Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Arts Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Windows of Understanding program to expand across Middlesex County; organizers seek school partnerships
Summary
Organizers updated the New Brunswick Community Arts Council on plans to expand the Windows of Understanding community-arts program into additional Middlesex County towns, engage schools through a "day of understanding" curriculum menu, and address topics including climate change, food equity and civic engagement.
Organizers said Windows of Understanding, a community-arts initiative, is entering another season and plans to expand its footprint across Middlesex County. Jennifer Sevilla, vice chair of the New Brunswick Community Arts Council and co-founder of Windows of Understanding, told meeting participants the program has worked with school districts and offers a menu of topics for in-school engagement: “we started dreaming about what would this conversations look at with our younger population?” she said, describing efforts to bring conversations into classrooms.
Speakers said the program already operates in multiple towns and is looking to add sites. A presenter listed communities where Windows currently engages artists and partners: New Brunswick, Highland Park, South Plainfield, Metuchen, and—in planning stages—Perth Amboy and Carteret. Organizers said the program addresses a mix of community concerns such as climate change, food equity, LGBTQIA issues, immigration and civic engagement; they described efforts to link topic experts and local organizations with schools to design activities tied to classroom curricula.
Sevilla described the school-facing approach as a menu of topics and invited participating organizations to propose how students might engage with their work. She said past implementations included designated “day of understanding” activities that sometimes aligned with international social-emotional learning observances and that the program tries to adapt content to district needs. Presenters also noted efforts to involve Mason Gross students and alumni as artists and to build alliances with youth programs in neighboring towns.
The discussion focused on program expansion and partnership-building; organizers asked council members to share contacts and resources to reach more youth and to coordinate across municipal arts groups. No formal action or funding decision was taken during the presentation.
