Trentonians Enjoy Art All Night

TRENTON-- Eclectic art, raw blues and rock music, and fresh made fruit smoothies were all on display this past Saturday evening as art fans and diverse members of the community came together to take part in this year's Art All Night event at the Roebling Wire Works building in South Trenton.

Art All Night is a 24 hour art event that is held annually in the city of Trenton. This year marked the event's sixth year in existence. Anwar's Reflections-- a Trentonian affiliate-- was on hand to capture the event. This year, there were more than a 1,000 pieces of artwork on display. Local artists like Leon Rainbow and Will Kasso were just a few of the contributing artists at the event.

As I walked in, the first thing I saw was the 'pimped out' ride Will Kasso worked on last week at Trenton Atelier's Atelethon to help the local group raise money to avoid possible eviction. For more on that story, click here.

During the event, I also stumbled across fellow community bloggers Kate and Nick from 'Blogs All Night', a local blog that captured the event by blogging throughout the night. To access their blog, click here.

After interviewing a few event attendees, the general consensus was that the event was fun for the most part. However, some people did say that the music selection was 'one-dimensional', 'boring', or catering to only one particular audience. Others said that compared to previous years, the turnout was not as good as before.

Overall, my personal impression was that the event was safe, positive, and a good time. Now the trick is, how do we make events like Art All Night more of a regular occurrence where Trenton can be seen as a great attraction to go to and have fun instead of a city to avoid. That question remains unanswered, I invite the readers to chime in and comment on suggestions on how to do that...

For more information on Art All Night, click here.

Please see videos below:

5 Unique Date Ideas in Trenton, NJ

By Meggin Sanez, Anwar's Reflections Guest Blogger

Are you a resident or visitor of Trenton, New Jersey and looking for an exciting and unpredictable idea for a date with someone special?  Well if so and you’re tired of the same old dinner and movie night out, here are five of the most unique spots Trenton has to offer for fun and romance:

#5:  Waterfront Park.  For the sports enthusiasts who want to enjoy a summer’s night out at the ballpark, Waterfront Park is the place to be for minor league baseball.  With its scenic views of the Delaware River that the park was built upon, you can kick back with your date in a casual setting while you cheer on the Trenton Thunder.  Other than your standard hot dogs and nachos, be sure to also indulge in some Famous Dave’s BBQ and the crab fries at Chickie & Pete’s!

#4: The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion.  Take the chance to learn more about each other and more about New Jersey’s state capital at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion.   Boasting a rich history and housing a fine collection of art and artifacts associated with Trenton’s past and present culture, the history buffs out there have the opportunity to explore the museum throughout the year by visiting exhibitions, special events, musical programs and even art classes.  While visiting the museum that is set upon the beautiful landscape of Cadwalader Park, you can go on a nature walk with your date and take in the deer paddock, stream, lake and hundreds of trees that create the picturesque environment.

#3:  Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra.  Founded in 1921, the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra is New Jersey's oldest professional symphony orchestra.  Over the past eighty years, the orchestra has introduced the experience of live symphony music to generations of New Jersey audiences at the Patriots Theater at the Trenton War Memorial.  So if you and your date love music, what could be more romantic than enjoying a symphony orchestra concert together? 

#2:  Grounds for Sculpture.  This magical 35-acre sculpture garden and arboretum that holds over 250 contemporary sculptures is another great place not too far from the state’s capital city for a date.  Here you can visit the venue’s two galleries with rotating exhibits, partake in various workshops for adults, watch concerts and performances, and even share a delectable dining experience together at the Rat’s Restaurant. 

#1:  Planetarium at the New Jersey State Museum.  We all dream of whimsical evenings filled with romance and shooting stars…so why not make that dream come true?  At the Planetarium at the New Jersey State Museum, you can bask in the wonder that is created by the largest planetarium in New Jersey.  Take your date to recline in the specially designed seats and view a stunning projection of more than 6,000 stars in the sky, experiencing the feeling of traveling through the solar system together.

Meggin Sanez shares with us this guest post on the top picks for unique date ideas in Trenton, New Jersey.  In addition to guest posting, Meggin also writes for black dating sites where she composes articles centered on safe online dating in the black community.  

Trenton Hosts First Annual Entertainment Summit

TRENTON-- Just last week, the First Annual Trenton Entertainment Summit, a networking and informational gathering, was held at ‘Studio City New Jersey’.

