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Located in the historic Hamilton Club Building of PCCC, The Cultural Affairs Department is home to the Poetry Center and Theater and Poetry Project, the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council, the Folklife Center of Northern New Jersey, and the PCCC Art Galleries.
Since its founding in 1980, The Poetry Center has hosted poet laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, inaugural poets, and others of national and international reputation. Its programming is supported by a New Jersey State Council on the Arts grant and includes the Distinguished Poets workshop/reading series with an open reading segment, literary contests/awards, and publication of the annualPaterson Literary Review. Under the umbrella of the Poetry Center, the Theater and Poetry Project [TAPP] presents in-school poetry writing workshops and theater performances in the PCCC Founder’s Theater for Paterson Public School students. In the spring, TAPP hosts an annual awards ceremony and poetry reading for the winners of a student poetry contest.
The Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council [PCCHC] is the officially designated county arts, cultural, and heritage agency, granting New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey Historical Commission funds annually to approximately 40 Passaic County organizations. The Council also coordinates the annual Teen Arts Festival at the Wanaque campus in the spring and offers technical workshops and publicity opportunities through its monthly newsletter. Through its local arts and history programming, the PCCHC reflects the diversity and preserves the ethnic traditions and cultures of its communities.
Supported by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Folklife Center of Northern New Jersey officially opened to the public in May 2019. The Center celebrates the region’s diversity by documenting and building awareness and appreciation of vital cultural traditions. Throughout the region, an array of traditional and folk arts performances, workshops, demonstrations, and exhibits are presented free of charge for youth, homebound residents, and general audiences.
The PCCC Art Galleries present monthly changing exhibits of contemporary art in the Passaic County Community College’s Broadway and Hamilton Club Galleries. The Hamilton Club Art Collection, The Federici Studio Sculpture Collection, and the Contemporary Art Collection are on permanent display in the historic Hamilton Club Building and are open to the public free of charge. Guided tours are available to students, school and community groups, and the public, and free artist talks and workshops are offered to studentsand the community.
For more information, visit the Cultural Affairs website or call 973-684-5444 or 973-684-6555.
