May Update
April events recap, new stickers and pop-ups, six local creative opportunities, & more!
April was busy, and not over yet—I will be at the Geek Flea in Kearny on Saturday, and our sticker machine will be at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair the same day!
Thank you to the Burlington County Library for hosting a fantastic book festival at the beginning on the month! I was honored to be asked to be a presenting author, and it was great meeting everyone who came out.
The following week, I was thrilled to be invited to participate in a WFMU fundraising event which was themed around libraries and educators. A lot of the attendees were fellow librarians, and I of course ran into some people I knew. It was a lot of fun and something I would’ve absolutely attended as myself and not “as Jersey Collective,” but a lot of copies of New Jersey Fan Club went home with new owners that night, so I was grateful to have been a part of the event!
-Kerri
Have you listened to Jeremy Schneider’s new podcast yet? There are a few episodes of Jersey’s Best Podcast available now, each one worth your time. You can listen to a taste test of Wawa and QuickChek, as well as learn animal facts while Jeremy speculates which of our state’s animals would best him in a fight.
Another podcast episode you’ll enjoy: if you’re a fan of Yellowjackets, don’t miss this episode of The Watchers, featuring the show’s co-creator Ashley Lyle, a Jersey native. The Watchers is a podcast produced and hosted by “two women from opposite ends of New Jersey”—NJITW’s Andrea and Jodie—“watch TV about New Jersey.” I haven’t seen the show, but I didn’t find the conversation spoiler-y and it made me want to start it!
This weekend is Garden State Art Weekend, an annual event for various art organizations around the state. Check out the map on their website!
New Jersey Fan Club contributor Pooja Makhijani has a new children’s book coming out next year, and it’s now available for preorder! Bread is Love “celebrates the act of baking and eating bread, and sharing it with family.” Pooja frequently posts photos of amazing bread and baked goods on her Instagram, so I’m excited to see how she translated all of her knowledge and skills into this book!
On May 18, WFMU is hosting an event at Monty Hall in Jersey City called The Music, Ecosystems, and Art of the NJ Pine Barrens, and that’s all the information I needed to buy a ticket. But if you require more: the event will feature music from Jackson Pines, John Cozz’s “B movie horror inspired film” The Legend of Louie, and Jason Howell of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance introducing the Pinelands’ ecosystem.
I opened my Instagram app the other day to find this post about a new Bruce Springsteen-themed collaborative fanzine, Hungry Hearts. From the caption: “I really love Bruce & the E Street Band’s music & seeing all the love everyone added to this zine proves to me how evocative & special their music together is & the power of community & most importantly NEW JERSEY!!!!”
Spring is a busy time for birds, and I feel like everywhere I look, there are birding-related events happening. Check out these monthly “bird walks” and “bird sits” from Flemington DIY, attend this talk about NJ birding on Thursday night in Somerset, sign up to volunteer to track bird collisions with buildings in Jersey City, register for one of these bird-focused events in various locations, or check in on the Duke Farms 24/7 live eagle cam!
Upcoming Events
Geek Flea
Saturday, April 26 from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
663 Kearny Ave, Kearny, NJ
NJ Day Trip Program
Wednesday, May 7 at 7:00 PM
Middletown Township Public Library: 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ
NJ Day Trip Program
Thursday, May 22 at 7:00 PM
Virtual program for the Millburn Free Public Library. Join from anywhere!
New Jersey Independent Bookstore Crawl
Saturday & Sunday, June 7 & 8
Visit any of the 40+ participating stores and enter to win prizes!
Can’t make it to an event? Shop our online souvenir shop! New Jersey Fan Club is also available wherever books are sold—if your favorite local shop doesn’t have it, ask them to order it!
Sticker Club
In case you missed it, we just announced all-new Series 4 stickers, all reading themed! Read all about the designs here, and be sure to check out the websites and social media of the artists and show them some support!
And be the first to grab the stickers on Saturday at our Independent Bookstore Day pop-up at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair! Stay tuned to hear where these designs will be headed next.
Someone I met at JAB introduced me to the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, and I was excited to finally get a chance to get over there last week!
