Tibet in New Jersey
It’s no surprise that Newark, the largest city in New Jersey, has the largest museum in the state. What you may find surprising, however, is that the Newark Museum is home to the largest collection of Tibetan artwork outside of Southeast Asia and that it has been visited by the Dalai Lama on four separate occasions.
The Newark Museum has wide-ranging collections in both historic and contemporary art, with exhibitions showcasing works from Africa, Asia, the Americas and the classical world. But the hands-down highlight is the Tibetan art collection, which features more than 5,000 works. Groups that tour the collection will see paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, fine textiles, documentary photographs and decorative arts from Tibet, many brought out of the country by missionaries beginning in the 1910s.
In addition, the Tibetan galleries at the Newark Museum feature three full-size temples painstakingly reconstructed in their original forms.
Mana in the City
Just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Jersey City is home to one of the metro area’s most innovative artistic spaces: Mana Contemporary.
Founded in 2011, Mana Contemporary has taken up shop in a former tobacco warehouse, built in 1890, and transformed it into an interactive arts studio, collaboration station and exhibition space. The organization continues to expand and hopes to eventually occupy more than 2 million square feet of space at the site.
Groups that visit Mana Contemporary can see exhibitions in a variety of styles and media, such as painting, sculpture, photography, dance, film and sound, and may be able to arrange for behind-the-scenes tours or meetings with artists in their studios. Since the galleries are located inside a working arts space, docents guide every visit to the center, giving guests a great overview of the Mana project in the process. The facility also features a cafe and a number of affiliated arts museums that are open by appointment.
Artlantic City
A longtime East Coast vacation destination, Atlantic City is diversifying its tourist offerings beyond its stalwart casinos and traditional boardwalk. Part of that effort is an inventive new Artlantic arts movement that is being spearheaded by locals with a passion for both the arts and the outdoors.
The purpose of Artlantic is to transform empty lots around Atlantic City into arts destinations where large-scale, outdoor public works by local and international artists create attractive and interactive art gardens for visitors and residents alike. The parks and the art within them are designed to complement the natural elements of their settings.
The two art parks in Atlantic City feature collaborative efforts from Robert Barry, Peter Hutchinson, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Robert Lach, Jedidiah Morfit, John Roloff and Kiki Smith. Their boardwalk locations make these parks easy for visitors to walk to from any of the numerous coastal hotels in the city.
