50-Year-Old NJ Arts Program For Veterans, Community At Risk Of Closing

BRANCHBURG, NJ — The nonprofit organization Frontline Arts in Branchburg is at a crossroads. For 50 years, they have served as a vital creative hub for printmaking and papermaking in New Jersey.

They offer artmaking programs for veterans, school kids, frontline medical workers, and underrepresented communities, providing an outlet for them to reclaim their stories. This past year alone, they served and reached more than 5,000 people.

Now, if they don’t raise $50,000 by May 1 to secure their immediate six months of operation, they are in danger of closing.

"This organization right now is at risk," said Frontline Arts Interim Executive Director Hadley Yates. "For all nonprofits currently, the general funding landscape, given the economic circumstances, is tricky. There have been many grants that have ceased, and fluctuations and funding. So we're definitely at risk, and we're trying to secure our future beyond the next few months."

Frontline Arts does not have an endowment, leaving it additionally vulnerable to economic and charitable giving changes.

"Donations are needed more than ever to fill the gaps of our operations budget," said Yates.

Since the 1970s, Frontline Arts, formerly known as the Printmaking Center of NJ, has offered the public quality arts education rooted in papermaking and printmaking onsite in Branchburg, across from the North Branch Train Station.

In 2018, they merged with Frontline Paper and changed their name to Frontline Arts. Frontline Paper for Veterans (FP) was originally called Combat Paper NJ, which started as an outreach to veterans, for them to deconstruct, reclaim, and communicate using their uniforms.

Through FP, veterans transform their military uniforms into handmade paper through the Frontline Paper program, reclaiming the symbolic material and using it to communicate their stories.

"The symbolic material of their uniforms could become something on which they could express themselves, and while they are making this paper that would later go on to be art for either visual arts or the written word, they would engage with fellow veterans and be able to process their experiences," said Yates.

"Sometimes veterans find it very difficult to talk about the nuances of war," said Yates. "We offer participants the opportunity to exhibit their works, to speak at events and to initiate this public engagement with a broader audience that has been a very powerful part of our programming."

During the pandemic, Frontline Arts expanded on the program to launch the Scrubs Paper program, where frontline medical workers could use paper made from scrubs and then create artwork and send out communications using it.

"There's something about holding this paper and knowing that at some point, whether it's the military uniform or it's the scrubs paper, that it might have had blood on the sleeve. It might have been used in combat. There might have been sand in the pockets from a soldier. That it had such significance. And there's a lot of emotional weight in the fabric of such an intense role," said Yates.

To avoid losing this organization in the community, Frontline Arts launched a GoFundMe fundraising website to try to raise the $50,000 needed. As of April 15, they've raised 37 percent of their May 1 goal.

Frontline Arts is also accepting direct donations at FrontlineArts.org/Donate. They also invite potential corporate sponsors to reach out to them at office@frontlinearts.org to schedule a meeting or visit our sponsorship page.

"Thank you for your support, and for being part of a community that believes in the power of art to heal, connect, and inspire," according to the GoFundMe. "Together, we can ensure Frontline Arts remains a creative home for veterans, artists, and our entire community."

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