In honor of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center is opening its doors for a big-screen projection telecast of inaugural activities in Prudential Hall on Tuesday, January 20th at 10:30am. This special event is being presented in association with the City of Newark, Mayor Cory A. Booker and The Newark Municipal Council.
Tickets for the inaugural event were distributed to Newark senior citizens and schoolchildren, NJPAC friends and patrons, as well as to a variety of community, social service, educational and religious organizations and leaders in the Greater Newark vicinity with whom NJPAC has longstanding partnerships. Additionally, nearly half of the tickets were distributed on a first- come, first-serve basis to the general public and all tickets were "sold out" in less than two hours.
"This is exactly the kind of event we should be hosting at NJPAC," said Goldman. "Increasingly, arts centers are becoming the new "town squares" of the 21st century. Historic events should be commemorated communally. We can't wait to share this moment in history with the people that have made NJPAC a part of their lives in our first decade of operations."
Goldman noted that admission to the live telecast is not free, "We are asking all attendees to bring canned goods as their 'ticket price,'" he said. "All items collected will be donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey."
"We greatly appreciate the partnership of NJPAC on this momentous occasion," said Kathleen DiChiara, President and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. "President-elect Obama has made dealing with America's hungry a major initiative for his Administration. We can't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate his inauguration than by asking New Jerseyans to remember their neighbors most in need."
"We are grateful to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for offering our residents and citizens who worked so hard to make history in the 2008 presidential election the opportunity to become witness to history as our first African-American President takes his oath of office on January 20th, 2009, said The Honorable Cory A. Booker, Mayor, City of Newark.
"President Barack Obama's inauguration is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a journey. He will call upon all Americans to join him in repairing our economy, healing our environment, ending divisions, and renewing the covenant our Founding Fathers made more than 200 years ago, to make our nation truly the land of liberty. We will hear his message at NJPAC, and then, in this journey and this year, Newark will lead by effort and example, manifesting excellence to the nation and defining its course."
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in the heart of a newly emergent downtown Newark, New Jersey, is the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States. Home of the Grammyâ Award-winning New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, NJPAC has been widely cited as a catalyst in the revitalization of New Jersey's largest city, attracted over 5.5 million visitors, including one million children, in its first eleven seasons of operations.
