SECTION:   WHAT TO DO / FAMILY

Culture in Context:
A Tapestry of Expression - Related Programming

Please Note:

Unless otherwise noted below, all demonstrations and performances will be held within the Culture in Context: A Tapestry of Expression exhibiton the second floor of the Museum’s Main building – most of these programs are offered twice a day (please refer to the calendar for details).

All of the Culture in Context: A Tapestry of Expression related programming are offered free of charge – no reservations are necessary:

October 28, 2008

Roberta Jones Flores – Lenape Native American Arts

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Preserving the traditional arts of her Lenape ancestors, Roberta Flores is a master of Indian beadwork.  On view display in the exhibition are her own elaborately beaded powwow dress and a princess crown of the type worn by the annually designated “Junior Princess” of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape.  A native of Gouldtown, near Bridgeton, NJ, Roberta continues to foster the preservation and revitalization of native Indian arts traditions.

October 2 & 7, 2008

Patricia Flynn – Irish Step Dancing

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Patricia Flynn has worked to preserve the traditions of Irish Set Dancing as part of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.

October 7, 2008

Ritu Pandya – Indian Batik

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Ritu Pandya has been promoting traditions of Indian art for more than 25 years.  Recognized for her talents in Mandala/Rangoli, batik, henna, folk dance, and yoga, she has been the recipient of several awards for her efforts towards the preservation and promotion of Indian folk art and painting.  Her batik and henna paintings have been displayed in exhibitions throughout the country.   Batik is a way of decorating cloth by covering a part of it with a coat of wax and then dyeing the cloth.  The waxed areas keep the original color and when the wax is removed the contrast between the dyed and undyed areas makes the pattern.

October 14 & 16 , 2008

Cathie Baker – Abenaki Baskets and Weaving

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Growing up in Maine, Cathie Baker was intrigued by the Eastern Abenaki Indian traditions passed on to her by her mother.  Cathie, now a New Jersey resident, apprenticed with Eastern Abenaki artist Alfred Grayhawk to learn mastery of birch bark construction of canoes, carrying baskets and other traditional objects.

October 19, 2008

Marsha Dubrow – Yiddish & Cantorial Singing;
followed by a talk on Sukkahs

1:00 pm & 3:00 pm

Marsha Dubrow has devoted years to study of Jewish tradition, including the sacred tradition of cantorial music and the secular tradition of Yiddish folk song.  She was a Folk Arts apprentice in both musical traditions and has also been an avid collector of Yiddish and English folk sheet music.  Several examples from her collection are on display alongside a replica of the Sukkah constructed traditionally to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

October 21, 23, 28, & 30, 2008

Nanette Hernandez and Juan Cartagena – Puerto Rican Dance and Drum Workshop

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Director Juan Cartagena and his wife Nanette Hernandez, work to preserve Puerto Rican traditions.  Their program will demonstrate authentic plena, the drum music of Puerto Rico reflecting its African heritage.  Plena is reported to have originated in the southern part of Puerto Rico during the early 20th century.

November 6 & 13, 2008

Mary May – South Jersey Basket Making

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Mary May became interested in making baskets as a hobby, then as a researcher and collector of the works of local basket makers of the New Jersey Pinelands in South Jersey.  She apprenticed with both Esther Parker and Clyde Jenkins and has become a master basket maker herself, teaching classes for both adults and children.  She specializes in the making of white oak splint baskets of traditional forms such as berry baskets, pound fishing baskets and eel fykes.

November 13, 2008

Maria Paczak and Eudokia Sorochaniuk – Ukrainian Embroidery

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Eudokia Sorochaniuk, fearing the traditional clothing rich with distinctive embroidery would be lost as her family and many other Ukrainians were displaced from their homeland during World War II, dedicated herself to preserving the nyzanky embroidery patterns.  While still in displaced person camps, she began to record all the patterns she could find from the Hutsulshchyna region of the Carpathian Mountains.  In the U.S. she published the patterns and also practiced and taught weaving and embroidery.  She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999.  Maria Panczak is a folk artist of Ukrainian heritage who also carries on the folk tradition of nyzanky needlework.  She was an apprentice to Eudokia Sorochaniuk under the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.

November 18 & 20, 2008

Ameurfina Nazario – Philippine Culture & Music

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Ameurfina Nazario began using baybayin glyphs to pass notes to fellow students as a child in school.  Her early interest in the ancient writing of the Tagalog people of the Philippines blossomed as she dedicated herself to perpetuating and reviving the script.  She uses baybayin for messages she inscribes on both traditional Filipino objects such as the nose flute as well as on contemporary paintings.

November 22, 2008

Thunderbird – American Indian Dancers
(held in the Museum’s Auditorium)

1:00 pm

The Thunderbird Dancers bring the beauty of traditional Native American culture to both America Indian and non-Indian audiences.  They will offer presentations of traditional Lenape dances as well at the fancy dances performed in powwows throughout the United States.  Through their dedication to promoting American Indian culture through dance, the Thunderbird’s educational programs are among the most compelling anywhere.

December 2 & 4, 2008

Mann-Lih Huang – Chinese Knot Tying

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Mann-Lih Huang is a master of the ancient Chinese art of zhong guo jie, or knot tying.  Originally designed to fasten clothing, knot tying is now a method to produce elaborate wall hangings and miniature scenes, both perpetuating the ancient art form and providing culturally significant home decorations.  Mann-Lih has taught knot tying and Chinese language in many Chinese schools in the state.

December 4 & 18, 2008

Hanan Munayyer – Middle East Culture & Crafts

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Hanan Munayyer learned traditional Palestinian embroidery from her mother, a native of Galilee.  Hanan and her husband have dedicated themselves to collecting and displaying the traditional embroidery of Palestine to educate the public about Palestinian and Middle Eastern culture.

December 9 & 11, 2008

Gail Dufresne – Rug Hooking

11:30 am & 1:00 pm

Gail Dufresne, a native of Connecticut and a traditional textile artist, followed her mother in the tradition of rug hooking.  She dyes the wool, makes the strips and pulls the strips through canvas with a latch hook for her original hooked rugs, which present both early American and contemporary folk ingenuity.  With over 20 years of rug hooking experience, Gail also teaches the art to others today.

December 27, 2008

Alay Philippine Performing Arts
(held in the Museum’s Auditorium)

1:00 pm

Alay Performing Arts Inc. is a non-profit corporation fostering the recognition and appreciation of Philippine arts and culture through stories, music and dance. Alay is a Philippine word for offering.  The name was chosen because it exemplifies the group’s goal of offering and sharing Philippine heritage.

January 11, 2009

Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey
(held in the Museum’s Auditorium)

1:00 pm

An early interest in preserving the traditional regional dances of Greece, led Eleni Chakalos and her late husband to found the Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey.  In an effort to offer the dances of all regions of the Greek Islands, she learned to make the often elaborately embroidered costumes representative of each area.  Founded in 1972, the Hellenic Dancers of New Jersey, is a group of 40 young adults who are first, second, or third generation Greek-Americans, and are dedicated to perpetuating their heritage through enthusiastic performances of the regional folk dances of Greece.

Main Museum Building and Auditorium Galleries
205 West State Street, Trenton Tuesday – Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm Sunday, noon to 5 pm
Closed Mondays & State Holidays