Northern NJ Community Foundation's ArtsBergen Networking Event to Spark Connections for Community-Based Art on 1/25

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's (NNJCF) ArtsBergen initiative kicks-off 2017 with a brand new Connect the Dots networking series. The first event, Connect, Collaborate & Create, will be held on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Student Union Building, the Rutherford Room, located at 1000 River Road in Teaneck, New Jersey, from 6:00 p.m.to 8:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Now, in its second year, Connect the Dots is a free networking series drawing people throughout Bergen County. Members of the arts community, municipal and community leaders and business owners living or working in the county are invited to attend and meet others with similar interests, share their creative endeavors, and build partnerships for arts based community projects. Michael Bias, the founder and Artistic/Producing Director of The Garage Theatre, will facilitate the session in fun "get-to-know-you" exercises that create opportunities for artists to make substantive connections and share their work.

"Creativity doesn't happen in isolation. One of ArtsBergen's goals is to provide opportunities for artists, arts organizations, and community leaders to network. These connections can spark creative, artistic ideas and partnerships that can cultivate arts based projects in the community," said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director.

Strengthening the Region's Arts Community

During 2017, the focus of the Connect the Dots series is to connect and strengthen the vibrant arts community in the region. With more artists living in Bergen County than the rest of New Jersey, a goal of the series is to provide opportunities to collaborate, encourage partnerships among artists in the community, and explore and develop creative placemaking projects in the area.

During January, the NNJCF's Community Engagement Program is partnering with Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative (BVMI), a nonprofit based in Hackensack, New Jersey providing healthcare to uninsured residents, to collect and provide dental products to underresourced residents in the county. People attending the Connect the Dots event are asked to bring dental products, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash and other dental related items to the networking event. The dental products collected will be distributed to the BVMI's patients.

Space is limited. Pre-registration is required for the first Connect the Dots session and may be done online at http://www.nnjcf.org/connect. For further information, call 201-568-5608.

About NNJCF
The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization based in Englewood, New Jersey, focuses primarily on civic engagement, education, public health, and the arts. NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life. The Foundation's partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other, by sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources.

For more information, visit http://www.nnjcf.org, send an email to nnjcf@nnjcf.org, or call (201) 568-5608. Follow the NNJCF on Facebook at Northern NJ Community Foundation/ArtsBergen and Twitter @NNJCF.

About ArtsBergen

ArtsBergen, an initiative of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, is an emerging arts alliance in Bergen County, New Jersey that supports and encourages creative placemaking, the practice of integrating arts and culture into a neighborhood, town, or region to build community and livability and boost local economy. The initiative's mission is to energize and unify artists and arts organizations and connect the Bergen County community to the arts. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to artsbergen@nnjcf.org, or call 201-568-5608.