Past is Prologue on NJN’s State of the Arts
Friday, April 17 at 8:30 pm; and Wednesday, April 22 at 11:30 pm

STATEWIDE – Don’t miss the newest episode of State of the Arts entitled Past is Prologue which features the 100th birthday of The Newark Museum, building on the strength of its trend setting and progressive century; a sculpture made in tribute to Matthew Henson, the African-American discoverer of the North Pole; and the amazing talent of emerging choreographers and performers at the Garden State Dance Festival. This episode airs on NJN Public Television on Friday, April 17 at 8:30 pm, with a rebroadcast on Wednesday, April 22 at 11:30 pm.  The program will be broadcast in high definition, joining an increasing number of HDTV programs that may be viewed on NJN’s digital channel. 

The Newark Museum at 100
The Newark Museum is celebrating its 100th birthday in April 2009.  State of the Arts has been covering its evolution since our first season in 1982, and, in this episode, producer Christopher Benincasa delves into the history of one of the country’s most progressive museums – one of the first to focus on education and open its doors to children, making it the ‘PBS of museums’.  This story features interviews with museum director Mary Sue Sweeney Price; curator Ulysses Dietz; art critics Benjamin Genocchio of The New York Times and Dan Bischoff of the Newark Star-Ledger, as well as some of the museum’s devoted members who all echo founder John Cotton Dana’s proclamation that, “art has flourished where it was asked to flourish, and never elsewhere.”

On Top of the World: John Giannotti, sculptor

“The lure of the Arctic is tugging at my heart. To me the trail is calling! The old trail - the trail
that is always new.” Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole

On April 6, 1909 Peary, Henson and four Eskimos (Ooqueah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seegloo) reached the top of the world and later became recognized as the discoverers of the North Pole. While Peary received many awards and honors for achieving this feat, his fellow explorer and co-discoverer, Matthew Henson, was largely ignored, most probably because of his African-American heritage. In 1912, Henson published a book about his efforts, A Negro at the North Pole, and became acknowledged over the years for his amazing contribution.

Now, sculptor John Giannotti of Haddonfield has created an 8 foot high, larger than life statue of Matthew Henson, commissioned by the Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum. The museum is in the beginning stages of development and will eventually be housed in the historic Church of Our Savior which was constructed from ballast stones stored in the ship from Peary and Henson’s Greenland expedition.

John Giannotti is Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University and former chair of the Department of Fine Arts. He taught at both the Camden and New Brunswick campuses for 33 years until his recent retirement.  State of the Arts  visited Giannotti’s studio to see the Henson work in progress, and producer Lynn Kosek Walker covers the statue’s unveiling at the Maritime Museum in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the North Pole. 

Garden State Dance Festival

The Garden State Dance Festival allows emerging and established choreographers and dancers to showcase their talents.  Under the artistic direction of Suzy Zucker, the 9th Annual Garden State Dance Festival will present an eclectic mix of dance genres (ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip hop, musical theater) in a high energy festival setting.  After holding open auditions, each festival choreographer selects those dancers that they believe will best express and execute their original pieces of work.  The Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts has now invited the GSDF to become its “Festival in Residence.” State of the Arts was on hand for their inaugural festival residency, held over a two-week period in March 2009.  Producer Susan Wallner talked to Suzy Zucker about her vision for the festival and about her 25 years in the dance arena and her own eclectic career as a theatrical choreographer.  Emerging hip-hop choreographer Crystal Frazier, a native of South Jersey, whose piece “Free” was featured in the 2009 Garden State Dance Festival is also interviewed.  In addition, two young dancers from the Garden State Dance Festival corps, hoping for careers as professional dancers, are featured: Angelica Cassimiro, a native of Brazil who immigrated to Newark, New Jersey at age 12 and is now a dance major at UArts in Philadelphia and Jason Collins, a junior at Pennsauken High School, who is hoping to enter a college level performing arts program.
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State of the Arts, the 29 time Emmy award-winning, half-hour arts magazine, airs every Friday at 8:30 pm, followed by an encore presentation each Wednesday at 11:30 pm.  All new State of the Arts programs are broadcast in high definition (HDTV) on NJN’s digital channel.

The current episode of State of the Arts can be viewed online at www.njn.net.  Photo images for this episode are also available. Individual stories are available to view following their broadcast by visiting the program online at State of the Arts. Selected State of the Arts stories can also be seen on YouTube (look for NJN’s Arts & Culture Channel). 

Funding for State of the Arts is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.  The series producer is Susan Wallner and the executive producer is Nila Aronow.