What's New

The greater Orange community is the second urban area in the United States to launch a [murmur] tour (http://murmurorange.com) of its historic neighborhoods. [murmur] tours document stories and memories told by different individuals about specific geographic locations to create an accessible, informative oral history of a community. Passers-by on the sidewalk or in cars enter a number posted on the building into their cell phones to hear an audio recording of people connected to that building talking about their experiences. For more information, contact Molly Rose Kaufmann at 973-678-3110 x 24 or molly@handsinc.org.

From Left:  HANDS Executive Director Patrick Morrissy; Mayor Eldridge Hawkins; ValleyArts Coordinator Lorena LaGrasa

On Friday, February 5^th, Mayor Eldridge Hawkins officially designated the Valley Arts District at Hat City Kitchen's ribbon cutting.  200+ community leaders, residents and political leaders came out to support this monumental event.

Hat City Kitchen restaurant was started by HANDS, Inc.as part of the effort to revitalize the Valley neighborhood. Profits from Hat City Kitchen goes back into revitalization projects that are bringing the Valley neighborhood of Orange back to life.  Located at 459 Valley Street, formerly the home of Ricci's in the Valley, Hat City Kitchen is the gateway to the Valley Arts District and a landmark addition to our eclectic range of eateries.

From left:  Jermaine Sutherland, ORNG, Ink; Vaughn McKoy of PSE&G; Patrick Morrissy of HANDS, Inc.; State Assemblywoman Mila Jasey; Peter Crosta, Orange School District; Valerie Jackson, City of Orange; Zaki Michael, ORNG, Ink; John Amato of Valley National Bank; Shannon Sorhaindo, Houston Clerizier and Kori Davis, ORNG, Ink.

On March 26th, the Valley Arts District celebrated the Grand Opening of IronWorks Studios.

HANDS has brought the 3,000 square foot Modern Ironworks back to life that once produced everything imaginable in iron and steel.   It is  reborn as a home for arts non-profits in a modernized facility. 

The building facility house ValleyArts, Inc a non-profit coordinating the Valley Arts District; ORNG Ink., the teen arts program named by Orange High Schools students.  These students are taught graphic design and sell their products out of the ORNG, Ink store.  Part of the building is being used by an artist-in-residence program, Steiner Studios, to created video/media projects with high school students.

A great day was had by all in the ValleyArts District at the Valley Arts Music and Poetry Festival 9 on Saturday June 12th.  200+ residents and community leaders were treated to day of live music, artist demonstrations, creating artwork and free food. 

 The Valley Arts District is dedicated to promoting an ongoing celebration of the arts in our community; supporting the people who create and marketing the Valley’s abundant cultural resources to the local and non-local audience. VAD programs and promotes many of high-quality free or affordable cultural initiatives, exhibitions, performances and holiday celebrations each year. The 2011 opens the VAD doors with the preview of the powerful new play Mercy and the Firefly, at Luna Stage Thursday Feb 10, 2011 7:30 PM. Don’t miss the unique opportunity to see this play and reserve your tickets at www.lunastage.org for February and March. An other prominent organization of the VAD is Arts Unbound located on 544 Freeman Street. On February 12th Arts Unbound present an exhibition of Spectra Academy Graphic Novels Class:  "Unauthorized Catastrophic Doom" with a reception from, 3 - 5 PM.  Exhibit runs through February 18th. The VAD kicks off the first Art Loop of 2011 on February 25 from 6 to 9 pm. As a signature event, the Art Loop takes place every last Friday of each month. Artists and members of the local organizations and community, unite to give life to an exciting event of flowing activities from art exhibits to workshops and demonstrations and live performances. The February Art Loop celebrate Black History Month with the focal point of happenings at the Brass Company building between Freeman street and South Jefferson Street, Orange. An opening reception will be held at YEMA Gallery presenting a collective exhibit called Diaspora curated by Adrienne Wheeler and Toni Thomas, featuring the work of seven artists: Geraldine Gaines, Mansa Mussa, Monica Holder, Papa Gora Tall, Rebecca Lowry,Wahala Temi, and Zethray Stimson will present work that showcases their unique connection with the African diaspora. The IronWorks Gallery on 406 Tompkins Street features the work of Franz Mathurin JR Mixed media on canvas. Gallery Hours: M-Fri 10-5, Sat 9-11. Lets not forget our the “place to go” for a delicious dinner and quality live music intertainment: at the corner of Valley and Forest streets, in the shadow of Our Lady of the Valley Church, HAT CITY KITCHEN is the new restaurant and “more”. Recently rated a 3 star restaurant, HCK brings new vibe with a program of live music several nights a week. Check the website at HatCityKitchen.com for more information and reservation. March is an other exciting month with an opening reception at the IronWorks Gallery hosting a contemporary art exhibit called Apocrypha. Curated by Evonne M. Davis and Emma Wilcox  from the Gallery Aferro (Newark)
Studio Residency Program. Apocrypha features Kenseth Armstead, Dahlia Elsayed and Blithe Riley, artists whose 
current projects are rooted in biography and autobiography.
 The questions of authorship and authority that arise when artists work
with found autobiographical material, or in the realm of “unofficial
history,” are complex. Each text-based project has been shaped by the
artist’s motivations. This exhibition runs from March 5  to April 15, 2011.
Opening Reception Saturday, March 12, 6-9 PM

Gallery Hours: M-Fri 10-5, Sat 9-11. OUALIE ART Studio/Gallery located at 540 A Freeman Street, features “Window Dressing 1”,  bi-montly window installation with an Artist talk  on March 5 at 2pm. Arts Unbound Gallery reserves the month of March to an exhibition of fine art and craft by Arts Unbound Gallery Artists. Gallery Hours:  Mon - Fri.  10 am - 3 pm or by appointment, YEMA Gallery's March dates are: Friday the 11^th with Catfish Friday Writers Circle @ 6:30PM, Saturday the12th morning Community Art Workshop for children 7 -12 yrs, (free) and Saturday the 26th  with the closing event for Diaspora, Artist Talk @ 3PM. On March 20th ValleyArts Inc. as the umbrella organization of the Valley Arts District partners with the West Orange Arts Council for an exciting season of events starting from "Studio WOAC at the Loft" at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Artists demo, temporary work in progress studios and workshop will be featured.  In April OUALIE ART Studio/Gallery will feature on the 1^th OWO(Orange and West Orange) artist gathering on the16^th Spring postcard show* and on the 30^th Suminagashi workshop. The IronWorks Gallery host the art exhibit “THE MISSING PIECE” The administration of ValleyArts welcomes artists to submit work for the second edition of the annual community exhibit of the Valley Arts District, We are looking for artwork that addresses problems and manifests ideas, identifies issues and expresses solutions for our contemporary society. This exciting exhibit runs from April 22th – June 15^th with an opening reception on Saturday April 29, 2011 from 6pm to 9pm. VALLEYARTS ALSO PARTNER WITH THE CITY OF ORANGE FOR SEVERAL EVENTS and community activities throughout the year. For more information call ValleyArts at 973-674-0183 or contact LorenaLaGra@gmail.com. For more information on educational programs for kids, free classes and other event contact valleyartsdistrict@gmail.com

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