For directions to the Coexistence Festival, click here.
The City of New Brunswick will play host for much of next month to the Coexistence Festival, featuring an international traveling outdoor art exhibit that communicates diversity and tolerance.
The festival will be highlighted by a free outdoor arts and music event May 5 and May 6 taking place in downtown New Brunswick. Two main stages will feature numerous musical acts, including Richie Havens, the Indigo Girls, and The Temptations, among many others.
George Street will be closed from Somerset Street to Rockoff Hall starting Friday, May 4 at 1 a.m. Cross streets will be closed for portions of the weekend.
The newest artwork in the traveling exhibition, selected in March in a juried competition for New Jersey artists, will be unveiled to the public along with the entire exhibition at the official opening Saturday, April 28, at 3 p.m.
Organizers are expecting more than 200,000 participants throughout the span of the exhibit and roughly 25,000 attendees at the May 5-6 weekend festival alone. The festival and exhibition are being featured in conjunction with various cultural events already taking place in New Brunswick, including the New Jersey Folk Festival and a performance by Chaka Khan at the State Theatre.
The exhibition began in 2001, created by curators at the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem. From April 28 to May 20, 9-by-15-foot billboards featuring artworks from local and international artists will be placed in central and meaningful locations throughout the city and the College Avenue Campus.
It is hoped that the large, striking images will generate dialogue among passers-by about issues of tolerance, understanding, and living side-by-side in a changing world.
An international jury selected the works that form the core of the exhibition, and local artists responded to calls for submissions for the New Brunswick festival.
The works will be placed at numerous spots throughout downtown New Brunswick, as well as on the College Avenue Campus, Johnson & Johnson headquarters, and the Hyatt Hotel on Neilson Street. Several works will be placed on Voorhees Mall and on the grassy areas in front of and in the rear of Old Queen’s.
Since 2001, the festival has visited 24 cities, including Jerusalem, Sarajevo, Zurich, Amsterdam, Miami, Cape Town, Washington, D.C., Houston, and Auckland (Australia).
Sponsors include the City of New Brunswick, Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick Cultural Center, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, and others. Click here for a complete list of sponsors and more information on the Coexistence Festival.