By: Follow South Jersey Staff
CAMDEN, N.J. – Camden Community Partnership’s Arnetta’s Band Camp will receive a $10,000 Grants for Arts Project award.
Arnetta’s Band Camp is a 6-day music immersion and professional development opportunity that introduces Camden youth to curriculum and mentorship from professional touring musicians.
The camp is the vision of jazz musician and Camden resident Arnetta Johnson, “That Trumpet Chic.” Johnson came of age at a time when her hometown was known as “the most dangerous city in America,” and found refuge in the summer experience known as “band camp.” Now she’s back to mentor young creatives with this free, professional development experience.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Camden Community Partnership that help support the community’s creative economy,” NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers said in a press release from Camden County. “Camden Community Partnership in Camden, NJ is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”
Camden Community Partnership’s project is among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28,840,000 that were selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category.
“We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for providing us a $10,000 grant to support Arnetta’s Band Camp,” Dana Redd, Chair of Camden Community Partnership and CEO of the Rowan University/Rutgers—Camden Board of Governors, said. “Music and art are part of Camden’s DNA and integral to our vision of building a sustainable creative economy. This grant is a down payment towards bringing our vision to fruition.”
Through the camp, Johnson, Camden Community Partnership, and Camden County will provide 20 campers with the atmosphere and mental release that gets children away from their trauma and into their instruments. Built on the pillars of success that have supported her musical journey, ABC focuses on mentorship and creative freedom with opportunities for individual attention not possible in school music class.
Camden Community Partnership, formerly Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, was founded in 1984 as a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to coherently planning and implementing high-quality urban redevelopment projects aimed at improving quality of life for the residents of Camden.
Arnetta Johnson will be performing a concert at the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus’ Perelman Theater on Saturday, March 19th 2022 at 8:00 p.m. Visit www.kimmelculturalcampus.org for tickets.
For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
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