Area artists and entertainers came out to support the summit.

Trenton Recording Artist Big Ooh! and Social Activist Will “Deshair” Foskey organized the groundbreaking Entertainment Industry Seminar to boost morale and promote Inner-City Unity in a town where talent often  goes abroad and never looks back, in order to become successful.

Trenton, home of the well-known hip hop group, the Poor Righteous Teachers, was proud to be the venue for the Trenton Entertainment Summit.

The purpose of the summit was to inform and advise local entrepreneurs of new ways to brand their business, while teaching people the art of professional networking. Panel discussions focused on Brand Development, Business, & Music and Film Production.

Special Guest speakers, Darren “Freedom” Green and Tracy D. Syphax, both success stories from the area, opened and closed the 4 hour event with inspiring messages of defying all odds and strength of mind. And the event sponsor, Wells Fargo Bank, talked to attendees about business accounts and how to fund their projects through unsecured lines of credit.

Attendees walked away with valuable information on how to construct proper business cards, networking techniques, music industry contracts, publishing, production, social media branding, and so much more. 

Moderator, Remix Mafia’s DJ Slowjam Powell brought pure energy and over 20 years of Music Industry knowledge to the table, asking the right questions to pull answers from panelists the audience could use in their everyday business dealings.

Championed by Big Ooh! and Deshair, the Trenton Entertainment Summit was organized and brought to fruition in just 12 days.

150 people attended the event, including one of Trenton’s Treasures, the Legendary DJ Juice. Panelists included Cardiak (Producer For: Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Wale, Jadakiss, 50 Cent, Kanye West, etc.), Money Malc (Universal/Motown Recording Artist) , Dj Radio (Shade45 Radio Personality), Nyticka Hemingway (Singer/Songwriter),Eric (DonDiva Magazine), Flash Kilogram, Flash (Former SRC/Universal & Ruff Ryder Recording Artist), ReddPen Media, Alamaj (Underworld Entertainment), Hellfire (Producer), Rugg (Producer), Tone Trump (New Single “Afghan” featuring Young Jeezy), &; Brad Fulton (in-house engineer at Studio City New Jersey).

The Trenton Entertainment Summit will re-air on www.JahYummy.com in the coming weeks.

For more information about this event and the “Trenton Going Global” Campaign, contact Will “Deshair” Foskey at TrentonGoingGlobal@gmail.com.

Please see video below:

Local Entrepreneur Seals Big Deal In Harlem But What About Trenton

TRENTON-- Local entrepreneur Roland Laird, CEO of My Image Studios, helps seal a major $21 million deal in Central Harlem for a cultural and entertainment center that is scheduled to be completed by April 2012, but leaves Trenton in the lurch.

After not receiving city stimulus funding from the Recovery Zone Bond program last year, businessman Laird and My Image Studios were not deterred. They continued talks and deliberations with private investors to close the deal, yet Laird says he cannot speak about plans to do something on a similar level in his home town due to "legal issues".

The Trentonian reached out to Laird to obtain clarification on what those legal issues were but did not receive a response as of this post.

Laird and his associates received new market tax credits as a way to help finance the 20,000 square feet center designed to highlight African and Latino art and culture, which will be located on the ground-floor retail space at the Kalahari Condominium, a 249-unit affordable housing development at 40 W. 116th Street, between Lenox and Fifth Avenues.

New market tax credits are designed to stimulate private investment in distressed urban and rural communities like Harlem and Trenton.

Goldman Sachs, an urban investment group, purchased the new market tax credits and issued them to BRP Development, a New York based construction company, who then provided them to Laird and area developer Full Spectrum NY to finance this project. Prudential, a financial services company,  also played a key role in getting the project started by providing a loan.

Construction of the new facility began just this past Wednesday. Laird estimates that the project should create 50 jobs now and is expected to double that in the near future. The local entrepreneur said that the center should have a significant impact in the community.

The center will feature three performance centers that will hold 317 seats. It will also have a 7,000 square foot restaurant and lounge where people can enjoy cuisine from the Black community, Puerto Rican community, and the European community while they live entertainment from various artists and entertainers.

Laird said, "this center will not only provide more fun and entertainment, but it also provides more money and more skills to that community".

Please see video below: