Asbury Park Arts Council is a Powerful Cultural force

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.