Month: May 2023

We’re all about helping out our friends who in turn are helping out others. The most important part of this gig is blowing up events that deserve the press.

And the good folks at Sea.Hear.Now, that multi-day music, art, and surf festival thats brought big beach music back to the beachfront, has donated some artworks for an auction with proceeds to ben-efit three local nonprofit organizations that we’re big fans of: the Asbury Park Arts Council (APAC), the Asbury Park African American Music Project (AP-AMP) and KYDS (Konscious Youth Development & Service).

We’ve proudly given lots of ink to all these organiza-tions over the years. So why not a little more.

The online auction organized by APAC will launch on Monday, May 22 and run through Monday, June 19. Get the wallets out and consider throwing in some bids.

Works included in the auction are by Danny Clinch x Cey Adams, Robert Siliato x George Bates, and Charles Mencel Surfboards x Lana Macchiaverna (LLUNACY). Rock and roll photographer and festival co-founder, Danny Clinch and renowned New York City-based visual artist, Cey Adams collaborated on a piece of musician, Gary Clark, Jr. Monmouth County-based surf photographer, Robert Siliato and Asbury Park-based artist George\ Bates, col-laborated on a piece blending surf imagery and music lyrics, and Charles Mencel and Lana Mac-chiaverna created a beautiful custom made surf-board for the band Green Day, who asked that it be donated for charitable purposes.

“Sea.Hear.Now has a history of both working with local artists and giving back to local nonprofit orga-nizations. We could not be more excited that they have chosen us to be one of the beneficiaries of the auction of these wonderfully unique works that have the same special feel as the festival itself” said Carrie Turner, Executive Director of the Asbury Park Arts Council, an organization that advocates for and promotes art initiatives in the city.

“This auction helps bring attention and resources to groups doing valuable work in and around As-bury Park. The online fundraising platform we se-lected also allows for direct donations outside of the auction itself, so we are hopeful for a nice show of support,” Turner added.

The Asbury Park African American Music Project (AP-AMP) celebrates the cultural heritage of Spring-wood Avenue on Asbury Park’s West Side through oral histories, research, writing, and community programs. AP-AMP is currently raising funds to renovate the legendary Turf Club, the last remaining structure that housed one of Springwood Avenue’s celebrated music spots, to transform it into a com-munity venue for music and culture.

Konscious Youth Development & Service (KYDS) is a youth development organization pri-marily focused on holistic wellness programming for kids in elementary through high school. KYDS partners with schools in Asbury Park and beyond teaching mindfulness through meditation, yo-ga-based movement and creative expression, help-ing young people better manage their emotions, which has a host of benefits including helping them resist negative influences. KYDS offerings have ex-panded to serve educators, parents and commu-nity members to reinforce and support the youth programming.

The link to the auction is https://givebutter.com/c/KYP9UC.

For more information: Sea.Hear.Now: https://www. seahearnowfestival.com; @seahearnow Asbury Park Arts Council: https://asburyparkartscouncil. org/mission-statement/; @asburyartscouncil. As-bury Park African American Music Project: https://www.asburyamp.org/mission/; @asbury_amp, Konscious Youth Development & Service (KYDS): https://www.konscious.org/what-we-do; @kyds_nj

Asbury Park’s role as a powerful cultural engine for the triCity region of eastern Monmouth stems from its variety of creative and artistic forces.

This involves people, businesses, the city government, redevelopers and non-profit organizations. In the past couple decades, all stakeholders have bought in. And that united front is our best defense against the forces of conformity that an eco-nomic boom inevitably brings.

A key factor in all this is the non-profit Asbury Park Arts Council (APAC). It’s led by a Board of Trustees who are some of the most effective arts and cultural leaders in our city: Parlor Gallery owner Jenn Hampton, former ShowRoom owner Mike Sodano, Paul McEvily from Interfaith Neighbors, Paranormal Books owner Kathy Kelly, attorney and arts activist Bob Ellis, and Carrie Turner, formerly the General Manager of Madison Marquette’s boardwalk project.

