Youth Summer Arts Camp Concludes with Night of Performance and Display of Artwork

Camp Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Monday, August 14, 2006

New Brunswick, NJ – “Artists Mentoring Against Racism, Drugs and Violence: Healing Through the Arts,” a five-week summer arts camp that explores the issues facing today’s youth, concluded Friday, August 11, with a series of student-created exhibits on display at the Mason Gross School of the Arts gallery, located at 33 Livingston Avenue. The camp celebrated its 10th anniversary with this summer’s program.

The evening began at 5:30 p.m. with a mural presentation at the Puerto Rican Action Board located at 90 Jersey Avenue. At 6:00 p.m. a “Live Parade Celebration” including music, dance, giant puppets and stilt dancing was held at Mason Gross School of Arts on Livingston Avenue. After the Live Parade, guests had the opportunity to view artwork completed by the students during the summer program. A variety of paintings, photography, sculptures and theater presentations were on display. Beginning at 7:00 p.m., students participated in a “Night of Artistic Expression” featuring dance and musical performances.

Each year the camp focuses on a specific theme, this year’s being “Building Our Dreams.” Throughout the summer, students reflected on their dreams for the future as well as for the community, and then discussed how those dreams can be applied to the issues they face, including violence, racism and drugs, in addition to creating artwork to express their thoughts.

A total of 50 students, ages 10-15, participated in team-building and awareness workshops, took field trips to the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, the Rutgers University Team Building Rope Course and the Grounds for Sculpture Park, and listened to ex-gang members speak about gang life.

Sponsors of the program include Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Community Health Promotions Program, the Center for Latino Arts and Culture at Rutgers University, Puerto Rican Action Board, Suydam Street Reformed Church, and the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education.

Additional funding comes from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick Tomorrow, Office of Faith Based Initiatives, Merck, the Office of the Vice President for Arts and Humanities at Rutgers University, PNC Bank, Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission, Johnson & Johnson, and local benefactors.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of three hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjuh.edu) is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness. The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital was ranked number 26 in the nation for heart care according to U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 ranking of “America’s Best Hospitals,” as well as best in the state for Respiratory Disorders (#26) and Urology (#50), and among the nation’s best for Geriatrics (#40). The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for more than 10 consecutive years.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.


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