They have gallery spaces, studios and classrooms, and varied course offerings for all ages. I really enjoyed seeing the current shows, especially these prints and these drawings.
Other things to do nearby (if you want to have the same day I had)
Don’t skip Taste Buddy for smoothies and gluten free snacks! The PB Acai smoothie is my favorite, and I can never leave without one of their giant brownies.
Kanibal & Co. in downtown Summit: I stopped by to drop off their wholesale order of New Jersey Go Fish!, which means you can stop by and pick one up! While I was there, I also smelled every tomato-scented candle they had—a shockingly high number, and each one very good.
Rain ruined my plan to also stop by Reeves-Reed Arboretum and see their giant daffodil field, but maybe you’ll have better luck!
Welcome to the NJ Q+A, where we hear from an interesting New Jerseyan! Interview has been lightly edited for space.
This month, I spoke to Brandon Harrison, who New Jersey Fan Club readers will remember from his essay about working with his family to sell amusements at street fairs and community events. Recently, Brandon shared that he is raising funds to produce a short film on the same subject, Action Novelty, so I caught up with him and got some more details about the project, which you can support here!
First of all, I was so honored to hear that the process of sharing your story in New Jersey Fan Club was validating and made you want to continue to tell the story in other mediums. What do you anticipate being able to do with a film format that an essay format wouldn't allow?
Honestly, thank you! Sometimes it helps to share something that you thought was interesting and have someone say, “Hey, yeah, that is cool!” I think telling this story in a visual medium really helps to translate how visual your average day at a street festival or parade is. There’s lights, colors, over-sized food and drinks, games, prizes and, of course, novelties. It’s a pretty unique cultural experience. I’d been discussing it with Evan Terrell, my partner on this, and he was just as excited as I was, which let me know it was worth taking the leap to make it happen.
I know you predominantly work in documentary film—why did you decide to fictionalize your story instead of doing a doc?
It just feels like the right format to explore the emotional center of the hundreds of experiences that I’ve had, and that I know other people could relate to. A documentary would feel more like a look behind the scenes, while Action Novelty as a fiction project is more like a look inside a fun and wacky world.
What skills do you think you picked up from your time street vending with your family that you still utilize years later?
Work ethic, definitely. A day working a festival is really hard! It's a 12 hour day and you’re exposed to the elements, people, and you have to find places to go to the bathroom. Also, ingenuity: sometimes you have to market your product, offer deals, or even come up with new ideas. As a kid, we used to sell balloons with a pinch of grits inside, so when you'd blow it up, it was kind of a makeshift rattle. Best Seller.
What is a “fun fact” about street vending that you think most people don't know?
Silly String is banned pretty much everywhere because it's a pain to clean up. But that's probably what makes it so fun.
The FAF Coalition and Lot 323 are accepting submissions of mailed stickers to include on their giant shipping container sticker art installation. Deadline: 5/1.
Boneyard Boutique in Boonton is accepting submissions from LGBTQIA+ artists for a summer exhibition titled Beyond the Binary, “an artistic celebration of fluidity, identity, and expression that transcends societal norms and categories.” Deadline: 5/7. The store will keep a 30% commission on pieces sold.
WFMU is seeking “comics, illustration, collage, photography, design, and writing submissions up to 350 words” for the next issue of their print zine, Lowest Common Denominator. Deadline: 5/12.
Jersey City’s Art House Productions presents a group exhibition titled “Through My Eyes,” featuring work by artists who identify as having a disability. They “invite artists to explore themes of identity, accessibility, resilience, community, or personal narratives through painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and more.” Deadline: 5/16. Art House will keep a 40% commission on pieces sold.
The Montclair Film Festival is accepting submissions of feature, short, documentary, and other types of films for its October festival. They have a dedicated New Jersey Films category, too. Early bird deadline: 5/23, regular deadline: 6/20. Submission fees vary depending on date submitted and film type, but range between $30-$55.
Journey Through Jersey and Historic Whitesbog Village are hosting a spring photo contest with the theme: History and Bloom. Deadline: 6/20.
LOVE THIS!!!!!