Event information sent in by Jersey City Free Public Library

The post Jersey City Free Public Library & Jersey City Theatre Center Presents first appeared on River View Observer.

Jersey City
The Budos Band concert
White Eagle Hall at 337 Newark Avenue.
8 p.m..
The Budos Band is performing a concert with special guests The Sha La Das.

6BC x LSC-AD V — 6th Borough Comedy
Liberty Science Center at 222 Jersey City Boulevard.
7:30 p.m..
A comedy show presented by 6th Borough Comedy during the adults-only LSC After Dark series.

Candle Making with Kanibal + Co at Felina Steak
Location: Felina Steak at 2 Chapel Avenue.
7 p.m..
: A workshop where attendees can create candles.

Frank Sinatra Laser Show
Liberty Science Center at 222 Jersey City Boulevard.
Part of the Thursday evening LSC After Dark event.
The Liberty Science Center features a laser show set to Frank Sinatra’s music as part of its adults-only LSC After Dark series.
LSC After Dark
Liberty Science Center at 222 Jersey City Boulevard.
6 p.m. to 10 p.m..
This event is for adults 21 and over and includes DJs, themed laser and planetarium shows, dancing, and full access to the exhibits.

The post Events for Thursday, December 4, 2025 Jersey City and Hoboken first appeared on River View Observer.

Jersey City

Jersey City Weekly Bar Crawl at Boots & Bones (116 Newark Avenue): A social event visiting multiple bars, starting at 4:00 PM.

Dorit Chrysler at Monty Hall (43 Montgomery Street): A theremin performance or workshop at 7:00 PM.

The Last Waltz at White Eagle Hall (337 Newark Avenue): A night of music recreating The Band’s iconic concert, starting at 8:00 PM.

Laugh Tour at The Laugh Tour Comedy Club (555 Washington Boulevard): A stand-up comedy show at 7:30 PM.

The Last Waltz (another listing for the same event) at White Eagle Hall at 8:00 PM.

BIPOC Social- Global Music Series: Brent Birckhead Jazz (location unspecified within JC) at 7:30 PM. 

Hoboken

Yoga Story Time at the Hoboken Public Library (500 Park Avenue): An interactive session incorporating yoga for young children at 10:30 AM.

Crafternoons at the Hoboken Public Library (Little Library location): An afternoon of fun, games, and crafting activities at 3:00 PM.

Storytime STEAM Club at the Hoboken Public Library: A meetup designed to encourage early literacy, curiosity, and collaborative learning at 3:30 PM.

The Next Stop: Open Mic (location unspecified) at 5:00 PM.

Cocktails For A Cause 2025 (33 Newark St) at 8:00 PM.

Live Music @ Pig & Parrotat 9:00 PM.77

Hudson St, Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: (201) 683-7369

Menu: thepigandparrot.com

Live Music @ Willie McBride’s 616 Grand St, Hoboken, NJ 07030

Phone: (201) 610-1522

Community Food Distribution at the Hoboken Community Center (1301 Washington St), Multi-Service Center (124 Grand St), and Hoboken Housing Authority (221 Jackson St) from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. 

Bayonne 

Caregiver and Me Pilates Class (location unspecified, likely a community center) at 10:30 AM.

Gallagher performing at Buttero’s (location unspecified within Bayonne) at 9:00 PM. 

The post Friday, November 21,2025 Events for Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne, Secaucus first appeared on River View Observer.

The Jersey City Arts Councilâ€s first ever awards gala will bring together the arts community to celebrate 11 amazing honorees and recognize their leadership, advocacy, philanthropy, and long-term contributions to Jersey City.
Mayor Steven M. Fulop will start the evening off with the announcement of the name of the new Jersey City Poet Laureate.

Honorees include:

JCAC AWARDS
· Leadership: Mana Contemporary-A visionary and ambitious cultural center in Jersey City.

· Legacy: Charles Kessler-Founder of Jersey City Artists†Studio Tour and co-founder of Cathedral Arts Festival and Pro Arts.

· Medici: SILVERMAN-Direct funder of numerous arts organizations.

 
JCAC COMMITTEE AWARDS
· Architecture & Design: URBY-Thoughtful design is in every part of this building.

· Arts Education: Willie Thomas-Art Specialist at P.S. 15, teaching students from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade.

· Film & TV: Jenna Laurenzo-Director of Lez Bomb which won the jury award for best narrative film at the 2018 Geena Davis†Bentonville Film Festival.

