Saturday, June 7, 11am to 7pm

In and Around 580 Forest Street, Orange NJ 07050  

Day-long Festival is Striking Symbol of the Emergence of the Valley Arts District of Orange and West Orange as one of New Jersey’s Top Creative Places 

DETAILED CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PERFORMANCES & ACTIVITIES FOLLOWS THIS RELEASE

ORANGE, NJ – The second annual Hat City Streets Festival,Saturday, June 7, from 11am to 7pm, features 50 arts groups, bands, ensembles, and exhibitions that showcase the energy and creativity of more than 225 artists from the Oranges and throughout the metro region.

Presented by ValleyArts, the family-friendly festival is located at and around 580 Forest Street in Orange, and is within easy walking distance of the Highland Avenue Train Station on the Morris & Essex line, or by car from the Garden State Parkway to I-280. The Festival is free and open to the public, rain or shine. Parking is available at nearby churches. For more information, please visitvalleyartsnj.com or facebook.com/HatCityStreetsFestival.

This Hat City Street Festival features non-stop performances on two stages, arts exhibitions at neighborhood galleries and 25 art booths, a wide array of high-quality creative play for children and families, and delicious foods prepared by restaurants from the area. Festivalgoers can also view Open Orange, the juried exhibition of more than 100 works by artists from New Jersey and New York at the ValleyArts Firehouse Gallery. The Festival is alcohol-free.

Principal funding for the Hat City Streets Festival has been provided through an Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, one of 59 awarded in the United States this past year.

“The Hat City Street Festival brings together the broad coalition of artists, arts organizations, neighbors, businesses, churches, educators, civic leaders, and diverse people young and old who are collectively engaged in building a vital community that is creative, just, and beautiful,” said Richard T. Bryant, the Festival’s founder and executive producer. “With artists and audiences from throughout the region, the Festival is also a striking symbol of why the Valley Arts District is now being recognized as one of the State’s top creative places.”

Valley Arts District organizations participating in the Hat City Streets Festival are Luna Stage Theatre Company, Arts Unbound, ORNG Ink, Hat City Kitchen, Yema Gallery, Oualie Gallery, West Orange Arts Council, Catfish Friday Arts Collective, Garden State Urban Farms, and Radical Farms. More than 70 volunteers support the Festival.

The Festival’s strategic partners are HANDS, Inc. (Executive Director: Patrick Morrissy); City of Orange Township (Mayor: Dwayne Warren); and Orange Public Schools (Superintendent: Ron Lee).

On the 50 & 55 Mainstage from 3pm to 7pm, festivalgoers will enjoy a full-scale concert experience with the internationally acclaimed Gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel and Band; the metro area’s best Blues by Mike Griot and Friends; the celebrated Reggae band Wedeya; and the classic music of Motown by Universal Sound Band. Mainstage Producer is Mike Griot. The Mainstage is sponsored by 50 & 50 South Essex, the new retail and apartment complex next door to the Orange Train Station.

On the Macy’s Family Stage and Performance Circle, 11am to 3pm, children and families will experience the popular kindie rock band StarFish; the bi-lingual band Moona Luna; the mesmerizing Marafanyi Drum, Dance & Song with its music of Africa; the gravity defying NYC dancer Wendell Cooper: the Brazilian martial arts group Arts United Capoeira; the talented Deborah Rembert Dance Group; the graceful students of the Maria Priadka Dance Academy; vocal stylists Soundbox Banditz; students of the Blues section of the ValleyArts Saturday Arts Academy; and, from the Orange Public Schools, the Mighty Marching Tornadoes, Voices in Harmony, and the Orange Dance Conservatory. The Family Stage is sponsored by Macy’s.

In the Family Activities Area, 11am to 4pm, children of all ages will enjoy Hat Making with Mansa Mussa; Print Making with Stephen McKenzie; African Mask Making with Ivy Omere; Theatre Games and Stage Combat with Luna Stage; 3-D Printing demonstrations, Post-it Mosaic Making, Children’s Book Reading, and more!  These activities are sponsored by Front of House Services.

