partners with the we have done things that are crimes Trent House Association to operate against humanity. Everyone is tainted the building as a museum. by it. It’s nobody’s fault today. But we Yet despite its gloss, the house has a can do something about it right now dark foundation. Trent’s wealth came so life is equitable for everyone.” in part from his involvement with the That includes the people in Hoaslave trade, and slaves were kept at gland’s native Trenton. the house.

The daughter of a Delaval employee “It is not that we didn’t expect it,” from Georgia and a Mercer Hospital says Hoagland cafeteria worker about the realfrom South Caroity. And since the lina, Hoagland The museum ‘really slavery aspect says she spent needs to learn what of Trent’s hismost of her pretory was not well teen and early happened to the people known and missadulthood in the that Trent had who were Miller Homes ing from the regular school currichousing project. enslaved.’ ulum, the Trent She graduated House board and from Trenton administration are looking for ways to Central High in 1981 and has an assotell a fuller yet more nuanced story. ciate’s degree in business from Mer“We need to be sensitive that we cer County Community College and a do not group people as inventory but B.A. and M.A. in business administraas human beings who were enslaved. tion from Rutgers.

We need to think about how they surIn addition to pursuing a doctorate in vived and their resiliency. We want to organizational leadership at Stockton make those people come to life and let University, the business consultant, them tell a story that connects with wife, and mother of five adult children current African-Americans. It helps us served on several regional boards and connect the dots and is forcing us to committees of nonprofit organizations understand a timeline that tells a story including the New Jersey Association that includes the Great Migration” and of Black Educators, League of Women how they connected with people of Af- Voters of Lawrence Township, Locust rican ancestry already in Trenton.

Hill Cemetery and Interpretive Center She also says the museum “really Project, Campaign to End the New Jim needs to learn what happened to the Crow-Greater Trenton, Trenton Civic people that Trent had who were en- Trust, Fisher/Richey/Perdicaris Hisslaved. We know of one man who was toric District Civic Association, and sold in New York and who escaped and Urban Mental Health Alliance. was brought back. But we don’t if they She credits two organizations for went with Trent’s wife or Trent’s son building the social awareness she

8Trenton Downtowner September 2020

hopes to bring to Trent House programming.

Not In Our Town Princeton’s First Monday Conversations were “the first time I was engaged in learning about how the history in our country affects oppressed people. Because I had never taken an African American history class I was never aware of the particulars — realizing that people are being intentional about oppressing other people. And how unbeknownst to ourselves we’re helping to perpetuate the oppression of others.”

The Urban Mental Health Alliance allowed her to explore the trauma experienced by oppressed people and their attempt to normalize it by taking on roles like the “strong black mother” or learning to ignore feelings in order to accommodate the oppressive dominate culture.

She is also grateful for social media.

“There is a chance for misinformation that can be shared. But we have the opportunity to research for ourselves,” she says.

Talking about the challenges she faces at the Trent Houses, she says, “Technology is one. We have to upgrade our Wi-Fi services. We also have to make sure our building has the proper HVAC system. We’re looking at the challenges most museums have: low visitorship.

She says another challenge “is how we tell the whole story, the complete story. Generally we tell the story from the male perspective and look at everything connected to him as property — including his wife and children.

We’re trying to tell everyone’s story, including people of African ancestry who were enslaved.

“We want to makes sure we are respectful and sensitive. We had a community advisory committee made up of African Americans who grew up in and around Trenton. One of those members said we don’t want to be just doom and gloom, and we don’t. But we want to be truthful.”

Meanwhile, in addition to updating information on the Trent House website, Hoagland and the board are busy planning for reopening and raising programming funds. “Because the Trent House is owned by the City of Trenton, we provided a proposal on how to reopen and keep our visitors safe. We are waiting for a response from the city.”

They are also taking stock of what other museums are doing to prepare for reopening and begin a strategic plan for future programming — one that touches the community and increases visitors.

“It is important that we be relevant to our community,” she says.

1719 William Trent House Museum, 15 Market Street. www. williamtrenthouse.org.

Decoding the Trent House’s hidden history

By Richard Hunter

H

unter Research in Trenton has been on the front lines of researching and documenting the history of the oldest building in the capital city, the Trent House, and, as mentioned in the Trent House story on page 8, recently conducted a soil study at the site When contacted for some comments regarding the Trent House, Richard Hunter, the group’s president and principal archaeologist, shared the following information from a recent study supported by New Jersey Manufacturers and conducted in part- Richard Hunter, right, led a soil study at the Trent House nership with Monmouth University arin collaboration with Monmouth University archaeologist chaeologist Richard Veit and the uniRichard Veit and graduate students. versity’s graduate students:

T

he William Trent House, one of Trenton’s premier historic sites, is a city-owned National Historic Landmark. Also listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places and designated as a City of Trenton historic landmark, the Trent House was originally constructed for Philadelphia merchant William Trent in 1719-21. The house presently occupies a 1.59-acre property in the heart of downtown Trenton, surrounded

by State of New Jersey office buildings and infrastructure. It is believed to occupy approximately the same site as the nucleus of the late 17th-century plantation known as Ballifield, established by Trenton’s founding European settler, Mahlon Stacy.

