The Creating Change Network, a program hosted by New Jersey Theatre Alliance and ArtPride New Jersey that aims to build a more equitable, just, accessible, and anti-racist arts community in New Jersey, will facilitate participation by the state’s arts community in the National Day of Racial Healing, on January 17, 2023.

The Creating Change Network, in partnership with the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center at Rutgers University - Newark, seeks submissions from arts organizations, schools, universities, and individual artists for inclusion in the National Day of Racial Healing events calendar. Submitted events should be connected to the theme of “Redfining and Rebuilding Community” related to race and racism. Participants may be eligible for up to $350 in project support from the Creating Change Network. Priority for funding will be given to events that focus on equity and healing within their communities.

Submissions are due by December 12, 2022, via this online application portal: https://go.rutgers.edu/rundorh23

The organizers encourage submission of events that are already planned for the time period of January 17-24, 2023. Events may be virtual or in-person. Re-broadcasts of previously recorded virtual events are also welcome.

Eligible events include performances, exhibits, community conversations, panel discussions, or facilitated Racial Healing Circles. The National Day of Racial Healing takes place on January 17, 2023, but events that take place between January 17 and January 24, 2023, or close to those dates are eligible to be included. 

“The National Day of Racial Healing is a critical platform enabling individuals and organizations across the country to participate in the recognition that awareness and action are imperative to healing our nation's racial crisis. This opportunity for our arts community to participate, supports our goal of creating change and moving this conversation forward to transform our workplace and how we engage with each other,” says Donna Walker-Kuhne, Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Chair of the Creating Change Steering Committee.

“It has been a pleasure to partner with the Creating Change Network,” says Sharon Stroye, Director of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Center and Director of Public Engagement in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University - Newark. “The mission of the TRHT Center at Rutgers University -Newark is to draw on the methodologies and strategies of the humanities and the arts within a social justice framework, where RU-N and diverse community partners can engage in an arc of interactive programming designed to change the narrative about race and race relations in Newark and beyond.”

“The theme for National Day of Racial Healing 2023 is Redefining and Rebuilding Communitty,” Stroye continues. “It’s an opportunity for people, organizations, and communities to interpret what community means  to them and to take action together in creating a just and equitable New Jersey.  After a global pandemic, the racial reckoning the world is experiencing, and the divisive political rancor, how do we redefine and rebuild inclusive communities for all people? The Creating Change Network is a strategic and collaborative partner in promoting racial healing and relationship building throughout the New Jersey arts community.”

The Creating Change Network is a collaboration between New Jersey Theatre Alliance and ArtPride New Jersey, the state’s two largest arts service organizations, with a mission to build a more equitable, just, accessible, and anti-racist arts community in New Jersey. Guided by a steering committee of arts professionals and social justice leaders, the Creating Change Network offers ongoing opportunities for learning and collaboration to move the arts sector forward. The Creating Change Network is committed to the long-term endeavor of shifting culture, empowering leaders, sharing strategies, ensuring accountability, and sustaining hope so that individuals and organizations can progress in this work. The Creating Change Network was launched in April 2021 with the virtual conference “Creating Change: Moving Towards Equity, Justice, and Anti-Racism in the New Jersey Arts Community,” which was attended by over 550 arts leaders in the state.

The activities of the Creating Change Network are supported by the Grunin Foundation.

Individuals and/or organizations may submit their events by December 12, 2022 at: https://go.rutgers.edu/rundorh23

Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey. Funding for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, is provided in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, and contributions from numerous individuals, corporations, and foundations including Amazon, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Grunin Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bank of America, City National Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The Union Foundation, and OceanFirst Foundation

The ArtPride New Jersey Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that promotes the value of the arts to New Jersey’s quality of life, education, and economic vitality through research and a variety of programs and services.