More than 25 artist booths featuring original art, handmade craft, and exhibitions and information from neighborhood arts organizations will be open on Forest Street throughout the Festival,11am to 7pm. Also featured will be an exhibition of works created by students in the Saturday Arts Academy inspired by the work of Romare Bearden. The Saturday Arts Academy is a joint program of ValleyArts and the Orange Public Schools.

At 1pm, HANDS, Inc. will offer a guided tour of nearby F. Berg Hat Factory, soon to become the Hat City Lofts. Participants in the tour will be offered the opportunity to make non-binding reservations for the sale of loft condos, slated to open in 2015.

Two nearby galleries will be open during the Festival, including Arts Unbound, featuring the watercolors of Gregory R. Smith; and Yema Gallery featuring indigenous art traditions from Senegal and Nigeria.  These galleries are two blocks from the Festival Grounds at the corner of Freeman Street and South Jefferson St., just steps from the Highland Avenue Train Station.

ORNG Ink, the neighborhood teen art center and young artist collective, will host an after-party from 7pm to 10pm at the Ironworks Community Artist Center, just outside the Festival grounds at 406 Tompkins Street, Orange.

SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY – All Activities

ON THE MACY’S FAMILY STAGE

Master of Ceremonies: Jay Johnson, a/k/a Kidd Geniuss

11am

Dymond Starr Sings The National Anthem 

Family Stage

Stellar young singer, 11-year old Dymond Johnson, sings the national anthem.

11:05am

StarFish 

Family Stage

This ever-popular touring band based in Maplewood brings a true rock and roll experience to kids of all ages who are ready to learn how to play air guitar and have a wonderful time. StarFish recently released ‘Master of Puppet Shows’, their third studio album.

11:35am

Marafanyi Drum, Dance & Song 

Performance Circle

Founded by performing and teaching artists, Lara Gonzalez & Yael Shacham, this pioneering group presents an artistic expression fusing original songs and spoken word with traditional West African rhythm and dance, showcasing indigenous instruments. The ladies of Marafanyi are committed to the therapeutic, educational and transformational power of drum, dance and song for all ages and abilities.

11:40am

Saturday Arts Academy Sings the Blues

Family Stage

Students who have just completed the 14-week Saturday Arts Academy at Lincoln Ave School demonstrate their improvisation techniques with their quartet of artist teachers, Blues master Mike Griot, vocalist Wincey Terry, drummer Pete Abazia, and pianist Victor Burks. The Saturday Arts Academy is a joint project of ValleyArts and the Orange Public Schools.

12pm

Marafanyi Drum, Dance & Song 

Performance Circle

(see description above)

12:05pm

Moona Luna 

Family Stage

The New York Daily News calls this group “the missing soundtrack for bilingual/bicultural kids.” After making a splash on the family music scene with their accordion-driven, Latin-inspired debut album, Piñata Party (2011), Moona Luna delivered something fresh in its sophomore album, Vamos, Let’s Go! (2013). Songwriter and bandleader, Sandra Velasquez, found inspiration in American pop hits of the 50’s and 60’s, and staying true to her bilingual mission, crafted Spanish and English lyrics for each song.

12:25pm, 12:50pm and 1:45pm

Orange Dance Conservatory

Performance Circle

The elegant young dancers of the Orange Dance Conservatory show what dancing in Orange is all about – expressing one’s self to the rhythm of the music.

12:30pm

Mighty Marching Tornadoes 

Performance Circle, Tompkins and Forest Streets

This band serves as a regal ambassador of Orange High School, who perform with potential, respect, intelligence, dignity, and excellence.

12:55pm

Marafanyi Drum, Dance & Song 

Family Stage

(see description above)

1:15pm

Maria Priadka Dance Academy

Family Stage

The graceful young dancers of South Orange’s Maria Praidka Dance Academy perform a dance of strength, energy and determination.

1:25pm

Wendell Cooper 

Family Stage

This NYC-based dance artist and audio/video designer focuses on consciousness studies. His multimedia performances and installations reveal the dynamic nature of identity through a mix of contemporary urban dance, rapping, and experimental performance.

