For what has seemed like forever, the art and music scene in Bayonne has languished. We had talented individuals, but unless you were part of that circle you weren’t aware that we even had any talented artists and musicians. Well thanks to Mayor Davis we all now know that Bayonne has an abundance of talent.
In the Mayor’s first term he has:
- Established Musical Mondays at the Museum. This series of concerts feature talent from everywhere including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Just last week the Party of Five, featuring Bayonne’s own Joe Calimito, played to a standing room audience. Quality music on Broadway, awesome.
- Established Friday Night Music on Broadway. Mayor Davis has partnered the City with several restaurants and pubs to have musicians play every Friday night at six to eight locations each week. These musicians are local and are rapidly gaining a reputation and following. These musicians are heating up the local scene.
- Established the Art on Broadway initiative. This initiative includes art work on utility boxes, murals, and bronze statues. A casual drive on Broadway will allow one to see numerous utility boxes currently being transformed into art. The bronze statues are being installed in the next thirty days. The Mayor has not only given our local artist the opportunity to publicly create art, but has also given Broadway a personality of being hip and being a place you want to bring your friends to.
If your heard the Mayor speak at the recent Community News debate, you can hear the passion in the man’s voice when speaking of art and music in Bayonne. He cares. His opponents pooh-pooh the impact and importance of art and music. They just don’t get it. Bayonne needs to be a City that people want to come to. Bayonne needs to be a City that young people want to live and recreate in. Bayonne needs to be a City that your friends want to visit. Art and music gives Bayonne a vibrancy that enhances our reputation as the place to be. We already are considered to be hot by the investment community. Not good enough for Mayor Davis. He knows that art and music will make us red-hot not only with the investment community but with real people looking for a vibrant place to call home. Too bad the Mayor’s opponents don’t have the vision a to realize that art and music are important pieces of the puzzle to making Bayonne what it can be, the best small City in the USA.
Art Singer