New Providence Art Installation
Submitted by New Providence- Our Community For All Committee
You can’t miss it. Waving in the breeze from every corner of the big pavilion in Centennial Park, hundreds of multi-colored banners made by New Providence residents dance in the breeze. The individual works of art celebrate what the artists love about New Providence, the town’s Tricentennial, and the precious things that got us through this trying time of social distancing. Flags will be on display until July 11th.
Crafted in individual living rooms and on dining room tables in hundreds of homes, these special small artworks come together in one display to bring people together as a town. They highlight the many joys of life in New Providence.
All generations made artwork- from residents at Lantern Hill to preschool neighbors. “So many of the pieces are inspirational, celebrating the small joys of life we have all come to appreciate even more during this trying time,” said Patricia Jacobs, the Executive Director of New Providence- Our Community For All, the group sponsoring the art installation. She expressed gratitude to the Grotta Fund for Senior Care for funding the group, which helped it achieve the project’s goal of brining residents together.
As the flags were finally hung on Saturday, June 13th, Co-chair of the project, Stacey Gunderman said “Being a part of this project was humbling and inspiring. Our community has shared their gifts of creativity and shown that we will come together to meet any challenge even when that means we must stay physically apart.” Ilyse Rogozenski, also Co-chair, added “Finding a way to bring our community together in a creative and safe way was the reason I wanted to be a part of this project. Not only did it do something special for our town, but it was also a great family project!”
Anne Keller, leader of the Girl Scout Troop that worked hard on the project for weeks, was enthusiastic about the way the many flags came together in the last few days. “Involving the girls in this project showed these future leaders how a community can come together, even in difficult times, to create something positive and wonderful” she said.
“It was very difficult to pick out just a few banners to award prizes to” said Jacobs. “We hope everyone comes out to see all the wonderful and creative designs.” Prizes were awarded on Saturday, June 13th on the steps of the pavilion as the art installation was completed. Winners were: Most Charming– Yufeng Li, Most Beautiful-Alan Yang, Most Creative– Emi Goswami and Most Inspirational-Anissa Tennekoon.
(above) Most Creative- Emi Goswami
(above) Most Beautiful-Alan Yang
(above) Most Inspirational-Anissa Tennekoon
(above) Most Charming- Yufeng Li
