On Thursday, March 2nd, 2017, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (LPCCD), the sustainable arts & culture district community development non-profit, will celebrate the kickoff of its 15th Anniversary Year in Newark, New Jersey. Inspired by Art Kane’s 1958 iconic “A Great Day In Harlem” gathering of jazz musicians, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District brings together the Newark Museum, 211 Media Group, Newark International Film Festival and Essex County College to recreate and update this historic photo shoot for the 21st Century, starring New Jersey Hip Hop forebears and the “new school” of New Jersey Hip Hop, some of whom have graced the equally iconic Lincoln Park Music Festival stage on Hip Hop Day over the past 12 years. This has not been done in Newark since the year 2000. LPCCD will also shoot the behind the scenes “Making Of…” documentary short film.
LPCCD’s signature humanities “Music Speaks” program will serve as umbrella platform for the historic event. There are nearly 50 artists confirmed to attend this historic photo including those featured in the original photo such as iconic crew DJ Cool V (of the legendary “Juice Crew”), DJ Cheese (first DMC DJ Battle World Champion 1986), The Outsidaz, Rah Digga (original member of Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad), Sa’D Ali (member of George Clinton’s P-Funk Allstars), The Awesome 2, The Artifacts, and the remaining member of the before their time rap duo PM Dawn. The new vanguard includes Hot 97’s own DJ Wallah and DJ Naim, Chad B, Driicky Graham (BET 2012 Hip Hop Awards Cypher), Young Bonez, Samad Savage, Tha Advocate and many more!
In 2016, during Newark’s 350th celebration, LPCCD re-launched its humanities program “Music Speaks”. Lincoln Park Music Speaks, the free, interactive lecture, music and multimedia arts series, is designed to increase Newark citizens’ appreciation for literature, art, photography, music, and dance. Leveraging the arts, LPCCD is able to educate, inform and empower the community as well as celebrate it. “At Lincoln Park, we always look for innovative ways to push the envelope in creative place-making.” states Anthony Smith, Executive Director of LPCCD. Smith continues, “We are expanding the Lincoln Park brand into media and technology, yet staying true to our mission and vision of building a sustainable arts district on the Southern end of downtown, Newark, NJ. To document and preserve history – especially musical history – is at our core.”
As LPCCD “remixes” the photo, they will also shoot the behind the scenes “Making Of…” documentary short film in conjunction with Essex County College’s Division of Humanities and Bilingual Studies, chaired by Dr. Christopher Rivera, Ph.D. States Rivera “The Division of Humanities and Bilingual Studies is pleased to embark on innovative partnerships with Lincoln Park that reinforce the intersections of media, technology, community and humanistic approaches to cultures and histories, then and now. The shared commitment between Lincoln Park and Essex County College is student-centered as evidenced by the fact that our Communications New Media Technology students will be working with Lincoln Park to document arts and culture via documentaries and other media projects. Our shared missions connect again around community engagement because we believe through direct experiences with the arts, we not only envision, but rather we create the best and most humane future for us all.”
