Camden, NJ –Today the City of Camden, Cooper’s Ferry Partnership (CFP), and Rutgers—Camden Center for the Arts (RCCA) released a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking artists to contribute to the community artistic social impact project, “A New View.” Camden was awarded $1 million as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge to launch “A New View,” which will transform sites previously associated with illegal dumping into dynamic art spaces, inspiring residents and attracting visitors. The six sites for temporary public art are located along major transportation corridors in the Camden neighborhoods of North Camden, Gateway, Whitman Park, and East Camden, along the PATCO Speedline, NJ Transit’s River Line, and Camden GreenWay.
“’A New View’ is all about envisioning a future for the city, with art playing a central role in reinforcing Camden as a place for creativity and innovation. We’re so excited to start the process of selecting talented artists to transform spaces which were previously plagued by illegal dumping. Partnering with artists, our city will reclaim these public spaces, and showcase how art can make a space more dynamic, attract community, and change neighborhood perception,” said Camden Mayor Frank Moran. “The sites chosen for the project have long been dumping grounds, literally or figuratively, and while we’ve started the process of cleaning them up, ‘A New View’ will transform them and generate more interest among community members and visitors to explore different Camden neighborhoods.”
The City, CFP, and RCCA welcome applications from visual and performing artists with a track record of demonstrating their ability to work at a scale commensurate with outdoor sites, using materials, spaces, and time in a transformative way to reinforce the perception of the city as a place of creative possibility. Local artists are encouraged to apply, especially those who have had experience with meaningful community engagement in the creation or interpretation of artwork. Grant funding will be used to support the temporary installations as well as programming throughout the end of the project in October 2020.
“This visionary – and very generous – Bloomberg grant is bringing together the region’s best and brightest artists, curators, and community-builders to beautify highly visible areas of the city. ‘A New View’ uses arts and culture to shine light on important urban issues while strengthening our neighborhoods,” said Kris Kolluri, President and CEO of Cooper’s Ferry Partnership.
“The arts have always played a role in empowering people to believe in the promise and potential of creativity. Camden is not only a fantastic place for creating vision, it’s a great place for artist live/work spaces. This project, we hope, is the start of a bigger vision for what the city can be,” says curator Kimberly Camp, a native of Camden.
“Rutgers–Camden is excited to lead the process in generating the public artwork that will drive forward ‘A New View,’” said Phoebe A. Haddon, Chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden. “Our Center for the Arts has a long history of success in helping to transform lives and neighborhoods through our arts education programs. We look forward to leveraging this incredible opportunity from Bloomberg Philanthropies to create amazing new spaces for families and neighborhoods across our city.”
“A New View” is led by Cooper’s Ferry Partnership and the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts, along with a distinguished curatorial team, including Kimberly Camp and Judith Tannenbaum, and with Camden FireWorks coordinator Cassie MacDonald.
In the coming weeks, members of the project planning team will also be reaching out to Camden residents to talk about the importance of public art in reshaping the image of the city, and how they can participate in the project.
Artist application instructions along with more details on the project and criteria to participate will be available at www.ANEWVIEWCAMDEN.com. The deadline for applications is August 28, 2019. Site installations are planned for early 2020, with programs planned for spring/summer 2020.