By Lilly Ward
Correspondent
On July 29, Grounds for Sculpture invited the public to join a parade through the park to celebrate the Trenton community in their free program, Breaking Boundaries: Grounds For Gathering — the result of a collaboration between Grounds for Sculpture, Spiral Q and Trenton Artworks.
This program was created in tandem with Grounds for Sculpture’s exhibition “Spiral Q: The Parade,” which showcases the work of Spiral Q, an organization in Philadelphia dedicated to using art as a way to build community and instigate social change.
“Anytime you invite the community and ask them to share what they do, it's always going to be a beautiful event,” said Liza Goodell, co-director of Spiral Q. “The parade is a way for people to represent who they are and what they're doing,”
Breaking Boundaries was the product of a new initiative at Grounds for Sculpture to bring in more diverse audiences to the grounds, as well as to highlight voices that have long been overlooked at art institutions. This event focused on bringing the community of Trenton to Grounds for Sculpture. To promote the event, Spiral Q and Grounds for Sculpture attended block parties held by the city of Trenton and spoke to locals about their relationship to their community.
“What we were asking them was, what do you want to celebrate? What do you want to protect? What do you want to connect? What are your memories of Trenton?” said Julio Enrique Badel, director of education and community engagement at Grounds for Sculpture.
To further engage the public, they also created a memory map using the Delaware River as a starting point. The locations marked on the map held memories for the residents of Trenton, such as the appearance of a beluga whale in the Delaware river.
They also worked with kids at the Trenton Artworks summer camp to create artwork for the procession.
The efforts to get the word out undoubtedly paid off. Around 250 people came to the event, exceeding the expectations that the audience would be about 70 to 100 people, said Badel.
“We try to develop projects that are accessible at every point so you could show up the day of and feel welcome,” said Goodell.
The original plan for the parade was for the procession to start at the nearby Farmingdale Park and end with participants entering the gates of Grounds for Sculpture; however, a heat advisory threw a wrench in these plans. Instead, everyone gathered within the East Gallery to prepare for a shorter but spirited procession through the sculpture park. Led by the beat of drums, courtesy of West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad, people proudly brandished hand painted cardboard signs and waved flags that read “celebrate” and “protect.”
Returning to the gallery, the participants enjoyed ice cream as well as performances from local Trenton organizations such as the Watson Johnson Dance Theater in Ewing and a boxing demonstration by Guns Down, Gloves Up, an initiative through the Transformation Church in Trenton.
With the success of Breaking Boundaries, Badel hopes to continue to make connections with the Trenton community.
“My long-term vision is for Grounds For Sculpture to be the local park for Trenton and Hamilton, and they should feel that it's their backyard,” said Badel.
