From the train or the highway, Orange, New Jersey looks like another working class suburb of Newark and New York. But it's a city rich in history, culture and overlooked wealth. Did you know that there's a 9,000 square foot house that had been built for the inventor of the modern paint can? Or that what looks like an old vacant warehouse in the Valley Arts district is actually a major studio for Hip-Hop performers?
The participants in the Creative Placemaking Learning Tour learned this and more. Led by Scott Schultz of the Valley Arts District and Karen Wells of the Orange Historic Commission, 15 people from around North Jersey walked around the Valley Arts District and took a bus tour to visit beautiful historic houses in the Seven Oaks neighborhood.
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| Stopping by Luna Moon, a mural in the Valley Arts District in West Orange. The artist, Dan Fenelon, (standing, eighth from the left), was also on the tour. Portions of the Valley Arts District are in West Orange. Image credit: Patricia Mitrano, West Orange Arts Council. |
The tour was produced by New Jersey Creative Placemakers, an initiative of The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking; Orange Historic Commission; and Valley Arts. Thanks also to the City of Orange, which provided a bus and driver to help the tour connect Valley Arts and Seven Oaks.
The next Creative Placemaking Learning Tour is Saturday, November 4, in Hammonton, NJ. Learn more or register.
For more information on this, or any other Learning Tour, please contact NCCP Executive Director Leonardo Vazquez by email or at 973-763-6352, x 1
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| Visiting historic houses in Seven Oaks in Orange. Image credit: Patricia Mitrano, West Orange Arts Council |
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