Discover Jersey Arts

10/16/2026

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📸 When was the last time New Jersey surprised you?
We think we know our home state. The highways. The shore. The stereotypes.

But a rodeo in South Jersey? A whole world of artists and communities hiding in plain sight? Now we're talking.

At the Morris Museum, "Garden State Lens" challenges what we think we know about Jersey through the eyes of eleven photographers. And curator Bryant Small has a pretty wonderful way of looking at it all.

What’s one place in New Jersey you think more people should know about? Tell us below. 👇
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Morris Museum
BFLY777Faces - Bryant Small/

10/15/2026

🎬 Who doesn't love a juicy Old Hollywood scandal?

In 1936, movie star Mary Astor found herself at the center of a sensational custody battle involving her very personal purple diary. The tabloids had a field day.

Nearly 90 years later, husband-and-wife cabaret performers Michael Garin and Mardie Millit are turning the drama into a musical. Complete with original songs, sharp humor, and a leading lady who wasn't about to let Hollywood have the last word.

And the story of how this musical came together? Almost as entertaining as the scandal itself.

🎙️ Jersey Arts Podcast host Maddie Orton gets the inside scoop ahead of a staged reading of "Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Musical" at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch on October 26.

Would you rather watch an Old Hollywood scandal unfold on screen or onstage? Tell us! 👇
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New Jersey Repertory Company
Michael Garin and Mardie Millit

10/13/2026

Have you ever discovered something about yourself through music, dance, or a family tradition? 💃

For playwright Rahana Luqman Mirza, the energy of collegiate Bhangra competitions opened up fascinating questions about identity, belonging, and the traditions we carry forward.

As she shares with Jersey Arts TV, “How much do we inherit, how much is personal, how much is cultural, and what are we trying to build here?”
It's a question that reaches well beyond the dance floor.

What tradition, art form, or experience has helped you feel connected to your roots?
🎭 Get more of this week's Jersey Arts TV Episode: https://tinyurl.com/DJA-Beat-FB

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McCarter Theatre Center

10/13/2026

🎨 The arts are part of everyday life. What do the candidates have to say about them?

Think about your favorite concert venue, the theater down the street, your local museum, or the arts programs in your community.

Public policy can affect the funding and opportunities available to the people and organizations behind these experiences.

That's why ArtPride New Jersey invited congressional candidates to share their views through the 2026 Federal Candidate Survey.

Curious about their answers?

Explore the responses and learn more about where participating candidates stand.

🗳️ Know before you vote.
https://artpridenj.org/2026-federal-candidate-survey

10/08/2026

Have you ever heard a poem, a lyric, or a single line that stayed with you for years? 🎤

Patti Smith and the voices of Def Poetry Jam remind us that poetry doesn't have to be quiet, complicated, or confined to a book. Sometimes it sounds like rock and roll. Sometimes it speaks directly to the experiences of a community.

At Newark's NJPAC, the Dodge Poetry Festival celebrates that kind of creative freedom, including the voices and traditions that helped make spoken word a cultural force.

In this week's Jersey Arts Feature Story, Carolyn M. Brown explores why those voices still matter.

💬 What song lyric or poem has stuck with you?

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New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Patti Smith

10/07/2026

👀 Same survey. Different candidates. What did they say?

The 2026 Federal Candidate Survey invited New Jersey's congressional candidates to share their perspectives on the arts.

Now you can explore the results for yourself.

See which candidates responded, read their answers and consider how their perspectives relate to the issues that matter to you.

Then share the survey with a friend who might want to learn more before Election Day.

Their positions. Your values. Your vote.

https://artpridenj.org/2026-federal-candidate-survey

10/06/2026

Because of the Arts... We Find Each Other.

Sometimes it happens in the seats before the lights go down. Sometimes it’s standing shoulder-to-shoulder at a festival, wandering through a gallery with a friend, or realizing a room full of strangers is laughing at exactly the same thing.

The arts give us more than something to see, hear, or experience. They give us places and reasons to find one another.

This Discover Jersey Arts Month, we’re celebrating the people, places, and experiences that bring us together across New Jersey.

Where do the arts help you feel connected?

Find your next place to experience it at JerseyArts.com.

10/03/2026

10/02/2026

What’s something you’re still excited to try, regardless of your age? 💬
Kathryn Grody has a thought worth keeping close: “I want to surprise myself, I want to have new experiences.”

That curiosity sits alongside the harder realities she speaks about, from physical changes to losing people she loves. There’s room for the whole conversation, including laughter.

In this Jersey Arts Podcast, Maddie Orton meets the actor and writer behind "The Unexpected 3rd", coming to George Street Playhouse.

Listen for a perspective on aging that leaves space to keep becoming yourself.
What would you like your next unexpected chapter to include?

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George Street Playhouse

Mandy Patinkin

10/02/2026

Pushcart Players, the award-winning educational theater company serving young and family audiences, is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Cuentos del Árbol, a musical theater production inspired by Spanish and Latin American folklore. To make the production accessible to more students and fam...