1:50pm

Lot on 7th

Family Stage

Lot on 7th is an alternative hip-hop band out of Newark, NJ. They are committed to musicianship as well as to building and unifying the performing artist community in the Newark area.

2:00pm, 2:25pm and 2:40pm

Arts United Capoeira

Performance Circle

A mainstay on the Jersey City culture/arts scene, the artists and instructors at AU Capoeira teach kids and adults of all ages and abilities, in addition to holding community events and participating in local festivals, demonstrations, workshops, and collaborations.

2:05pm

Soundbox Banditz

Family Stage

Soundbox Banditz are a group of individuals focused on moving people through words. They make music to escape as well as to find their place in the world.

2:30pm

Voices in Harmony

Family Stage

Orange High School’s award-winning premier traveling choir will amaze and enchant. ViH is made up of high school students in grades 10-12.

2:45pm

Deborah Rembert Dance Group

Family Stage

Deborah Rembert and her dancers will perform a mix of diverse dance styles that is sure to inspire the audience to be graceful and celebrate their own culture and heritage through movement.  From Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, West African, Salsa, Soca, Afro-Haitian, Cheer Dance, and Hip-Hop, the group’s choreography can transform any audience member to experience movement.

AT THE FAMILY ACTIVITIES AREA

11am-4pm

Hat Making Workshop with Mansa Mussa

Family Activities Area

The warm weather is finally here, and it is time to create an exciting accessory for your summer wardrobe. Make a fashion statement, and design a one-of-kind original chapeau using collage techniques, drawing, painting and appliqué with talented visual artist, Mansa Mussa. You will have a choice of designing a top hat, crown, painter’s cap or sun visor.

11am-4pm

Print-Making Workshop with Stephen McKenzie

Family Activities Area

Experience the joy of printmaking at this year’s festival and make prints with Stephen McKenzie, holder of the Guinness World Record for largest monotype print ever made.

11am-11:45am, 12:15pm-1pm

African Mask Making with Ivy Omere

Family Activities Area

This dynamic workshop led is both an introduction to and a celebration of West African culture. This excellent workshop not only provides genuine insight into African culture but culminates in each child’s participation in the creation, design and decoration of his/her very own clay mask.

11am-4pm

Orange Schools Fun Craft 

Family Activities Area

Get crafty and have fun with students from Orange Public Schools, featuring bracelet making, face painting, and seashell painting.

11am-7pm

Saturday Arts Academy Student Arts Exhibition

Students who have just completed the 14-week Saturday Arts Academy at Lincoln Avenue School mount an exhibition of their own work in Deidra Harris-Kelley, artist and co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation, and Avril Bogle, art teacher at the Forest Street Elementary School. The Saturday Arts Academy is a joint program of Valley Arts and the Orange Public Schools.

11am-4pm

Post-it Mosaic

Family Activities Area

It’s time to get crafty Hat City style! Make a post it masterpiece in the kids craft area. Parents collaborate with your kids!

12pm-3pm

Zine Making Workshop with Patricia Rogers

Family Activities Area

Create your own mini-Zine with Patricia Rogers, editor of local Zine masConsumption.

11am-4pm

Sketch a New Friend

Family Activities Area

Make a new friend at the festival and sketch one another! Get creative! That way you take home awesome art, a moment, and the contact of a new friend!

11am-4pm

3D Printing Workshop 

Next to the Performance Circle

Spin in a chair and see yourself become 3D!

3D printing with Rick Anderson of NJ Makerspace Association. Come away with a 3D replica of yourself!

12:00pm

Monologists 

Theater Under the Tree

Crawford Daniels, Candace Clift, Lesley Scammell, and Kirsten Sughruek will present poignant stories on their lives and the lives of others shedding light on the human elements of emotion we all share.

12:40pm

Children’s Book Reading

Theater Under the Tree

Local author and teacher Kathy Carter will share her new children’s book.

1pm-1:30pm and 1:45pm-2:15pm

Theater Games

Meet at Theater Under the Tree

For children ages 5-10

You don’t need big sets or costumes to make theatre.  All you need is your body, your voice and your imagination. Join Luna Stage’s lead children’s theatre instructor Danielle Renee Thompson for a fun and inspiring round of Theatre Games.