And the group’s mission is parallel to this newspaper’s:

“To support, advocate and promote arts-centric initiatives, businesses and devel-opment. Our primary goal is to ensure the arts are considered in municipal poli-cy-making via the creation and implementation of an Arts and Culture plan within the Asbury Park Master Plan. APAC was formed to be a bridge between the local arts community and the City of Asbury Park, fostering the understanding that arts are the economic engine of the City.” [Asbury Park Arts Council Mission Statement]

That Arts and Culture plan has been submitted to the city’s Planning Board to be adopted and then guide the city government in promotion of the arts and culture in our city. That’s a big deal. But APAC does more than that with its own arts pro-gramming and promotion.
And the next big one is its second annual “APin3” to take place in August.
This three-minute film challenge is open to anyone who thrives on the fun of film-making within the parameters of a deadline and is ready to shoot their short in Asbury Park. The top ten short films, as judged by a panel of independent cre-atives, will be screened before a live audience on Sunday, October 22. Prizes will be awarded.

“We had such a great turnout last year at our contest screening, we expect more entries this year, vying for the recognition of their peers and, of course, the prizes.” said APAC Board member Sodano.

Those who apply will be required to write, shoot and edit a 3 minute short film set in Asbury Park during a three-week period in August, utilizing a specific line of dia-logue and incorporating a designated prop and location.

“We believe Asbury Park has a variety of compelling locations, easily making it a layered backdrop and key element in any short subject,” said Nancy Sabino who will coordinate the contest. (With her husband Sodano, Sabino was the founder and original owner of the ShowRoom Cinema in downtown Asbury Park.)

The online submission platform, Film Freeway, will be utilized for the challenge and a link can be found at the top of the homepage of APAC’s website asburyp-arkartscouncil.org. There is a $25 entry fee. However, no one should feel that the cost is a barrier as there are discounts and sponsorships available for qualified applicants to help with the entry fee.

The filming timeframe will start on August 7th when filmmaker kits will be sent via email to all applicants and will end on August 27th. Registration for the Challenge is open now.“We’ve reached out to a number of organizations this year and expect to have more participation with the longer, 3-week completion timeline. The concepts showcase the city and to see our streets alive with video artists capturing its magic Is won-derful,” said Carrie Turner, an APAC board member who also serves as Executive Director.

The Arts and Culture Plan is APAC’s biggest commitment. But with a $200,000 county grant awarded last year, and other smaller grants, APAC has embarked on other arts-centric projects. Those activities include financial support for public mu-ral projects, financial support for the Inspire Life program that provides a fine arts and technology camp for city youth, and the AP in 3 film challenge.

ASBURY PARK, NJ – By Alissa Deleo — Attention all creators, the Asbury Park Arts Council (APAC) is bringing back its APin3 film challenge in August.

This three-minute video challenge is open to anyone who thrives on the fun of filmmaking within the parameters of a deadline and is ready to shoot their short film in Asbury Park.

All the entries will be reviewed and the top ten will be chosen by a panel of local judges. Finalists will be screened to an audience at Asbury Park’s House of Independents Theater on October 22.
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The top three winners, and an audience favorite entry chosen by the assembled audience on premier night will win prizes that can be used in future filmmaking endeavors.

“We had such a great turnout last year at our contest screening. We expect more entries this year, vying for the recognition of their peers and, of course, the prizes,” Mike Sodano, one of the founding members of APAC, said.

Applicants will be required to write, shoot and edit a three-minute short film set in Asbury Park during a three-week period in August, utilizing a specific line of dialogue and incorporating a designated prop and location.

Executive Director of the film challenge, Nancy Sabino remarked, “We believe Asbury Park has a variety of compelling locations, easily making it a layered backdrop and key element in any short subject.”

The APin3 is a storytelling activity for filmmakers to engage with the community in a positive light, and use imagination, teamwork and video technology.

The online submission platform, Film Freeway, will be utilized for the challenge, which is now accepting applicants.

There is a $25 entry fee, but no one should feel that the cost is a barrier as there are discounts and sponsorships available for qualified applicants to help with the entry cost.

The filming timeframe will start on August 7, when filmmaker kits will be sent via email to all applicants, and will end on August 27.

“We’ve reached out to a number of organizations this year and expect to have more participation with the longer, three-week completion timeline,” Carrie Turner, Executive Director of APAC, said, adding, “The concepts showcase the city and to see our streets alive with video artists capturing its magic is wonderful.”

The Asbury Park Arts Council is a 501c3 group formed to advocate for and promote arts and culture initiatives in the city.