{"id":571,"date":"2022-05-03T18:44:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waterfrontsouthcamden.com\/?p=571"},"modified":"2022-05-03T18:44:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:44:32","slug":"changing-the-narrative-of-camden-through-art-at-fireworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waterfrontsouthcamden.com\/?p=571","title":{"rendered":"Changing the narrative of Camden through art at FireWorks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NJ INDIE by KYLE NARDINE<\/a><\/em> August 4, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou dumped all this stuff on us, but we\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a young girl growing up in Memphis, Asiyah Kurtz was shy. She certainly couldn\u2019t have imagined herself running an art studio; collaborating with artists, hosting public events, integrating with the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t look people in the face and have a conversation with them without cracking up inside,\u201d Kurtz says about her childhood. Recognizing this, her grandmother forced her to get into music and art, hoping, maybe, it would crack the veneer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hated, I hated, I hated it at first, but something sparked, and it was the power of creative expression that helped me find myself,\u201d says Kurtz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurtz indeed found herself, and more. She went from that shy girl to an anthropologist and councilwoman for Haddon Heights. Then, in 2021, Kurtz became the director of Camden FireWorks. an art studio and gallery in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden. Now she wants to use creative expression to give Camden residents a spark, to give her community the same gift of creation that her grandmother gave to her so many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FireWorks has been around since 2016 and has nine studios for artists, a gallery to showcase art, and a space for art workshops that it hosts free of charge. One of those artists benefitting from the FireWorks accessibility is Danielle Cartier. She uses Camden FireWorks as her creative workspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see projects and possibilities everywhere,\u201d Cartier says. \u201cCamden Fireworks has become my home base and my family here in Jersey. Everyone at Fireworks has an untouchable passion within their discipline and wants to bring their knowledge and skills to the Camden community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fireworks has had charcoal painting classes, and classes on crocheting with plastic bags, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurtz says the workshops will remain free, something in which she takes pride: \u201cOur workshops are meant to be accessible to the people of the community here who don\u2019t have $25 or $50 to pay for art lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally the FireWorks building located on Broadway & Ferry in Camden was a Firehouse. Now the 121-year-old building serves the community in a different way.  One of Kurtz\u2019 biggest goals is for the art at FireWorks is to break stereotypes that people in the Delaware Valley have about Camden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople tell a story about Camden that doesn\u2019t match reality; my personal goal is to change the narrative,\u201d Kurtz says. \u201cNot to talk about Camden from a need-based perspective, but one that shows Camden assets. One of those assets is this building (Camden FireWorks).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far the building has been an asset for the City Invisible and one that uses art to showcase what is going on in the community and spark change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just trying to do art for pretty pictures, that\u2019s not the goal,\u201d Kurtz says. \u201cWe want art that creates social change and raises questions like why people dump here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Camden FireWorks hosted a gallery that showcased illegal dumping that goes on in the city. \u201cThe dumping is from people who come into the community and they don\u2019t care.\u201d says Kurtz.\u201dThey think it\u2019s Camden, right? \u2018Let\u2019s just dump our crap there and let them deal with it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibit was well received, and it lasted seven weeks. Kurtz\u2019s favorite part of the exhibit was seeing the subjects of the photos in the gallery see themselves in an art gallery. One of Kurtz\u2019s main foci is that representation matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you go into any black grandparents\u2019 home, the gallery walls are in their homes,\u201d Kurtz says. \u201cThey take pictures of family, loved ones and friends. The walls become their gallery because you don\u2019t see yourself reflected in art galleries or museums. Using that analogy, it means everything on our gallery walls shows people like me because that\u2019s not the case in most art galleries. I\u2019m intentional about making sure that we are incorporating different perspectives and beauty of art.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her five-year plan for Camden FireWorks, Kurtz would like to have more room to showcase art from the different communities that make up Camden. She would expand the footprint of Camden FireWorks, open up a gift shop, and expand her staff to include staff members from Camden\u2019s Latino community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the difficulties that Kurtz faces with FireWorks are on the financial side of things. FireWorks was closed for 14 months due to COVID and that meant little donations were given to FireWorks. FireWorks recently received a $12,500 grant from the Princeton Area Community Foundation, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FireWorks also has to deal with the perception that people from suburban South Jersey have of Camden. \u201cYou will be OK, I promise,\u201d says Kurtz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the immediate future though there will be a new exhibition opening up at Camden FireWorks. \u201cWe Are Here\u201d will be debuting at Camden FireWorks on Sept. 12. The exhibition will feature work from attendees who attended the workshops at FireWorks, and who used old windows and doors and turned junk into art. Attendees made art that reflected who they are, and made a statement about themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says Kurtz of the exhibit: \u201cYou dumped all this stuff on us, but we\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NJ INDIE by KYLE NARDINE August 4, 2021 \u201cYou dumped all this stuff on us, but we\u2019re still here.\u201d As a young girl growing up…<\/p>\n

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