Art All Night Is Here

Grab your painting, tote that T-shirt...the one that says "STAFF" on it....yeah!

ART ALL NIGHT is here!

It only takes nine months to have a baby but it takes a full year to pull Art All Night together.

Artists: You have from 6:00pm to 9:00pm tonight to bring your art work to the show. Of course if tonight doesn't work, bring your sculpture, your kid's refrigerator art,(TrentonKat, tell Matty he can make something), craft items, even needlepoint, to the show tomorrow before 2:00pm. This gives the staff a chance to hang everything before the show starts at 3:00pm.

Every year presents challenges and, somehow, every year produces a champion event.

The soaring Roebling Wire Works, just off South Clinton Avenue, is the perfect setting for the hundreds of volunteers and artists who make this "happening" happen. The action begins at 3pm on Saturday afternoon and ends officially at 3pm Sunday but in between....

Bands ranging from gospel to jazz, with some folk and reggae thrown in for spice, perform non-stop on both indoor and outdoor stages. There are vocalists, bands from soloist to orchestra...jazz ranging from sexy to raucous improv until the wee hours. Sunday morning from 3am to 7am, the action moves indoors and a succession of DJ's keep the energy flowing. This gives neighbors thankfully a chance to sleep.

Saturday night includes an "iron pour"... which is as dramatic as it sounds. Molten iron will be poured into molds while in front of the evening crowd. This is scheduled for after dark, so you get the full effect of glowing like hot lava. Some of the older residents of Trenton might remember this part of our "Trenton Makes" heritage. It is fitting that we watch from what was formerly grounds of the Roebling Wire Works.

There will be food. We had a sampling of some of the vendors at our first volunteer session and it was delicious. There will be beer and wine tasting, barbecue, snacks of every kind, but personally I have to think about something else besides food or I will pay for it for a week.

And of course there is art. Live Art Fusion---by Timeless Tattoo...a number of artists working on a canvas that rotates slowly...I have no idea what this is going to be so I sure don't want to miss it.

There is glass blowing, live T-shirt printing where you can design your own shirt and they print Art All Night limited editions right in front of you... "Graffiti Demo" by local Trentonian Leon Rainbow...(really, and can he tell stories), "Graf on Girls" features Leon and other artists who will work on the human body....oh, my goodness.

I am looking at the lineup that includes "Fire Tiki's". Not your usual poolside torch, Glenn Moore makes his out of steel and you can barbecue on them.

There is plenty of room for social commentary while you rest on the "Up Cycled Lounge" or observe the "Streets As Living Space", an artistic effort to describe the parameters of the homeless as you picture living without walls, on the street.

And of course, there is yoga, master classes on night photography, video screenings on Saturday from 3 to 10pm, a local music roundtable on Sunday, and an opportunity to expound on any subject in a forum called "Ignite". You have a 5 minute chance to tell the crowd why your idea might change the world. Or not.

It is going to be hot so be prepared. It is going to be a heck of a good time.

Trenton rocks!