The archaeology of the Trent House property has been sampled on several occasions over the past quarter century, often in conjunction with restoration activity, and always under the oversight of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office.

It is now well established that the site holds an exceedingly high potential for yielding significant buried remains of both the Stacy and Trent family occupations along with abundant evidence of the property’s other mid-18th through early 20th-century residents, notably: Governor Lewis Morris; Dr. William Bryant, a Loyalist physician, and John Cox, an Assistant Quartermaster General to the Continental Army (successively residents here during the Revolutionary War); the de Woofoin family (French-Haitian refugees); Daniel W. Coxe, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant; and the locally prominent Redmond and Stokes families.

The historic site in its entirety overlies stratified cultural deposits that have yielded substantial traces of Native American occupation from the Late Archaic through Late Woodland periods. A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the south and east yards was performed in 2016 resulting

in the mapping of numerous subsurface anomalies that may or may not relate to cultural features.

The 2019 archaeological excavations have succeeded in clarifying and expanding our understanding of the mid-18th-century brick kitchen wing that was located east of the Trent House and attached by means of a “gangway.” The south and east foundations of this structure have been pinpointed, allowing its 20 x 30-foot footprint, as referenced in a 1759 sale advertisement, to be delineated with reasonable confidence.

The well, believed to be the original domestic water source for the Trent

Several thousand historic artifacts have now been recovered from archaeological exploration around the Trent House.

House and possibly predating the construction of the kitchen wing, is centrally located on the building’s northsouth axis.

The footprint of the 20-foot-long, 14-foot-wide gangway can also be projected, centered on the basement and first floor entries at the northern end of the Trent House’s eastern wall.

With this information in hand, one may reasonably begin to speculate on the kitchen’s floor plan and the locations of door and window openings, stairway and fireplace. The two-and a-half-story structure shown in 18thcentury depictions of the Trent House had shallow foundations and likely had no basement (although the limited archaeological exposure to date does not preclude the possibility of some form of sub-floor storage).

The kitchen wing appears to have been largely demolished to make way

for the construction of a new east wing of the house in the early 19th century, with brick rubble apparently being used to fill the well. The foundations for the east wall and southeast corner of the new east wing are now also well documented. These foundations were set down deeper into the ground than the kitchen wing foundations and their construction resulted in the removal of portions of the kitchen wing footings. Because of its position relative to the footprint of the new east wing (at the junction of two sections of the building), the well is presumed to have been abandoned in the early 19th century and then resurrected as part of the mid-1930s WPA site restoration.

The excavations in the south yard in front of the Trent House found no evidence of structural remains of buildings, despite the recovery of considerable quantities of early and mid18th-century domestic artifacts.

With this somewhat disappointing outcome, one must conclude that the location of Mahlon Stacy’s home, the predecessor to the Trent House, is still uncertain, although it is very likely — based on the survey map of 1714, the site topography and the distribution of late 17th/early 18th-century artifacts — to lie within 50 to 100 feet of the main block of the Trent House, probably within the presently defined walled property.

Several thousand historic artifacts have now been recovered from the various episodes of archaeological exploration around the Trent House.

These materials date predominantly from the 18th and early/mid-19th centuries, with smaller quantities of late 17th and later 19th-century artifacts.

The assemblage bears excellent witness to the wealth and living habits of the property’s occupants, reflecting intensive domestic activity over almost two centuries. There is very little in the way of 20th-century cultural materials, these being confined mostly

to the uppermost soil layer across the site, which was laid down in the mid1930s and, except for limited gardening and tree planting, has remained minimally disturbed since that time.

Throughout all the various archaeological campaigns conducted at the Trent House over the past quarter century there has been a persistent and growing awareness that the historic occupation sits atop evidence of a deep and prolonged Native American occupation from the Late Archaic through Late Woodland and Contact periods.

This has become especially apparent in this most recent round of excavations as the digging in (several excavation units) proceeded through the entire soil sequence into the culturally sterile subsoil.

In the limited area examined, few convincing features have been found in the form of pits, hearths, working floor surfaces or house patterns, but these very likely survive. The site has close to two feet of broadly stratified Native American cultural deposits and has yielded an abundance of lithic debris, mostly reflecting tool maintenance, along with smaller quantities of thermally altered rock and pottery.

The prehistoric component at the Trent House site holds immense research potential, including the possibility of deposits and artifacts from the critical 17th-century period of Native American/Euro-American interaction.

