Through the Vibrant Communities Initiative (formerly Together North Jersey), the NJTPA and the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, are hosting Placemaking in Context: Honoring the Culture and History of Communities.
This workshop will examine placemaking through a lens of arts and humanities with transportation, highlighting the culture and histories of local communities and encouraging safe, active transportation through the built environment.
Speakers represent a variety of projects and places with different goals and outcomes -– remembering events of the past, preserving community memories, acknowledging changing landscapes, and celebrating communities that occupy spaces in the present. Nina Cooke John, architect of the newly installed Harriet Tubman monument in Newark, will serve as the keynote speaker.
Municipal officials, planners, and anyone else interested in learning about placemaking is encouraged to attend.
AGENDA
9:00 to 9:30: Registration and Networking
9:30 to 9:40: Welcome – David Behrend, Executive Director, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
9:40 to 10:00: Keynote – Nina Cooke John, Founding Principal, Studio Cooke John Architecture + Design:
Nina Cooke John will discuss the development, design, and installation of Harriet Tubman monument in Newark, NJ.
10:00 to 11:00: Panel – Honoring the Past
This panel brings together experts from community-based organizations in New Jersey. Led by Dr. Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan, the group will discuss topics such as collaborative knowledge production about local history, stakeholder mapping, and historical resource auditing for community history projects. The panelists will provide case study examples from New Brunswick, Asbury Park, and Newark.
- Dr. Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan (moderator), Assistant Teaching Professor & Coordinator of Public History, History Department, Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences (AIR Collaborative)
- Jennifer Soulder, Founder, Asbury Park African American Music Project (AP-AMP)
- Diane Shelton, Community Outreach Specialist, Interfaith Neighbors
- Tamara Remedios, Director of Neighborhood Activations for Global Center for Urban Innovations, Audible
11:00 to 11:15: Break
11:15 to 12:15: Placemaking Presentations – Honoring the Present
Two presenters will share their expertise in placemaking with a focus on everyday users of the space.
- Dan Swern from coLab Arts will share their work on murals as traffic calming interventions, demonstrating the impact of arts and placemaking on transportation and safety.
- Dr. Anette Freytag, Professor of the History and Theory of Landscape Architecture, Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (co-founder of AIR Collaborative) will discuss the concept of Strollology – the science of walking – to experience and identify the typical planning errors of a car-based society.
(end of main program)
12:15 to 12:45: LUNCH
Break for lunch on your own. A list of local lunch options will be provided.
12:45 to 2:00 OPTIONAL Workshop
Attendees with placemaking projects in their own communities are invited to stay for a collaborative discussion with experts from the Vibrant Communities Initiative and the AIR Collaborative. This session provides an opportunity to ask questions about local initiatives or share ideas with other placemakers looking to implement projects.
Date:
4/26/2024 9:00:00 AM
Time:
9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Event location:
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Pubilc Policy
Bloustein Special Events Forum
33 Livingston Ave., #400
New Brunswick, NJ. 08901
Register Here