Two 30-minute Sessions: 1pm and 1:45pm.

2:30pm-3pm and 3:15pm-3:45 pm

Stage Combat Workshop

Meet at Theater under the Tree

For ages 10 and up

Ever wonder how actors fight in movies and plays but never really get hurt?  Learn the basics of the art of Stage Combat with Fight Director Dan O’ Driscoll. Two 30 minute workshops: 2:30pm and 3:15pm

ON THE 50 & 55 MAINSTAGE

3pm

Stephane Wrembel Band

The neo-gypsy jazz band led by French-born guitarist Stephane Wrembel was heralded by its inclusion in New York’s GlobalFest as one of the most innovative international groups performing today. Classically trained, Stephane worked with Django Reinhardt, with whom he learned, embraced, and advanced “Gypsy Jazz” and its lightning guitar style.

4pm

Mike Griot and Friends

This all-star blues band was assembled especially for this Festival by international touring artist and musical director Mike Griot, a native of Orange. It features some of the New York metro area’s top blues artists who reveal the deep memory of the blues combined with the blazing sounds of the Blues today.

5pm

Wedeya

Fast rising Wedeya mesmerizes with its high energy reggae sounds that bring audiences to their feet and leaves them smiling. Top reggae artists with whom they have worked include Culture, Burning Spear, The Meditations, Leroy Sibbles of the Heptones, Tanya Stephens, Christopher Martin, Romain Virgo, and a host of others.

6pm

Universal Sound Band 

Leroy Owens and the Universal Sound Band wow crowds throughout the region with their breathtaking renditions of Motown gold – the music that forever changed America and the world. Get ready to dance!

AT THE VALLEY ARTS FIREHOUSE GALLERY

11am-6pm

Open Orange Juried Art Exhibition

ValleyArts Firehouse Gallery, 580 Forest Street, Orange

Thirty-six artists from New Jersey and the New York were selected to exhibit as part of the first ValleyArts Open Orange juried exhibition. More than 100 works are on view including paintings, photographs, prints, mixed-media works, and works on paper. The nationally prominent Open Orange jurors are Antonio Sergio Basso, director of curatorial and educational programs for the Bronx Museum; Diedre Harris-Kelley, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation; and Naima J. Keith, assistant curator of the Studio Museum of Harlem. Open Orange is co-chaired by Artist Jeremy Moss and Nigel Freeman, Director of African American Fine Art at New York’s Swann Auction Galleries.

LIVE ART DEMONSTRATIONS

11am-7pm

Hat Sculpture

Festival grounds

The legendary hat sculpture of last year gets new sunlight! Come check out Hat City’s largest hat! Let it inspire your hat!

12pm-5pm

Dragon Sculpture

Festival Grounds

A mythical 18-foot long dragon will be crafted by local young artist collective ORNG Ink’s teaching artists, and you can be a part of it! Paint it! Write on it! Get creative! Let your art become a part of the Festival’s dragon! Breathe the fire of expression into its design!

12pm-3pm

A-Frames 

Forest Street Arts Scene

Graffiti artists Will Kasso and Demer showcase their craft of illustration with spray paint that will inspire viewers and reflect the town of Orange.

AROUND THE VALLEY ARTS DISTRICT
12pm

A Show of HANDS Tour

Meet at the Festival Information Booth

Tour the strikingly rich multicultural community nested in the Valley of Orange and West Orange during the hour-long

A Show of HANDS Neighborhood Walking Tour. This is your opportunity to uncover the history behind the moniker “Hat City” and sample the vibrant culture developing in the Valley Arts District.

1pm

Hat City Lofts Pre-Sale Tour

Meet at the Festival Information Booth

HANDS invites you to be part of an exciting opportunity in the Valley Arts District as Hat City Lofts begins to take reservations for the sale of loft condos. The historic F. Berg hat factory is being converted into 32 distinctive condos with urban style loft layouts – big windows, high ceilings, exposed beams and beautifully preserved original architectural details – at affordable pricing. Tour the building and reserve a location and a unique open floor plan (your choice of 1-3 bedrooms and customizable finishes). Your refundable nonbinding deposit of $100 will secure your reservation in the emerging market condos premiering in 2015.

