For eight years Trenton Artworks has hosted Art All Night and its companion event Art All Day, two events that highlight the work of local artists and are free to the public.
This year’s Art All Day was held September 19, 2020 in historic Mill Hill Park, NJ on a bright, end-of-summer afternoon. Despite a cold snap tents and tables sprang up over the course of the day, housing artists while they worked
Kids contributed side-walk chalk drawings, a string quartet played, the Trash Parade beating drums and clattering plastic soda bottles went by, and the Trenton Circus Squad performed acrobatics.
Artist Luk Man, whose works feature intricate line work often highlighting images of powerful figures in Black history held up a picture that combined portraits of Martin Luther King Jr, President Barack Obama, and Malcolm X. “I call this one Black Messiahs,” he said.
While the event is free and open to the public, artists hope to sell their pieces.
“I sold last year. I did a piece of Trenton. I did a ghetto part of Trenton…It had a building, and all of these cats running across it, all of the tom cats. A ghetto with clothes hanging in the pathway, and an apartment complex, and somebody actually brought it. I was proud it had even sold.”
Near Man’s stall cruising bicyclists had the streets to themselves participating in the Ciclovia: Open Streets Trenton. Punk music played out of the open doors of a van. Freedom Skate Park, the volunteer organization set up a pop-up skate park on the barricaded streets.
Jake McNichol, founder of the non-profit, partnered with Dogwood Skate Shop, Skate Jawn, and Ciclovia, to showcase “alternative use of the street.”
McNichol said he wishes for the community, “learn the life lesson that skating teaches,” adding “The whole process of skateboarding is based around seeing something in front of you that would be considered an obstacle or something mundane in the city, thinking creatively, and transforming that from something that’s in your way, in your path, turning it into something that’s a venue for creative pursuit.”
South Indian artist and active Trenton community member Srikanth Ranaswany stood on the chalk-patterned wooden planks of a red iron bridge. His record attempt 60 foot long oil painting of a forest scene was fixed to the trusses, spanning the length of the structure.
“I was worried about all of the nature events happening, like the wildfires and deforestation,” Ranaswany said, adding, “I wanted to use one of my powerful mediums, which is art, to kind of bring an awareness to the people around the globe – to preserve the nature for the future generations.”
This year’s event required some public safety adjustments due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing. There is usually a walking and trolley tour but this year the trolley was left out and walking was the key means of viewing the event.
