Community Spotlight: Atlantic City Arts Foundation
The Atlantic City Arts Foundation (ACAF) is a nonprofit organization that provides diverse partnerships and programs with a focus on building civic and community pride with interactive public art. They are the sponsors of one of the largest mural arts programs in the city.
About the Atlantic City Arts Foundation
The Atlantic City Arts Foundation has a mission to foster an environment of appreciation for arts and diverse cultural programs that enrich the quality of life for everyone in Atlantic City, residents and visitors alike. They envision a community where everyone values arts and culture and see it as a way to stimulate the economy, encourage engagement, and promote the well-being of the community.
The story of the Atlantic City Arts Foundation starts in 2015 when Joyce Hagen joined as Executive Director and continued with the creation of such events as ARTeriors, Chalk about AC, 48 Blocks events, and others. Over the years, business partnerships such as JINGOLI, ACPD, the Atlantic County Prosecutor, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and Vision 2000 enriched the Youth Diversionary Arts Program, and the mural programs have grown to over a dozen across the city, including one on the walls of city hall.
About Joyce Hagen
Joyce Hagen is the executive director of the ACAF, and she brings over four decades of experience in advocating and volunteering in the arts. Her goals are:
- To expand and grow the foundation’s programs
- To provide wide and varied opportunities for the regional arts communities across Atlantic City
- To increase awareness and engagement among community volunteers to strengthen the foundation overall
48 Blocks Atlantic City
The flagship program of the ACAF, 48 Blocks Atlantic City covers all 48 blocks of the city proper and all six wards. It seeks to highlight art, communities, and artists all over the city with public art projects ranging from murals to live music, hands-on experiences to dance and yoga. The events span for 48 hours over the third weekend every June from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.
ARTeriors
The ARTeriors program is all about transition and transformation. It’s a program where artists transform a vacant property into a pop-up art installation to showcase the potential for rebirth in Atlantic City. It gets people off the beaten path to explore neighborhoods that are on the cusp of rebirth and highlights the potential of those neighborhoods while fostering a broader experience for locals and visitors alike. Both established and emerging artists are featured and they get two weeks to create site-specific, engaging art installations in the chosen space.
Other Programs
Other programs include Mural Writing AC, which is focused on creative writing and local poets using writing prompts hidden throughout the city and inspired by the murals across the 48 blocks. Chalk About AC is a chalk art event inviting everyone in the entire city to create chalk artwork that encourages positive perceptions of the city.
Finally, the murals themselves must be highlighted. There are a dozen such murals and growing, all created by local emerging and established artists and highlighting the diversity of the city.
Get Creative with the Atlantic City Arts Foundation!
To learn more about the Atlantic City Arts Foundation, you can contact the director’s office or check out their Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or LinkedIn pages today!