When you think of “art” in a broad sense, what do you see? White gallery walls, paintings, drawings, photography… landscapes, still lifes, portraits. While that perception can be true – so much wonderful work can be seen in galleries throughout our area and beyond – the idea of expanding on what creativity means to a town as special as Princeton has been inspiring in itself.
In our roles at the Arts Council of Princeton, we have the honor of interpreting what it is both neighbors and visitors want to do, see, hear, and learn. As a 57-year-old organization, we certainly offer the tried-and-true classics that see full classrooms every semester: our ceramics studio is a bustling hub of students eager to work with clay, painting classes run regularly in oil, acrylic, and watercolor, and our printmaking studio is the latest hotbed of creative activity. But what happens when someone is just a bit hesitant to tip their toe in the world of artmaking? What if someone is interested in seeing new works, but hasn’t yet worked up the courage to attend a gallery opening? Perhaps another has always been interested in buying art and supporting local makers but has no idea where to start. This is where we come in.
Art for all
There is a large banner outside of our Paul Robeson Center for the Arts that reads, “Become your most creative self.” In other words, let us meet you where you are. You don’t have to be a skilled, established artist to walk through our doors. In fact, that’s – in many ways – the point! Making art should feel like continuously discovering new parts of yourself, the medium, maybe even the world around you. But we get it! It can feel vulnerable to try something new, especially as adults. Breaking down the barriers of creative pursuit, in whatever medium you choose, has been our team’s driving ethos and the inspiration behind some of our most powerful recent endeavors.
In a true display of making art accessible to all, our Princeton Sketchbook Club is an all ages, almost-no-rules-apply approach to a beginner-friendly practice. Participants sign up to receive a blank sketchbook to fill up with anything their heart desires, and have turned in books full of collage, pencil doodles, elaborate collages, poetry, and so much more. When the first chapter of the Club ran in 2021, we began holding bi-weekly “Sketch-Ins”, social opportunities to work on your book with fellow Club members. Ranging in age, background, experience levels, and just about everything else, these meetups quickly became treasured time to put the rest of world in the back of your mind for a few hours and sketch away, share snacks, and just chat about life. When the due date for the books arrived, well over a hundred sketchbooks were returned to grace the shelves of our new Sketchbook Library, on permanent display at the ACP. That full Library is now not only a popular stop for those visiting our space, but the future home of the next chapter of books as a new generation of 300 sketchbooks are currently being worked on throughout the country (and Ireland! And Australia!) Books are available until September 6 on the Arts Council’s website, and we encourage anyone who is itching to create, but doesn’t quite know where to start, to join our island of misfit sketchers.
Still, maybe the idea of committing to a 30-page sketchbook is more than you bargained for. Maybe a six- or eight-week class feels like too big a bite to take. When we heard that folks were finding it challenging to make new friends in town, we set out to create social-first, bite-sized options inspired by the top-notch instruction we offer all year round. And, oh – there could be wine! From there, our BYOB series was born. Events span a variety of mediums but share a common goal: to have fun while trying something a bit out of your norm. We’ve seen people arrive on their own and chat with those around them, come with their partner for an out-of-our-comfort-zone date night, or be joined by a friend or family member for some inspiring quality time together. Wherever you approach it from, it’s a pretty cool way to try linocut printmaking, polymer clay jewelry, screen-printing, wheel ceramics – whatever sounds exciting to you. What’s important to us is that you feel free to explore.
Breaking down the gallery walls
If exploring your own artistic abilities isn’t what you’re after, we’ve made it easy to enjoy works from others, too.
The Arts Council painted its first mural in 2012, but 2020 was a pivotal year for public art in Princeton. We so clearly remember walking through the streets of town – usually bustling with people, cars, dogs, and all kinds of activity – and being met with an eerie stillness. Soon, we were texting back and forth saying, “We have to do something to give people a boost”, and naturally for us, that something was art. Art on a big scale.
In the following days, plans were set for us to create a temporary mural on the side of the Village Silver store on Spring Street, a well-traveled location nestled next to Witherspoon Street in our Central Business District. A colorful declaration of the words Stronger Together replaced a once bare wall, a message of support and solidarity for our neighbors and beloved small businesses. And well, the rest is history.
In the four years that have passed, we have featured fourteen temporary murals at the Spring Street site. It’s so exciting to see this mural continue changing, always with the new perspective and artistic style of the artist chosen to paint it. The community gets so jazzed to see the artwork in this space change frequently. It’s like a “mural gallery” which is not only incredibly fun, but allows us to continue breaking down the traditional concepts of where we expect to experience art. Without even stepping foot into a gallery, you’ve experienced a new work, a new artist, a new concept.
But why stop there? It was time to take even more art to the streets! Our Sauce for the Goose Outdoor Art Market is celebrating its 30th anniversary this November, but just a few short years ago, you simply wouldn’t recognize what it’s grown to be today. The market grew year to year from 30 vendors, to 50, to 75, and now boasts more than 100 artists and makers on Paul Robeson Place where the street just absolutely buzzes with a diverse set of truly talented vendors working in ceramics, textiles, jewelry, glass, wood, printmaking, painting – the list goes on and on. We had such a fantastic time and had so many artists who wanted to be a part of it, that we introduced the Princeton Art Bazaar in May and continued the Winter Artist Chalets in the wintertime, giving folks as many opportunities as possible to support the talented creatives living and working right here in our area.
And that’s what’s at the heart of it all: if you’ve been wondering how to become part of Princeton’s creative community, you likely already are. By giving words of encouragement to our mural artists hard at work, sending a sketchbook to someone you love, buying your holiday gifts at a market, or finally signing yourself up to try that ceramic wheel, you’re part of our art ecosystem. And boy are we happy to have you.