(BERGEN COUNTY, NJ) -- The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's ArtsBergen initiative has announced artist Nina Tsur of New Milford has been selected to beautify and transform the Borough of Oradell's Walter Schirra Park with originally designed and positioned asphalt decals on the ground.  The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) is a not-for-profit organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey.

The NNJCF's ArtsBergen initiative is partnering with the Borough of Oradell in New Jersey to implement and install the interactive design using the park's sidewalks leading to the gazebo to create an engaging, visually pleasing space.  "Ms. Tsur's bold, colorful, and graphic work lends itself well to the project’s outdoor environment and the use of two-dimensional decals on a canvas of cement on the ground.  Her art is also fun, eye-catching and will be easily understood by the park's passersby.  The installation's key goal is to engage all Oradell residents and visitors by being interactive.  Ms. Tsur's simple imagery will appeal to children and her clever, humorous messaging will interest young adults and adults," said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.

Community Engagement:  A top priority of this creative placemaking project involves engaging the community to ensure their vision, input, and preferences for how their public places will look and be used are captured.  The NNJCF and the Borough canvassed Oradell residents on social media to identify the theme they wanted to see in Walter Schirra Park.  The community responded with the overall themes of exploration and space, along with historical sites, flowers, and birds found in Oradell.  Tsur will incorporate one or more of these themes into the installation.  With the design process underway, the NNJCF anticipates installation will take place at the end of July or the beginning of August.  This program is made possible in part by a grant administered by the Bergen County Division of Historic & Cultural Affairs from funds granted by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Up-and-Coming Artist: Pedestrians see Tsur's work daily in New York City and New Jersey.  Giphy in partnership with LinkNYC commissioned Tsur to create a bodega themed gif.  This art appears on over 1,700 LinkNYC kiosks throughout New York City's boroughs, as well as parts of New Jersey.

This aspiring artist was a finalist in the Giphy Micro Film Festival 2019.  She also received the Motion Graphics Gold Award for the Graphics New Talent Annual 2019 and the Motion Graphics Merit Award for The One Club: Young Ones Student Awards 2019.  Tsur holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and Motion Design from the School of Visual Arts.  In 2017 and 2019, her work appeared in the school's Motion Graphics Showcase.

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s ArtsBergen initiative, a regional arts alliance, works with various stakeholders.  These stakeholders encompass artists, arts organizations, businesses and municipal leaders, who use the arts to shape the social, physical, cultural, and economic identity of communities.  Creative placemaking, a community-led, arts-driven approach, is used to increase vibrancy, spur economic development, and build capacity among residents to take ownership of their communities.

ArtsBergen is the only initiative in Bergen County, New Jersey offering a range of services in creative placemaking.  The initiative has partnered with multiple municipalities facilitating creative teams, developing public art and creative placemaking plans, and directing and managing public art projects to preserve and express community culture.  

Founded in 1998, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on civic engagement, education, public health, the environment, philanthropy, and the arts.  The NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life.  The Foundation's partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources.