MIDDLESEX COUNTY

Recycled Raritan exhibit and other coLAB happenings

Bob Makin
@ReporterBMakin

NEW BRUNSWICK – The city-based coLAB Arts incubator will open an exhibit made from recycled materials pulled out the Raritan River on Saturday at New Brunswick Health and Wellness Plaza that it will then will demonstrate and discuss the project partners in June in Washington, D.C.

The arts group will join with environmental advocates and community representatives to bring their eco-themed community art project to the American Architectural Foundation's 2015 Sustainable Cities Design Academy in Washington, D.C., the city announced in a news release. "Rail > Arts > River: Championing the Arts as Economic Driver for New Brunswick, NJ" intends to use visual art and sustainable design as a way to connect the city's riverfront and railways, the news release said.

The project team includes representatives from the city, Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership, New Brunswick Cultural Center, New Brunswick Development Corp., New Brunswick City Market, City of Perth Amboy, Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County Office of Planning and NJ Transit.

The "Rail > Arts > River" trail will link the city train station, downtown, and Raritan Riverfront through nine sustainable and functional artistic "zones." The zones acknowledge the historic role of rail and river in the city's development and move the community toward the future with proposals for innovative installations, such as a "Living Wall/Green Canopy" in the Boyd Park amphitheater that will provide shade, storm water capture and soundproofing.

Project teams compete to attend Sustainable Cities Design Academy, which provides resources, education and best practice support needed to make environmentally-responsible design decisions. Scheduled for June 10 to 12, the Academy helps teams to formulate action plans for their projects, while providing the design leadership training and technical assistance needed to address the specific design challenges that they face in their cities. Since establishing the academy in 2009, the foundation has served 50 project teams in cities across the United States through the sponsorship United Technologies Corp. For additional information, visit www.archfoundation.org.

The essence of "Rail > Arts > River" is captured in a project recently unveiled by coLAB and the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership. The Watershed Sculpture Project is a collection of commissioned artwork built from items found in volunteer clean-ups of area streams that will be open to the public in a free gallery event from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at the New Brunswick Health and Wellness Plaza on Paterson Street between Joyce Kilmer Avenue and French Street.

Here's what else is coming up for coLAB Arts:

•Sixth annual New Brunswick High School theater residency featuring "They're Playing Our Song," 7 p.m. April 23 to 25, Main Stage Theater, New Brunswick High School, 1000 Somerset St., New Brunswick.

•"MOTION: New Dance Works" in association with Lustig Dance Theatre. Featured and featuring choreographers Miriam Gabriel, Robert Mark Burke, Robert Foerster, and Christian Lopez, 8 p.m. May 13 and 14, Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave.

litLAB's theBOOK discussion, 6-8 p.m. May 13, Christopher's Loungein the Heldrich Hotel, 10 Livingston Ave.. For book selection, visit http://www.colab-arts.org/litlab.

litLAB's thePEN creative writing workshop with Liz Reilly-English, 1-4 p.m. May 16, Unity Square Community Center, 81 Remsen Ave.

filmLAB networking mixer, May 9, Alfa Art Gallery, 108 Church St. Visit http://www.colab-arts.org/filmlab for more details.

filmLAB's The Writers' Room, free screenwriting workshop, Unity Square Community Center, 81 Remsen Ave. Visit http://www.colab-arts.org/filmlab for more.

The Vom story slam, May 28, World of Beer, 335 George St. Theme will be "Eating Out" for which participants can prepare a four- to eight-minute unscripted story without notes about whining and dining, spitting or swallowing, getting a taste of your own medicine, or the strangest place your mouth has been. For more details, visit www.colab-arts.org/vom. To sign up, email info@colab-arts.org.

•theTABLE community monthly conversation focusing from noon to 2 p.m. May 31 on "The Ethics of Eating" that will discuss food availability, distribution, organic farming and gardening, biological engineering. The location will be announced to those who buy at ticket at www.colab-arts.org/thetable.

See a photo gallery of the Watershed exhibit and "They're Playing Our Song" at www.MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment.

Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@MyCentralJersey.com