(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Nimbus Dance has named Wendy Paul as President of their Board of Directors. Paul, Executive Director of the Jersey City Apartment Owners Association, has been a Nimbus board member since 2017; she chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitee, serves on the Fundraising Committee, and co-chairs, with Artistic Director, Samuel Pott, the board's Strategic Plan working group.
"Nimbus has been a beacon of light for Jersey City for 16 years. Even in these tumultuous times, the dancers, staff and teachers continue to shine brightly as statewide leaders in the arts and in leveraging widespread and equitable growth in Jersey City," said Paul. "I am thrilled and honored to serve as Board President as the organization opens the Nimbus Arts Center!"
Paul takes over from Jennifer Morrill who presided over Nimbus during the organization's successful $1.2million Capital Campaign and transition to the Nimbus Arts Center, the largest dance-based arts center in the state. She also led the board during the critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic, shutdown, and related economic crisis of the past year. Ms. Morrill will remain as a board member at large.
"Serving as president of the board of trustees for Nimbus has truly been an honor and an inspiration for me -- particularly during this time of growth and challenge," said Morrill. "Whether it was being involved with the opening of the new, first-of-its-kind arts center in Jersey City, assisting with the capital campaign and scholarship fund, or adapting to the challenges of performance and dance education during the global pandemic, working with Nimbus has offered me the opportunity to understand the complexity of the work non-profits undertake to serve our community."
Additionally, Nimbus welcomes two new Board Members, both highly respected and engaged with the Jersey City community, who will begin their service in February: Vivian Brady-Phillips and Thomas Macagnano. Ms. Brady-Phillips is Executive Director of the Jersey City Housing Authority and previously served as Deputy Mayor in Mayor Steven Fulop's first term. Thomas Macagnano, Principal of McNair Academic High School, consistently rated as one of the best high schools in New Jersey, has also been principal and vice principal at PS#12, and vice principal at PS#17 and PS#22.
Founded in 2005 by Samuel Pott and based in Jersey City, Nimbus has been at the forefront of excellence in the arts, civic engagement, and equitable impact, interweaving Company, School, and Presentations. Nimbus performs on tour nationally and throughout the greater New Jersey/New York region, impacting 16,000 people annually. Community engagement initiatives serve over 7,000 children annually through in-school, movement-based programs. The company tours nationally to notable venues including: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Iowa Dance Festival and the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. Artistic collaborations include work with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and esteemed artists including Pedro Giraudo, Latin Grammy winner, Aaron Parks, Blue Note Jazz Artist, Tim Eriksen, Grammy nominee, composer Qasim Naqvi, video artists Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger, among others. Nimbus presents and produces the annual Acadia Dance Festival at the Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor, Maine. On September 12, 2020, Nimbus opened the Nimbus Arts Center, a 14,900 square foot center with theater, gallery, and studio spaces that is one of the largest investments in the arts in Jersey City history. Aligning with Nimbus’ mission to wield the arts as a medium for broad impact to our diverse community, the new Center will serve as a resource for meaningful engagement with arts for people of all ages, backgrounds and financial means. Serving artists and the arts, the Nimbus Arts Center will present and support work that represents and speaks to the extraordinary cultural, racial and religious diversity present in Jersey City.
Nimbus’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, recognized by entities such as the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, DanceNYC/Ford Foundation’s Dance Advancement Fund and Cultural Access Network, is reflected throughout the organization: in educational/outreach programming, artistic content, and the makeup of Nimbus’ staff, company dancers, teachers, and board of directors. Indeed, Nimbus’ staff, dance company and board are comprised of a majority of individuals who self-identify as People of Color. In testimony to Nimbus’ remarkable success in drawing together and serving diverse constituents in an atmosphere of respect and inclusiveness, Critic Juan Michael Porter II wrote in Broadway World that Nimbus’ 2016 New York season “contained the most diverse audience I have ever encountered.” Jersey City has recently been named the most diverse municipality in the United States in terms of language, nationality, and religious, cultural and racial background; Nimbus is both proud of our track record of service to our diverse community, and also deeply humble and cognizant of the need for cultural consciousness and fluency, and inclusivity and equity. For Nimbus, we are our community – both innately connected through our immersive programming, and also embodied through the diversity of the people of our organization which mirrors that of our community.
