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About Us

About Us

Welcome!

Welcome to North End Arts Rising, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree, a non-profit arts center serving the North End, the Middletown area, and reaching out to the greater Connecticut area...

Now in our tenth year!

We would like to extend our warmest appreciation to the foundations, organizations and individuals whose funding has made our programming possible. They are, in part:

Forest:
Connecticut Commission on the Arts
City of Middletown
Middletown Commission on the Arts

Grove:
Liberty Bank
William C. Graustein
Middletown Foundation for the Arts

Tree:
Old School Foundation
Susan and Stephan Allison
John Basinger
Faith and Peter Vicinanza

Trunk:
Aetna

We would also like to thank the following the their outstanding 'in-kind' donations of rental equipment and professional services:

Marc Italia, http://www.geografx.com/
Bob Matt, Matt's Music
Harry Hardjono, http://harry.cciflorida.com/
Arun Raganathan, Music Exchange

NEAR,Inc./The Buttonwood Tree is has 501(c)3 status and is organized as follows:

The Board of Directors:
Susan Allison, John Basinger, Jennifer Hawkins, Ian Q. Laforce, Peter Loffredo, Richard A. McGhee III, Faith Vicinanza

Executive Director:
Jennifer Hawkins

Volunteer Artistic Directors:
Eileen Albrizio, Visual Art Director; Ian Q. Laforce, Music Director; Peter Loffredo, Theater Director; Faith Vicinanza, Literary Director

Volunteer Program Hosts:
Acoustic Open Mike, Bob Gotta; Chess Night, Mustapha; Ann Sabin, Oriental Dance; Musical Arts Night, Berk and Steve; Songwriter's Night, Grady Faulkner; Visual Music Night, Arun Raganathan.

Thanks to all our many volunteers and individual contributors!

History

Located in Middletown, Connecticut, North End Arts Rising, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree grew out of Ibis Books & Gallery and was incorporated in October, 1991 as a non-profit arts organization. The small bookstore had grown quickly into a hub of artistic activity in terms of exhibitions, poetry readings, concerts and all manner of dialogue. Becoming a non-profit organization was suggested by Corinne Gill, administrator of the City of Middletown's Commision on the Arts & Culture, who recognized the importance of an arts industry in Middletown. Since that time, The Buttonwood Tree has become a well respected arts venue offering approximately 250 events per 10 month season. It remains community-based with only one paid employee and hundreds of volunteers. NEAR, Inc. offers The Buttonwood Tree as a performance and exhibition space, bookstore, and meeting place for community groups and individuals.

In 1995, fire destroyed the NEAR, Inc. site. NEAR, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree was embraced with enormous support and have made 605 Main Street in Middletown's North End our new home. NEAR, Inc. continues to make great strides in keeping our regular performing arts programs a vital source for artists and community and have reached out to other organizations for new partnerships. In 1999-2000, we partnered with the Middlesex Country Family Advocacy and other groups to bring a journal makeing/photography workshop to teen mothers. The subsequent journal entrees were read as part of an NPR radio series, and the photographs were published in several newspapers and on-line.

In 2001, NEAR, Inc. began partnering with Oddfellows Playhouse, representatives from the Middletown School District and other key organizations to create an after school arts program to be held at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. NEAR, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree has 501(c)3 status.

Mission and Goals

The purpose of NEAR, Inc. is to support the creative activities and endeavors of artists and potential artists; to create a forum, context and space for artistic, cultural, creative, and educational experience in Middletown, and to serve as a center for community activity in Middletown's North End. NEAR, Inc.'s goals are to: (i) provide support to local artists, amateurs, students and others interested in exploring their capacity for self-expression and communication by offering them a facility, institutional support, funding, workshops, performance/exhibit opportunities and other artistic support; (ii) to provide artistic and other cultural experiences and programs that are accessible, participatory and unique, and to provide these experiences for audiences in the North End, Middletown, and Central Connecticut; (iii) to serve residents of the North End of Middletown by offering cultural programs, stimulating interaction and community, enhancing commerce and creating a community/cultural drop-in center; and (iv) to carry on such other realated artistic, cultural, creative, or educational activities as may be necessary or appropriate in connection therewith.

Programs, Activities, Accomplishments

As a regional center of diverse cultural traditions, NEAR, Inc. maintains its goal of involving the community, the university, and other institutional resources to bring the September through June performances to The Buttonwood Tree venue.

Our recurring monthly events include bringing diverse musicians working in many different disciplines and from many different geographic locations; the Friday Night Spoken Word Series bring featured poets from far and near to read with some allotted time for open mic; New Voices is our new forum for the staged reading and further development of new plays; live theater is performed every month in partnerships with Connecticut Heritage Productions (now in its 20th year) and The Free At Last Players (theater focusing on issues of mental health); rotating art installations curated by Eileen Albruzio; Chess Night/Family Games Night; open microphone for acoustic musicians; Oriental dance; Break dancing and D.J. Music; and Visual Music Night which combines open mic poetry with live music accompaniment; the musical ensemble David Chevan's Afro-Semitic Experience; Rich McGhee's jazz variations with a variety of artists.

Upcoming events include a recent partnership with North End Action Team, Inc. to create a quality youth a cappella chorus made up of the generally underserved residents of the North End. In January 2002, we will host a series of conversations on race facilitated by Middlesex County Institute for the Healing of Racism.

Our current roster of classes and workshops include "The Art of Formal Verse" taught by Eileen Albruzio; "Traditional Middle Eastern Dance" a drop-in class taught by Ann Sabing; "Comedy Basics" and "Monologue Technique" taught by Peter Loffredo.

This fall, we will be installing an in-house sound system complete with the ability to burn CDs of live performances.

The Buttonwood Tree is not a melting pot for cultural traditions, but an arena for cultural activity of various disciplines and traditions. All activities to date have adhered to NEAR, Inc.'s Statement of Purpose and continue to serve our long range goals.

Work with Other Agencies

NEAR became an active participant since 1993 in the Inner City Cultural Development - developed for inner city artists and administered by the CT Commision for the Arts.

Every year, beginning in 1993, NEAR has offered Kid's Arts instruction to Middletown youth in music, visual art, creative writing, and, beginning in 2001, the Free to Be exploration of diversity through art. Permanent Displays in the North End include a series of mosaics and large murals of city life. This program has been funded by the City.

Partnerships with organizations like the Coalition for Children, North End Action Team, Oddfellows Youth Theater, and Middlesex County Family Advocacy have led to workshops, new school programming, and the creation of a new chorus of young inner city a Capella singers.

NEAR, Inc. is recognized within the local community as a resource for both arts and leadership. It is cited several times in "Downtown Visions: 2000 and Beyond" prepared by the Planning and Zoning Downtown Committee.

NEAR, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main St.
P.O. Box 71
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 347-4957
near@buttonwood.org
http://www.buttonwood.org