A STATEMENT FROM ARTWORKS TRENTON:
Over the years, Art All Night has become much more than a small celebration of the arts in Trenton. It became the premiere community event that countless people looked forward to in the capital city, with tens of thousands of people attending, over 1,800 artists showcasing their art from across the region, a small army of volunteers to help pull it off, corporate sponsorships to help fund the event, and the dedication of Artworks and Art All Night staff to pull it together, completely free and open to the public.
After the tragedy of 2018, Artworks was determined to make 2019 bigger, better, and safer than ever. This was at a tremendous cost to Artworks, but through the support of our patrons, sponsors and partners, the event was reimagined and open to the public.
During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 Artworks and the Art All Night team persevered to bring the event to the public in a virtual twenty four hour format. In 2022 the team learned that the Wireworks building was deemed unsafe for the event, and inspired a location change for the following year.
In 2023, a new staff was welcomed for both Artworks and Art All Night. After securing the historic War Memorial in downtown Trenton efforts began to reimagine the event’s in-person offerings. Thanks to continued fundraising efforts, a rebuild began with new display walls, and a reimagined theme of “Back To Basics”. This year’s event was planned to be scaled back, with more focus on its humble beginnings. In the course of 15 years the associated costs for the event have skyrocketed. However, the outpouring of support from the community inspired us to continue forward.
At this time Artworks is disappointed to share that due to a multitude of circumstances Art All Night: Back to Basics in person programming has been postponed. It is of the utmost importance to Artworks Trenton to provide a creative, intentional, and free space to our community; at this time they are not able to offer this in 2023.
Art All Night 2024 planning is already underway, and is intended to present the event with a full scale and reinspired vision. On September 16th Artworks Trenton will present Art All Day. This large-scale community event offers artists the ability to present their work at venues and studios throughout the city of Trenton. In addition, Artworks is excited to share that they will again be partnering with Mercer County Parks Commission River Days to provide even more family activities and programming.
The postponement of Art All Night does not reflect the growth or strength of our organization. In the past year Artworks has seen more than 4,000 visitors at their exhibitions, served more than 1,800 students through their youth and adult educational programming, and received $500,000 in restricted funding with help from Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for the Trenton Artwalk. For more information about Artworks please visit https://artworkstrenton.org/
