D&R Greenway Announces Delaware River Free Webinar with Kayak Option

D&R Greenway Land Trust Announces Virtual Series with Kayaking Opportunity

Discovering the Delaware: Getting to Know the River ‘In Your Back Yard’

Have you ever driven over a Delaware River bridge and wondered, “What lives in that water?” Now you can find out! D&R Greenway is offering a series of virtual presentations with discussion – free of charge – about Delaware River natural, historic, and cultural places that can be discovered locally. Lucky participants who attend all four sessions in the series will be rewarded with a guest certificate for a kayak experience in D&R Greenway’s new fleet of boats kept at Bordentown Beach.

This opportunity is first come, first served, with a limitation of 25 participants in each session to allow for questions and discussion. Everyone is welcome to register at www.drgreenway.org. Residents from communities bordering on the Delaware River are especially encouraged to attend. These communities include Bordentown, Trenton, Ewing, Titusville, Hopewell, West Amwell and Lambertville in New Jersey and cross-river communities in Pennsylvania. Those who sign up for all four sessions will receive priority registration.

Each of the four sessions takes place from 7:00-8:30 pm via Zoom, with the link sent to registered participants only. All sessions are on Mondays, except for the last session which takes place on the Thursday following Memorial Day.

 May 10: Geography and History

May 17: Ecology and Natural Resources

May 24: Arts and Culture

June 3: Activism and Kayaking

 

“The goal of this new, exciting opportunity is to create awareness about the amenities found in the Delaware River watershed, an American river that provides drinking water to 15 million people,” says Linda Mead, D&R Greenway President and CEO. A long-time river advocate and co-founder of the annual Delaware River Sojourn, Mead says that the series “seeks to encourage stewardship of this important river, the plants, wildlife and historic resources found in our own backyard.”

Most people who live in the region find themselves driving along or across the Delaware River several times each month, if not daily. In the early months of 2020, D&R Greenway Land Trust was planning to launch an on-the-water educational program to introduce people to the value and importance of the Delaware River with an on-the-water kayaking experience. As with many things, this program was significantly affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This past winter, D&R Greenway’s Community Conservation Fellow, Maria Stahl, organized a four session virtual series about unique aspects of the river environs. Piloted this spring with high school students in the Futuro program of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, this series is now open for the first time to the public.

Topics include the history of the Delaware, from Native American presence to the founding of our country, to its designation in 2020 as River of the Year by American Rivers. 

Instructors include Hal Taylor, author of The Illustrated Delaware River: a History of a Great American River, joined by Dave Bell, 2019 Outstanding Volunteer from the Tookany-Tacony/Frankford Watershed Partnership, speaking on geography and history. David Wheeler, executive director of Conserve Wildlife Foundation and nature author, will host a session on the ecology of the river, its special natural places, and wildlife, including the birds that can be seen in the Delaware River Migratory Flyway. This partner of D&R Greenway conducts scientific inventories along the river and is known for its work in the Delaware Bayshore. Arts and culture will feature a discussion of the art of the Delaware River with Diana Moore, who holds a Masters in Contemporary Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art and curates environmentally-themed exhibits for D&R Greenway’s art gallery located at its headquarters, the Johnson Education Center, in Princeton, NJ. Tracy Carluccio of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network will speak about the history of river protection, including current efforts to steward the river and protect it from pollution. Cie Stroud, a kayak instructor certified by the American Canoe Association, will share kayaking techniques in preparation for a first-hand experience on the Crosswicks Creek at its confluence with the Delaware River. D&R Greenway thanks The William Penn Foundation for their support that enables this free public program.

"We are all looking forward to venturing out onto the river in kayaks together this summer,” enthuses Maria Stahl, who designed this series. “This webinar series will introduce participants to aspects of the river that they might not have thought about before and prepare them for an on-the-water excursion!"

D&R Greenway Land Trust, an accredited nonprofit, has saved over 21,000 acres of New Jersey land since its 1989 founding. Preserving land for life and creating public trails grants everyone the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. The land trust’s preserved farms and community gardens provide local organic food for neighbors—including those in need. D&R Greenway’s strategic land conservation and stewardship combat climate change, protect wildlife, and ensures clean drinking water for future generations. D&R Greenway's mission is connecting land with people from all walks of life. D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center, home to its art galleries in Princeton, is closed to the public to ensure health and safety due to COVID. Outdoor trails and labyrinth are open. Visit D&R Greenway on Facebook and Instagram and at www.drgreenway.org

Our outdoor trails and labyrinth are open. Visit our Facebook and Instagram pages and www.drgreenway.org to learn about the organization’s latest news and virtual programs. D&R Greenway Land Trust, One Preservation Place, Princeton NJ, 08540. The best way to reach D&R Greenway Staff during the COVID pandemic is by e-mail, or by calling D&R Greenway at 609-578-7470.

JCTC’S TALK SERIES “BLACK SPACE” WITH ASHLEY NICOLE BAPTISTE CONTINUES IN MAY

The Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) presents the fourth installment of the new talk series

Black Space

an ongoing series of intimate and candid conversations exploring the experiences of black artists in the world today

WHEN: Wednesday, May 5, at 7:30pm
WHERE: Facebook Live and on Zoom webinar. 
For details, visit www.jctcenter.org.  
The series' first interview was with with Jersey City visual artist K. Brown, which took place on Wednesday, March 31.

Series host Ashley Nicole Baptiste, JCTC’s associate artistic director, shines the spotlight on the beloved jazz singer and educator “Ms. Mary” Aiken, a Jersey City living legend, in a candid conversation about growing up in Jersey City, her career as a local entertainer and also her commitment to serving as a role model for young people.