The quest continues to pin down the main focus of Ballifield, the plantation established by Trenton’s founding father, Mahlon Stacy. As a tantalizing and unresolved mission of archaeological exploration, there is ample opportunity for further fieldwork in pursuit of Stacy’s estate and its component buildings.

Hunter Research, Inc., 120 West State Street. 609-695-0122 or www.hunterresearch.com.

September 2020 | Trenton Downtowner9

September Headliners

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renton arts and culture leaders are talking small steps to bring the community together — in social distancing-compliant ways — this September.

The African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County’s First Friday on Front Street is set for September 4 from 5 to 10 p.m.

The event is coordinated in cooperation with the City of Trenton and the 1911 Smokehouse and sponsored by TD Bank and NJM Insurance Group.

AACCMC president Latarsha Burke says, “The mission of the collaborative is to improve the quality of life for Trenton residents, and I believe that events like ‘First Fridays’ are a step in the right direction to making that happen.”

The event includes musicians, crafters, and food available through vendors or at the Smokehouse.

Free attendance. For more information, visit www.taacf.com.

Trenton-based business TerraCycle and filling the air with hip-hop music and spoken word.

The annual event — called “New Jersey’s premiere hip-hop festival” — has its roots when coordinator artist Leon Rainbow and the artists of the group Vicious Styles Crew participated in a small paint-the-walls event at the internationally known recycling company’s headquarters on New York Avenue.

It has since turned into a one-of-akind community and family-friendly event.

The festival’s name was inspired by the State of New Jersey’s produce campaign with festival coordinators seeing art as their product.

The bring-your-masks free event happens at TerraCycle Complex, 121 New York Avenue, Trenton.

For more information, go to www.jerseyfreshjam.com.

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rtworks Trenton’s Art All Day is set for Saturday, September 19, from noon to 6 p.m. and marks the organization’s first physical live event since the March pandemic public

he Jersey Fresh Jam turns 15 years old on Saturday, September 12, and will celebrate as it always has — by painting the walls of noted

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event closures that forced the cancellation of the organization’s major public event, Art All Night.

The event turns the city into an arts destination with artists and galleries opening their doors.

Health-conscious organizations note that “with COVID-19 still a risk, this year Art All Day attendees will need to wear face masks and practice social distancing in order to gain access to carefully selected and staffed indoor and outdoor artist sites.”

Artists and attendees can get regularly updated information on Art All Day at artworkstrenton.org/ art-all-day-2020.

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renton’s Ciclovia Festival is also set for Saturday, September 19, on East Front Street from noon to 6 p.m.

“Ciclovia” (pronounced “seek – low – VEE – uh”) is Spanish for bikeway and refers to the Colombia-inspired street festivals being replicated in U.S. cities.

The second such event in Trenton, it is a cooperative effort of the Trenton Cycling Revolution, Art All Day, and Trenton City Hall.

Organizers call it “an opportunity to

Top left, community members gather for food, entertainment, and socializing at a First Friday gathering. Top right, graffiti artists at work during the Jersey Fresh Jam. Above left, an artist shares her work with two young Art All Day attendees. Above right, a unicyclist shows off his skills during the Ciclovia Festival. reimagine the city’s streets for people and play, rather than for cars. For a few hours, the streets will turn into places where you can walk, run, skate, ride bikes, and enjoy active events while also getting to know your neighbors. Through this initiative, we hope to promote healthy, active living and encourage community in Trenton.”

Free. For updated information, visit Artworks’s website at artworkstrenton. org/art-all-day-2020.

Mural project transforms parking garage’s walls

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he Trenton Downtown Association’s “Murals on Front Street” project continues for the fourth year thanks to a $25,000 New Jersey State Council on the Arts grant.

The funding is designed to continue community-based arts programming in Trenton.

Noted Trenton street artist Leon Rainbow again coordinates the project transforming the walls of a parking garage at the corner of Front and South Broad streets into works of art.

Street artists Dean “RAS” Innocenzi and R Fab are joining Rainbow in the project that continues through September 20.

“Murals on Front Street” was

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launched in 2017 as a live visual art event to complement the Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series, a TDA-sponsored series of 10 free concerts in Mill Hill Park in downtown Trenton.

While the coronavirus pandemic forced the TDA to reschedule the 2020 series to 2021, officials were able to continue “Murals on Front” as well as the “We Are Survivors” mural series created in partnership with the Trenton Health Team, and a city neighborhoods sidewalk chalk project.

“We could all use a little more positive energy and joyful, creative expression in our lives,” says Rainbow about the project.

For more information on the TDA and times to see the artists at work, visit www.facebook.com/trentondowntownassociation.

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September 2020 | Trenton Downtowner11

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12Trenton Downtowner September 2020