· Literary Arts: Matt Taibbi-Award-winning journalist, author, and columnist for Rolling Stone magazine.

· Performing Arts: Thinking In Full Color-Performing arts group that empowers women of color through theatrical and educational programming.

· Public Art: Norm Kirby- Visual artist beautifying chain link fences in Jersey City and the founder of Six Columns Gallery.

· Visual Arts: LITM – A superior exhibition space with a visual arts program thatâ€s a step above.

· Young Artist: David Acosta – An incredible young performer who writes meaningful messages through his music and also organized the 2018 Arts on the Hudson Festival.

* For more information on the honorees please see attached one sheet.

The Jersey City Arts Council is an inclusive and diverse, community-focused 501(c)(3) organization, established to protect, strengthen, and promote the Arts in Jersey City. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

 
Important Links:
www.jerseycityartscouncil.org/awards-celebration
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/awards-celebration-tickets-51316052695

The post INAUGURAL AWARDS CELEBRATION HONORS JERSEY CITY ARTISTS & ARTS ORGANIZATIONS first appeared on River View Observer.

  By Sally Deering

A life in art, thatâ€s exactly what William La Rosa set out to do in his 30-year tenure as Director of the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs. Before retiring in September 2017, La Rosa facilitated programs that helped local visual and performing artists. He founded the Local Arts Program (LAP) grants that, over the years, provided thousands of dollars to local artists and arts organizations.

On Tuesday, June 26, from 6:30-10 pm, the Jersey City Theater Center will honor La Rosa contribution to Hudsonâ€s art scene with an award for Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Culture. The event also celebrates JCTCs 12-Year Anniversary and will be held at White Eagle Hall on Newark Ave in Jersey City. The $100 ticket price includes open bar, hot & cold hors d’oeuvres and jazz from the Hudson Banks Trio.

“Bill La Rosa always saw the arts as a means to unite the community,” Olga Levina, Artistic Director of JCTC says. “As Director of the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs, Bill always came from a place of love for the arts and respect for artists, giving them the attention they deserve. No arts organization can stand alone, and Bill has been a supporter of JCTC from the very beginning. It is an honor for JCTC to give our first lifetime achievement award to someone who made a difference in the arts in Hudson County and New Jersey.”

La Rosaâ€s support, consultation and encouragement to arts organizations and artists in Hudson never wavered. A graduate of New Jersey City University and New York University, La Rosa served as Vice President of the Association of New Jersey County Cultural & Historic Agencies, and as a member of the New Jersey Center for Hospitality and Tourism Advisory Council. In 2000, he was acknowledged by a Joint Legislative Resolution from the New Jersey State Senate and General Assembly for “meritorious record of service, leadership, and commitment on behalf of the New Jersey tourism industry.”  He is the recipient of various community service and New Jersey Association of Counties awards, served as the Chairperson of the Product Development Committee for the New Jersey White House Conference on Tourism Task Force (1993), is a member of the County Open Space Trust Advisory Board, and Chairperson of the Hudson County Public Art Commission.

If you go

Tues, June 26, 6:30-10 pm, Tix $100
12-Year Anniversary Celebration

White Eagle Hall
335-337 Newark Ave, JC

(201) 795-5386

To purchase tix: JCTCenter.org

The post JCTC to Celebrate 12-Year Anniversary on June 26 – Honor Bill La Rosa Lifetime Achievement in Arts Award first appeared on River View Observer.

8 Choreographers Explore ‘Resistance†at White Eagle Hall

By Sally Deering

 Instead of performing on a stage away from the audience, the new dance show, OUT OF BOUNDS, curated by dancer-choreographer Meagan Woods of Jersey City, will have dancers moving on stage and in the audience.

The curtain goes up on OUT OF BOUNDS on Sat, June 2, at 8 pm and will feature eight choreographies by eight New Jersey dancer-choreographers, including Woods. The show goes on at White Eagle Hall, an extension of the Jersey City Theater Center, where Artistic Director Olga Levina invited Woods to curate a dance show that would engage the audience.

“Out of Bounds has some of the most incredible dancers and choreographers that have come together to celebrate dance and the Jersey City community,” Levina says. “Meagan has always embraced the community and in turn the community embraces her.”

OUT OF BOUNDS features Robert Mark Burke, Lauren Connolly, Katelyn Halpern, Joe Monteleone, Morgan Refakis, Nick Sciscione and Heather Warfel. Each dance was created or selected specifically for Resistance, JCTCâ€s current thematic series. JCTC selects topics global in scope yet relevant to the community then explores this theme through a variety of art genres, including visual arts, readings, theatre and dance.

