Support Art All Night Trenton 2023

Art All Night is a once-a-year summer festival hosted by Artworks Trenton, in partnership with city residents and numerous local organizations across sectors. On its surface, and as the name suggests, Art All Night is a twenty-four-hour celebration of the arts. Through its evolution, over the course of fifteen years, Art All Night has come to represent much more. Art All Night provides a narrative of the possibilities of what can be achieved when an entire community comes together for one night of celebration. The first Art All Night Festival took place on June 16-17, 2007. The vision for Art All Night was to democratize the arts. The inaugural Art All Night event was attended by over seventeen hundred visitors, with over three hundred art pieces on display, and supported by over a hundred volunteers from the local community.

Over the years, the event has evolved and has grown in size and popularity. In 2008, the event was moved to the historic, 50,000 square-foot former Roebling Wire Works factory building – a building with the architectural grandeur to match the ambitions of the event. The event attracted the attention of local businesses who saw the value of the event to their businesses and expressed interest in sponsorships. Local health organizations were offered tables to promote their social and health services. Perhaps notably, the greatest evolution of this event has been the coming together of the residents from the various, closed, and close-knit ethnic wards of Trenton. More and more such residents of Trenton, who would ordinarily not venture out of their neighborhoods, began attending the event and bringing their culture and heritage into Art All Night.

Art All Night is known today as the signature event representing the Trenton community, serving as a catalyst for community development and further, shining a spotlight on our region’s artistic talent. The event serves as a space for relief from everyday struggles. In 2018, in an unexpected turn, a mass shooting occurred in the early morning hours of that year’s event, resulting in multiple injuries and the death of the suspect. The community was overcome with shock and grief. The tragic event was met with an outpouring of support from the community, urging Artworks to bring Art All Night back in 2019.

After much consideration, and weighing the safety concerns, Artworks made the bold decision to continue with Art All Night the following year: The event was deemed to be much too integral of a part of the Trenton community to go without. Art All Night would go on. The act of bringing back Art All Night, even in the face of such tragedy, is a testament to the community’s ability to heal, and keep propelling itself forward.

In short, Art All Night represents the spirit of the community of Trenton- a community that continues to soldier on, and soldier on together in the direction of possibility and a brighter and just future.

As we prepare for the return of the in-person live event, we humbly ask for your support. With your generosity, we can bring back an event that embodies the creative spark of the capital city.

Sincerely,

Team Artworks

To learn more about the event please visit our website