ArtsBergen Seeks Artists to Showcase on Construction Boards in Hackensack

ArtsBergen has issued a call for New Jersey artists to create a mural on a fence surrounding the construction site at 76 Main Street in Hackensack, New Jersey. ArtsBergen, an initiative of the Englewood-based Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, is working with the Hackensack Upper Main Street Alliance on the downtown beautification project, the Main Gateway Mural.

The Hackensack Creative Team, a partnership between the Hackensack Upper Main Alliance and ArtsBergen with coaching from the National Consortium for Creative Placemaking of Union, New Jersey, requests submissions from visual artists for the project. Eric Anderson, CEO of Alexander Anderson Real Estate Group, is the property owner and is supporting the project.

ArtsBergen is recruiting the artists, managing the submission process and will be working with its partners to implement the project. Five artists will be selected to create murals across seven boards each for a total of 35 four by eight foot boards. The project's theme is Hackensack's rich cultural history and its vision for a more vibrant, cleaner, greener and healthier city. The murals will be completed by August 2015 and on display during the building's reconstruction. They will then be moved to other construction sites throughout the city, as approximately 1000 new multi-housing units are built on and near Main Street over the next two years. Hackensack is in the process of transforming its downtown with additional residential construction contemplated in the near future.

The project will beautify the neighborhood and property site, engage passers-by, and act as a beacon of the City and the Upper Main Street Alliance's endorsement of arts and culture as a powerful tool to transform, connect, and serve communities. "As with other cities that have reinvented themselves, we recognize that art is a key ingredient in Hackensack's successful redevelopment into a hip urban community to live, work and play," said Jerry Lombardo, Chairman of the Upper Main Alliance.

"We are pleased at how well creative placemaking is taking hold in the city. When we introduced the concept, Hackensack leaders quickly grasped that the arts improve residents' quality of life and enhance the economy. Arts are good for business. The mural is a first step. ArtsBergen looks forward to celebrating the Hackensack Renaissance as it unfold," said Michael Shannon, President of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

For more information or to submit an application for the Main Gateway Mural project, visit the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's web site, www.nnjcf.org/call-for-artists-entry-form, by the deadline, Friday, June 19.

Further information about ArtsBergen and the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation may be found at www.nnjcf.org/what-we-do/artsbergen and Facebook, on.fb.me/1ThmY19. Additional details about the Hackensack Upper Main Street Alliance are available at www.uppermain.org and on Facebook at on.fb.me/1FPNkhq. Learn more about the Hackensack Creative Team at www.facebook.com/CreativeHackensack.

ArtsBergen, an initiative of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, is an emerging arts alliance in Bergen County, New Jersey. ArtsBergen's mission is to energize and unify artists and arts organizations and connect the Bergen County community to the arts. ArtsBergen also 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.

Established in 2004, the Upper Main Alliance is a public private partnership between the business community and the City of Hackensack. The organization's mission is to address the issues facing the business community with the goal of improving the local economy and the City's overall business climate. Since its inception, the Upper Main Alliance has provided Main Street with aesthetic improvements, clean and green programs, merchant grants, and marketing and events such as the Hackensack Street Festival.

The Hackensack Creative Team is a group of 40 artists, merchants, organizational leaders and public officials working on a creative placemaking plan for the City of Hackensack. Creative placemaking is the integration of arts and culture into a neighborhood, town, or region to build community and livability and boost local economy. The team has identified a number of projects that will move forward the Creative Vision Statement drafted with the input of various members and sectors of the community. This mural is the first project.

Last year marked a major milestone for Hackensack and its downtown business district. The Upper Main Alliance, the City of Hackensack, Archer & Greiner and DMR Architects received a New Jersey Future 2014 Smart Growth Award for the creation of the City's Downtown Rehabilitation Plan. Adopted in 2012, the plan calls for new housing, retail and restaurants to maximize the city's strategic advantages in the region.

Encompassing 163 acres and 389 individual properties on 39 city blocks, the Hackensack Downtown Rehabilitation Plan promotes a range of land uses. These include retail, restaurants, office, commercial, civic, and entertainment, along with a diversity of housing types, to create a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly downtown. One of the key objectives is to connect a series of neighborhoods with improved infrastructure, parks, plazas, open spaces and the city's public transportation facilities.