“To design the evening, I reached out to choreographers who I really admire,” Woods says. “Each of their styles is bold, rich and engaging, I chose an evening that will be varied. Weâ€re using the space in a unique way. The dancers will be performing on two levels: the main floor space and the elevated stage space. It will be a great way to experience the show.”

Although the performances will be immersive, Woods says, the show is not interactive.

“The production will be clean, polished and choreographed,” Woods says. “There wonâ€t be a lot of direct interaction. Itâ€s a nice touch.”

Woods holds a BFA from Rutgers University, and in 2010, she co-founded New Jerseyâ€s largest annual modern dance festival, Your Move, and was given the Dance NJ Jete Award for her work.

The show will be followed by a reception at White Eagle Hall where audiences can meet the Out of Bounds performers.

 â€œThis dance concert offers boundless performances, defying categories with raw, expansive movement inventions,” Woods says. “Out of Bounds offers a nod to the evening’s content and structure: dancers, and audience members, engage without confines in a concert that explores nearness, escapism, rebellion, and impending change.”

If you go
Saturday June 2, 8 pm

OUT OF BOUNDS

White Eagle Hall
335-337 Newark Ave, JC
(201) 795-5386
For tix, go to: www.JCTCenter.org

Tix:$15 – $20

The post LET’S DANCE!   Meagan Woods Curates “Out of Bounds” Dance Show, Sat, June 2nd first appeared on River View Observer.

Actors, playwrights, choreographers, musicians – artists who have longed for a new performance venue in Jersey City will be happy to learn two new spaces are opening up on Newark Ave: Merseles Studios on the second floor of the Monaco Lock building, and White Eagle Hall which is being renovated from a Turn-of-The 20^th Century meeting hall to a space for rock ‘n†roll just like Hobokenâ€s former icon Maxwellâ€s.

Together, Merseles Studios and White Eagle Hall stand under the umbrella of the newly-formed Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC), which is under the leadership of Artistic Director Olga Levina and Executive Director Ben LoPiccolo – both married to the project and each other. The coupleâ€s dream of offering Jersey City artists new performance venues to express their art is a personal as well as professional achievement and the beginning of a journey that will likely be as interesting as the artists performing there.

“We want to build a performing and visual arts center to produce strong progressive works that tackle the issues of our times,” Levina says. “We are preserving historical identity and uniting community and together that improves the quality of life here in Jersey City. I wanted to help Jersey City artists express themselves and tell their stories.”

On Sat, April 26 Merseles Studios debuts as a community performance space with a gala and showcase of four theater, music and dance pieces in PERSONAL & UNIVERSAL.  The show features local artists like blues musician Ladell Mclin and dancer/movement artist Myssi Robinson in EUGENE, a multi-disciplinary exploration of spirit, music and movement. The duo recently debuted the piece at the Hudson County Womenâ€s History Month program in the Brennan Court House in Jersey City.

EUGENE, written by Mclin is based on his great-grandmother who raised him in Chicago. The blues virtuoso hails from a musical family, his father and brother are drummers and his great-grandfather played trumpet with Billie Holliday.

“I perform in theaters, concert halls, festivals — Jersey doesnâ€t produce that for us,” Mclin says. “We donâ€t even have a performance hall or a music venue– thatâ€s very sad.”

Thatâ€s why a new performance venue for artists is an exciting event, Maclin says, and he credits Levina for offering artists a comfortable place to create.

“Olga is so connected to the arts; she makes us feel comfortable to present our art there,” Mclin says. “She recognizes good, fine art because sheâ€s a fine artist herself.”

Also on the program for Merseles Studios†premiere on April 26th are SO WHAT IF I LOVED YOU, a series of monologues about a woman haunted by memories of a previous lover written by and starring Summer Dawn; NEW MUSIC by Jersey City-based singer/songwriter Kelly Saint Patrick; and REQUIEM FOR THE MAIDEN by Natalia Vorozhbit, adapted for the stage and directed by Sergei Grabbe. This theater-piece explores the political conflict in Ukraine and is based on actual interviews with protestors and citizens affected by and involved with the ongoing social unrest.

“This material is timely and universal,” Grabbe says after a morning of auditions in the theater space.

A teacher and actor originally from the Ukraine and now residing in Bergen County, