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In “Tis of Thee,” State of the Arts takes a timely look at how Americans experience a sense of patriotism through music, the visual arts, and theatre.
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Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 8:30 pm & Wednesday, July 4, 2007 @11:30 pm
 Preview
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my country
John Philip Sousa marches like “Stars and Stripes Forever” have come to epitomize American patriotism. Sousa scholar Jerry Rife is a professor of Music at Rider University, and the conductor of the Blawenburg Band of New Jersey. State of the Arts explores the enduring legacy of Sousa and his music.
 hear the blawenburg band perform sousa’s “the gallant seventh”, from their 113th anniversary commemorative album
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John Philip Sousa in full Marine Band dress
Sheet music for John Philip Sousa’s march “Hail to the Spirit of Liberty!”
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tis of thee
In the 1930s, the government hired artists to create murals and other works of art for public places. One of these, a mural in Princeton’s Palmer Square Post Office, has been under attack periodically since its unveiling in 1939. The mural, showing submissive Native Americans cowering behind symbols of American expansion and progress, is considered by some to represent a racist, dated vision of the American dream. Others feel that political correctness is destroying a proper appreciation for historical art. What to do with public art that mis-represents our common values? As part of the statewide Transcultural New Jersey Initiative, artists, students, and teachers from Princeton High School created a work of art that presented the community’s response to the controversial work. The installation, involving video and projections, was featured in the inaugural exhibition at the school’s Numina Gallery.
tell us your thoughts on what should be done with the post office mural at starts@njn.org. Put “mural” in the subject line.
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The mural at the Palmer Square Post Office in Princeton
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sweet land of liberty
Jersey City has been a city of immigrants for over a hundred years, and its changing population mirrors the changing face of America. "jersey (new)" was a fall 2004 exhibit at the Jersey City Museum that included the work of 19 contemporary New Jersey artists from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa talks to one of the artists, Choctaw-American Jeffrey Gibson, and visits his studio. “jersey (new)” was part of Transcultural New Jersey, a statewide initiative documenting the contributions of Latino/Hispanic/Caribbean, African-American, Asian-American and Native-American New Jersey artists through more than 20 exhibitions at museums, galleries and arts organizations.
view images from the jersey (new) exhibit
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“Infinite Anomaly #1"
by Jeffrey Gibson
“Infinite Anomaly #2"
by Jeffrey Gibson
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of thee i sing
Political satire you can sing along with.... a rarely done 1931 Gershwin musical was given a no-holds-barred revival during the last presidential election year by the Paper Mill Playhouse. “Of Thee I Sing” was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize, and its witty barbs are no less relevant today. The show combines Gilbert and Sullivan-style operetta, Marx brothers antics, and jazzy Gershwin classics like “Who Cares” and “Love is Sweeping the Country.” But amidst all the musical hi-jinx, “Of Thee I Sing” poses serious questions about disingenuous presidential promises, mindless campaign platforms, and nefarious advisory committees that seem ripped out of this morning’s headlines.
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With hands held high, Presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen sings the title song with his future wife
The Act One Finale of “Of Thee I Sing”
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