Baptiste’s next guest is the hip-hop recording artist, songwriter and poet Ibn Sharif Shakoor on Sunday, May 16, at 2pm.  Shakoor, who is a JCTC resident artist, talks about growing up amid drugs and violence on the mean streets of Jersey City, and his path into music and songwriting to process, cope with and overcome adversity.

A graduate of Ferris High School, Ms. Mary (left) is not only a well-known longtime fixture on the stage of Moore’s Lounge (where she performs regularly) but she is also a devoted teacher and role model having worked with local youth for over 50 years in countless schools, day cares, libraries, and churches.  She was the style columnist for the Jersey City magazine From Dusk Til Dawn, she’s taught modeling, puppetry, storytelling, sign language, acting and singing to students of every age.  A keen-eyed witness to both the changes, durability and extraordinary diversity of Jersey City, Ms. Mary is a self-described “mom to all,” whose motto is “you treat people how you want to be treated, and they will treat you well!”

Born in Hoboken in 1986, Shakoor (right) grew up in Jersey City.  He began writing raps at age 9 and always credits music and poetry as the means by which he has both survived and thrived.  As a boy Shakoor witnessed his mother’s drug abuse, often experiencing late-night convocations on dangerous street corners filled with violence.  He was introduced to the trumpet as a child and soon discovered that raps were an outlet for his identity as a creative person.  Inspired first by Wu-Tang and Tupac albums, he released his first mix tape, “It’s Been War,” at age 18. Despite mixed feedback due to its conscience content, he continued to write, earning the respect of his rap peers.  His latest projects display an intriguing versatility while maintaining his lyrical and soulful integrity.  He is currently a resident artist of JCTC. Instagram: @ibnsharifshakoor

Baptiste (left), an actor and a veteran youth theatre educator with the JCTC Youth Theatre and the Stories of Greenville initiative, was born in San Francisco.  “I want to create an intentional safe space where black artists from around the world can come together and have a human-to-human exchange about art, race and life,” she says. “This series is about expansion, and pushing past pre-conceived notions of blackness.”

“As our city gentrifies while retaining its diversity, and indeed as the world is changing in fundamental ways, being right in the middle of these conversations is essential,” says JCTC’s artistic director, Olga Levina.  “For us as a theatre company dedicated to sparking conversations that lead to deeper respect and understanding, we know we need to create a safe place to listen and learn and collaborate.”

Virtual May @ The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center

MAY 2021@				THE TEMPLE EMANU-EL STREICKER CENTER
	May 3			May 4			May 10
	6:30 PM EDT A conversation with Caste author Isabel Wilkerson and Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson			7:30 PM EDT Letty Cottin Pogrebin on women’s rights and wrongs with Abigail Pogrebin			6:30 PM EDT Orchestra of St. Luke’s Composers of Note Series: Gabriela & Johannes
	SOLD OUT			REGISTER			REGISTER
	May 12			May 13			May 20
	6:30 PM EDT Julianna Margulies discusses her powerful and candid new memoir, Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life, with Ali Wentworth			6:30 PM EDT Jennifer Weiner returns to discuss her twisty work of intrigue and secrets, That Summer: A Novel			11:30 AM EST What comes first: the “American” or the “Jewish”? A discussion with Michael Marmur and David Ellenson on American Jewish Thought Since 1934
	REGISTER			REGISTER			REGISTER
DONATE   We are happy to offer many of these webinars free of charge in these challenging times and hope you enjoy them. Any contribution to support our efforts is appreciated.

WEBINAR FROM NEW JERSEY INTERGENERATIONAL ORCHESTRA 

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Virtual Event Tomorrow @ Hunterdon Art Museum

This symposium, “Pipe Art: Understudied Glass,” considers the glass pipe as a fluid work of art fundamental to the art history of glass. Sometimes demoted by law or public opinion to the category of “paraphernalia,” the artwork of the pipe nonetheless defies its sometimes categorization as sub-sculpture. Celebrated artists Kim Thomas and Dan Coyle, whose works are featured in the current exhibition, and Luken Sheafe, whose artist name is SALT, will present their intensely wrought, figural, and in the case of Thomas, sometimes kinetic, pipes. Joined by Susie J. Silbert, Curator at the Corning Museum of Glass, these artists will further contextualize their work within the burgeoning field of pipe-making. The symposium additionally will consider historical glass that is sometimes demoted by structures of power and hierarchy and therefore figures in an understudied cultural history of the United States. Art historian Joseph Larnerd will illuminate the rich personal history and aesthetic power of a 1909 cut glass bowl, and Jason Vartikar will reflect on 19th-century blown-glass jugs.

 

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Nina Ozlu Tunceli of AFTA to Join This Friday's Webinar

RSVP for This Friday's Webinar with Special Guest  Nina Ozlu Tunceli March 12, 2021 | 10:00am - 10:45am Tune in for ArtPride's next FREE webinar. Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Chief Counsel of Government & Public Affairs for Americans for the Arts, will join us for updates on federal issues including PPP, Shuttered Venues Operators Grants, and the American Rescue Plan Act currently being considered by US Congress. Nina is also the Executive Director of Americans for the Arts Arts Action Fund. REGISTER NOW

Speakers:

Nina Ozlu Tunceli Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs & Executive Director, Americans for the Arts Action Fund

Ann Marie Miller Director of Advocacy & Public Policy ArtPride New Jersey