The program offers non-credited courses in music, dance, art and design, film, and theater

Rutgers Community Arts continues to operate under the auspices of Mason Gross School of the Arts with programs and non-credited courses in music, dance, art and design, film, and theater.

The Mason Gross Extension Division is redefining itself with a new name – Rutgers Community Arts – to better reflect its role bringing an education in the arts to the general public.

Rutgers Community Arts will continue to offer private lessons, classes and workshops to students of all ages on the New Brunswick campus, continuing the role it filled for more than a decade under its previous name. It continues to operate under the auspices of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, with programs and non-credited courses in music, dance, art and design, film and theater.

The new name better captures the organization’s role, Director Derek Balcom said. 

“Our mission – to provide educational opportunities in the arts and to build community through the arts – hasn’t changed,” said Balcom. “Our commitment to the community hasn’t changed. Our programs continue to grow in part because of the connection to our neighbors. Rutgers Community Arts acts as a clearer descriptor of who we are, what we do, and our inspiration for the future.”

In a way, the community program has come full circle. In September 1993, pianist Polly van der Linde founded the Rutgers Community Music Program (RCMP) for students “who enjoy studying and performing music in a university setting,” according to a 1997 course-offerings pamphlet. Lessons were held at McKinney Hall on Hamilton Street. RCMP officially became part of the Mason Gross Music Department in 1997. As its programs expanded to include more than music, the unit became known as Mason Gross Extension Division about a decade ago.

The programs and partnerships will continue as they would have under the previous banner:

• Rutgers Community Arts will continue to serve as an American Ballet Theatre® Certified School of Ballet, with classes starting September 7.
• Rutgers Children’s Choir, which has provided age-appropriate voice training to pre-college students for more than 25 years, kicks off its semester in mid-September. The choir will host rehearsals on Thursdays at Voorhees Chapel on Douglass Campus.
• Music at the Museum concert series, a partnership between Rutgers Community Arts and the university’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, is expected to begin later in the fall semester. Rutgers Community Arts faculty perform free concerts at the museum, 71 Hamilton Street, on weekends, allowing the community to enjoy music and art side-by-side.
• Private music lessons will continue to take place on the Douglass Campus of Rutgers University–New Brunswick and at partner schools such as Wardlaw + Hartridge, Edison.
• Saturday art and design classes—from basic drawing and figurative drawing to independent study and animation—will begin late September.
• Registration for summer 2020 camps will open later this year.

“We are the bridge between the community and artists, between families and the university,” Balcom said. “Whether it’s your child’s first arts experience or you’re looking to continue your own arts education, we can connect you with the right arts program.”