November 8, 2006 – On the heels of its 20th anniversary, HANDS, Inc. (Housing and Neighborhood Development Services), a NeighborWorks® member, recently announced its plans to develop affordable arts spaces in the Valley Arts District in Orange, New Jersey, after more than five years of planning and input from community leaders.

An artist's illustration of the Valley Renaissance Center's redevelopment of the F. Berg Hat Factory Complex.

The creation of the arts spaces – in which an estimated 66 live-work retail units are slated for development, including 17 artists’ studios – has been a key component of the Central Valley Redevelopment Plan pushed by Orange Mayor Mims Hackett, Jr. The plan also includes eight arts retail spaces, and nine arts program spaces, all designated for the eight block core of the Valley Arts District, an effort devoted to making arts-related housing affordable.

The groundbreaking for the project will be sometime in December of 2006, with a completion date of January 2008, according to a HANDS, Inc. spokesperson. The City of Orange is one of six partners who have collaborated on the project, in hopes to turn around the blighted area with the power of the arts, and provide an affordable housing stock to area artists.

“The commitment of HANDS is that the [arts] spaces will remain affordable for the long term,” said HANDS, Inc. founder and executive director Patrick Morrissy. “There are too many examples of artists helping to lift up communities only to be kicked out later because of market forces. The 150 plus artists recently evicted from 111 First Street in Jersey City are a recent outrageous example of that. We view the artists as our partners and will protect them from being displaced,” Morrissy said.

The project calls for the refurbishing of old industrial buildings, including the seven-story Berg hat plant, in which new construction is planned for the latter part of this year. The hat factory, according to officials, will house 29 loft condominiums, 17 artist studios and three arts program spaces for printmaking, art galleries, and recording studios for dance professionals and musicians.

“For years, the vacant and deteriorated Berg hat factory has loomed over the Valley, a reminder of the industrial decline and disinvestment that steadily eroded Orange’s tax base and its spirit. Its rebirth will ignite the vision for a dynamic arts neighborhood in the Valley and fuel the renaissance of Orange,” Morrissy explained.

Yasmine, a student at the ValleyArts/ StudioWorks Summer Youth Employment Program, shows off her art during a summer afternoon.

The ValleyArts project, which grew out of the High Impact Neighborhood Development strategy implemented by HANDS, Inc. in the 1980s, brings together artists and civic leaders, who since 2005 have emphasized the importance of arts-related businesses and events. The vision of ValleyArts was refined with help from members of the local government, schools, merchants, area residents, and artists. HANDS, Inc., a nonprofit corporation established in 1986 by a group of clergy and community leaders in Orange and East Orange, New Jersey, has a total operating budget of more than $3 million, and according to its 2005 fiscal year reports, has helped 71 families with homeowner counseling services.

The art program has sponsored the likes of percussionist Thelonious Monk, Jr. who played with the Orange High School Jazz Band on May 21, 2005, one of 12 performances at the Valley Settlement House, the day the city celebrated the completion of the ValleyArts business plan with the gathering of various artists.

“When there’s a concentration of artists all in the same place it has a sort of exponential impact,” said Cate Lazen, founder of the arts-based empowerment program for adults living with disabilities, ‘Arts Unbound’.

The Berg hat factory renovation is the second arts complex to be developed by HANDS, Inc. in the Valley Arts District, after the Brass Company on Freeman Street, which has also been slated for redevelopment, focusing on artist live-work lofts and retail spaces.

“It really is fantastic,” said Judy Wukitsch, the assistant director for recreation and cultural affairs for the Village of South Orange. “It’s great for the community because artists historically have always brought energy to the community and helped uplift the area through their pioneering spirit. And, it’s great for the artist who desperately seeks space to live and work.”

To learn more about ValleyArts District, you can visit www.handsinc.org