12pm-5pm

A Communication of Tradition: The Art of Ibou Ndoye & Rahmon Olugunna

Location: Yema Gallery 540B Freeman Street, Orange

An exhibition in recognition of the indigenous art traditions from Senegal and Nigeria.

12pm-5pm

Gregory R. Smith Paintings

Arts Unbound Gallery, 544 Freeman Street, Orange

New paintings of Long Beach Island, the Appalachian Trail, and other favorite places in the Northeast by watercolorist Gregory R. Smith.

CONTINUE THE CELEBRATION

7pm-10pm (doors open at 6pm)

ORNG Ink after Party

The Freq Show 

Ironworks Community Artist Center, 406 Tompkins Street

This ORNG Ink after party is dedicated to the art of progressive music production and visual art, hosted by Steeve Sam and featuring producers from up and down the East Coast and

Please Tell Me How It’s Done

, an art show, by Stephen Batiz.

Hat City Kitchen

459 Valley Street

Local hot-spot Hat City Kitchen will keep the party going with live music, full service dining, and drinks until 2am.

ABOUT VALLEY ARTS

ValleyArts is the arts service and activist organization of the Valley Arts District, home to Luna Stage, ArtsETC, Arts Unbound, ORNG Ink, ValleyArts Firehouse Gallery, Hat City Kitchen, Garden State Urban Farms, Ironworks Community Artist Center, Yema Gallery, Oualie Gallery, and many individual artists and creative entrepreneurs. The highest priorities of ValleyArts are to inspire the neighborhood to recognize the arts as essential to community health and vitality, help build up and serve individual artists, arts organizations, and creative entrepreneurs; and encourage everyone to participate in arts, culture, and creativity as part of everyday life. ValleyArts is closely allied with HANDS, Inc., a nonprofit organization that combines strategic real estate investment and community organizing to revitalize communities.

ValleyArts is funded in part by JPMorgan Chase Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Kresge Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, HANDS, Inc., Target Foundation, Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Bass Foundation, United Way, and others.

ValleyArts is a non-profit organization operated in the public interest and led by a volunteer Board of Directors; Chairman: Scott Schultz; Treasurer: Wayne Meyer; Secretary: John Nye; Members: Deborah Bartley-Carter, Gail Levinson, Susan McCartney, Patrick Morrissy, Jeremy Moss (

ex officio), and Dr. Karma Warren; Executive Director: Richard T. Bryant.

The Hat City Streets Festival is led by its Advisory and Operating Committee: Executive Producer, Richard T. Bryant; Mainstage Producer: Mike Griot; Associate Producers: Marisa Benson (family events) Tracye Johnson (volunteers), Jeremy Moss (fine arts); Members: Chalandrea Fields, Candace Goldstein, Christine Hyder, Jamy Lasell, John Lewis, Jessica Mathelier, Ashley Rutledge, Laura Sacks, Scott Schultz, and Heidi Sussman; Staff: Donniee Barnes, Kristen Koehler, and Gloria Port. Graphic design by Tricia Hayden.

Members of the ValleyArts Visual Arts Advisory Committee include Jeremy Moss, Chairman, Terry Boddie, Avril Bogle, Richard T. Bryant, Sarah Canfield, Chris Cosmillo, Nigel Freeman, Ronald Freeman, Leah D. Smith, and Heidi Sussman.

Special thanks to the International Central Gospel International Church, Pav-Con Construction Inc., the residents of the ValleyArts Firehouse Lofts, Luna Stage Theater Company, First United Tabernacle Church, Our Lady of The Valley Church, Hat City Kitchen, HANDS, Inc., Dawan Alford, Jamy Lasell, Molly Rose Kaufman, Mary Bryant, City of Orange Township, Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren, Marty Mays and the Orange Department of Public Works, Orange Police Department, and Orange Public Schools.