TRANSCULTURAL NEW JERSEY: DIVERSE ARTISTS
SHAPING CULTURE AND COMMUNITIES

Friday, May 10, 2002

click here for participant info & conference bios in pdf format

8:30 – 9:30 AM Coffee and Registration

9:30 AM Yucuninu, Mexican Dance Performance - Alicia Diaz

Purpose of Conference and Review the Day’s Program
Welcome Remarks & Introduction of Elizabeth Christopherson,
Executive Director, New Jersey Network
Isabel Nazario introduces Alicia Diaz (Performance)

Acknowledge sponsors & introduce partners:
To-Thi Bosacchi; Prosper Godonoo; Jeffrey Wechsler
Isabel Nazario and Elizabeth Christopherson

Elizabeth Christopherson introduces Leonard M. Fisher, Board Chairman, NJSCA; Fisher introduces, Gov. James E. McGreevey;
Greetings, Governor James E. McGreevey

10:00 AM

The National Debate on Multiculturalism
Keynote Speaker - Tomás Ybarra-Frausto
Associate Director of Creativity and Culture, Rockefeller Foundation
Introduced by Leonard M. Fisher, State Council Chair
click here for the lecture (pdf format)

A Cavalcade of Diversity:
Statewide Multicultural Museum Exhibitions, 2004
Jeffrey Wechsler, Senior Curator
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University

Cable Education Programs and Marketing of Statewide Initiative
Elizabeth Christopherson, Executive Director, NJN

11:05 – 11:20 AM Plenary Session I

State Demographics: Interpreting the Numbers
James Hughes, Dean, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy, Rutgers University

11:20 – 12:45 AM Plenary Session II

Visualizing the Transcultural Imaginary:
Curators Sharing Perspectives on the Aesthetic Concerns
and Art Practices of Contemporary Artists from Diverse Cultures

Speakers:
Alejandro Anreus, Professor of Art History, William Paterson University, and Former Curator, Jersey City Museum

Judith Brodsky, Founding Director,
Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper

Vishakha N. Desai, Senior Vice President for Cultural
Programs and Director of Galleries,
Asia Society, New York City

Debbie Willis Kennedy, Associate Professor of Photography,
New York University

Q & A

12:45 - 1:30 PM LUNCH

Performances:
Korean Cultural Group – Drummers
Rutgers University Salsa Band

1:30 – 2:45 PM

SESSION A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRODUCTION

Expanding the Boundaries: Artists Shaping Culture
and Communities Through the Creative Process

Poetry: Poet Laureate Rita Dove (Invited)

Performance: Latin Arte Claudio Mir and Josephine Baez

Video: Artists Speak Out Produced by William Sanchez, New Jersey Network
Featuring:
Mel Edwards
Ming Fay
Monica Camin
Elie Dholak
Armando Sosa
Ela Shah

Talk By: William Westerman, Director
Program for Immigrant Traditional Artists, International Institute of New Jersey
Discusses the work of Elie Dholak, Tibetan Woodworker & Armando Sosa, Guatemalan Weaver (viewed in video earlier)

Slide Presentation: Nii Quarcoopome, Curator of Africa, the Americas and the Pacific, The Newark Museum Discusses the work of Haitian artist.

Video: The Gardens of Cordoba Islamic Art at The Newark Art Museum Ward Mintz, Deputy Director of Programs

SESSION B BY INVITATION ONLY

Roundtable Discussion. Historians Discuss Multiculturalism after September 11th with Museum and Gallery Directors (Closed Session - open to museum and gallery directors)

Moderator: Clement Price, Professor of History, Rutgers University and Hunter College
Juan Flores, Professor, City University of New York, Graduate Center
Matt Matsuda, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University

2:45 – 3:45 PM

Plenary Session III

Funders Supporting Artists and Advancing Diversity in New Jersey

Laurie Aden, Dodge Foundation

Michael Bzdak, Manager, Corporate Contributions for the Arts, Johnson & Johnson

Tom Moran, Program Officer, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Slide Lecture: Artists of Color NJSCA Has Funded Through Fellowships
Janet Rodriguez, Program Director, Morgan Trust Foundation