Community Events

April 2024

New Jersey Choreographers’ Fesitival | April 2nd – 4th

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts will showcase Moving Into the Future at the South Orange Performing Arts Center. This performance will celebrate the dynamic and diverse artistic visions of 14 of the 2023 Arts Council Choreography Fellows. Each evening the performances will be followed by a moderated talkback with the choreographers. For more information click here.

Free First Thursdays at MOMA | April 4th, 5:00pm – 9:00pm

Join us for a night out at the Montclair Museum of Art during April’s Free First Thursday, presented by TD Bank. Bring a friend, a partner, or enjoy a solo evening of food, drinks, and 110 years of art.

Montclair Museum of Art

3 South Mountain Avenue

Montclair, New Jersey 07042

8th Annual Gaelen Family Artist Lecture: A Century of Black Art at MAM | April 14th, 1:00 pm

Artists Willie Cole, Adama Delphine Fawundu, and Ambrose Rhapsody Murray will each share their creative processes, following an introduction by Ben Jones, co-founder of the African American Cultural Committee and exhibiting artist. A moderated discussion with the artists facilitated by exhibition co-curators Adrienne L. Childs, Ph.D., and nico w. okoro, MA, will delve into themes that highlight how art has long been a living, generative force in Black life and how these artistic voices have shaped cultural narratives over the past century. Tickets.

Montclair Museum of Art

3 South Mountain Avenue

Montclair, New Jersey 07042

Jazz Jams | April 18th , 7:30pm

Join NJPAC for their monthly Jazz Jam Sessions, featuring musicians from New Jersey directed by pianist and bandleader, James Austin, Jr. Austin shares the spotlight as beginner and seasoned jazz musicians and singers are welcomed to jam and improv with the band throughout the night.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Center St, Newark, NJ 07102

Jammin’ in the Loft at SOPAC | April 24th, 7:00 pm

Experience your favorite bands up close and personal in SOPAC’s new Jammin’ in the Loft series.  Curated by Gregory Burrus Productions, this series brings talented local bands taking the local music scene by force to the next level with an intimate and energetic experience in The Loft at SOPAC

SOPAC

One SOPAC Way

South Orange, NJ 07079

March 2024

Live, in-person jazz returns to MAM with the 6th installment of Art Meets Jazz featuring Joe Locke! Widely considered to be one of the major voices of his instrument, Joe Locke is a highly sought-after soloist, composer, and bandleader. He is a six-time recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association’s “Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year” Award, the 2023 Hot House NYC Jazz Awards for Best Vibes Player, and he continues to top critic and reader polls.

Montclair Museum of Art

3 South Mountain Avenue

Montclair, New Jersey 07042

A Trojan Woman: In a flash of modern warfare (Ukraine? Afghanistan? Vietnam? Poland? Hiroshima? Israel? Gaza?), a mother loses her child. She becomes a Trojan woman, compelled to embody every iconic character in Euripides’ classic play. 

Luna Stage
555 Valley Road
West Orange, NJ 07052

Ed Kashi: Abandoned Moments | Starting March 22, 2024

For Ed Kashi, the abandoned moment is the consequence of a fractional instant of surrender. The photographs in this exhibition, made over a 40-year period across four continents and in both black and white and color, reveal glimpses of transitory events filled with frenetic energy–the chaos of everyday life. Embodying photography’s intrinsic power, they preserve moments that can never occur again in exactly the same time and space. In these photographs, geometry, mood, and possibility unite to create something new and magical, capturing the untamed energy of a moment with abandon. 

Montclair Museum of Art

3 South Mountain Avenue

Montclair, New Jersey 07042

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

AFK’s Vincent Ector will be performing with Enoch Smith Jr.!

June 17, 2023, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Juneteenth Celebration

The Heart of Jazz

Mercer County Park Festival Grounds

1638 Old Trenton RoadWest Windsor Township, NJ, 08550

June 17, 2023, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Juneteenth Event – Exhibit Chat & Walking Tour: Whose American Revolution?

Newark Public Library

Newark Public Library – Main Branch 

5 Washington Street Newark, NJ

June 17, 2023, 12:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Juneteenth Block Party

Hillside School

54 Orange Road Montclair, NJ, 07042

Registration link

Registration link

June 24, 2023 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Vince Ector “Organatomy Trio+ CD Release Event

Soapbox Gallery

636 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238

May 2023

May 29, 2023, 10:00 am

BYOB (Bring Your Own Baby!) Movie Matinee

The Clairidge

486 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042

May 25, 2023, 7:30 pm

Montclair Film StorySLAM

Montclair Film

505 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042

May 13, 2023 , 3:00 pm

Spring Forward Dance-a-thon

Reel. Dance. Music Studio

555 Valley Road
West Orange, NJ 07052

April 2023

April 13, 2023, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

The Vince Ector Trio

Porta Montclair

499 Bloomfield Ave Montclair, NJ

April 16, 2023, 7:00 pm

The Vince Ector “Organatomy” Trio+ CD Release Concert

South Orange Performing Arts Center

1 SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ

March 2023

March 9, 2023, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Photographer, Stuart Tyson

Papaver Opening Reception

South Orange Performing Arts Center

1 SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ

March 17, 2023, 9:00 pm

Philip Roth Unbound: Illuminating a Literary Legacy

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Center Street

Newark, NJ

February 2023

February 16, 2023 , 6:00 pm

The Vince Ector “Organatomy” Trio

Black Veterans For Social Change

665 Willoughby Ave.
Brooklyn, NY  

February 19, 2023 , 2:00 pm

The West Orange Classic Film Fesitval:

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

AMC Dine-In Essex Green

West Orange, NJ

February 27, 2023, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

NJPAC Books on the Move

Hillside Public Library

1409 Liberty Ave.

Hillside, NJ

February 27, 2023, 7:00 pm

PSEG True Diversity Film Series

Enforcing Justice: Mitigating Disparities in Our Criminal Justice System

Virtual via Zoom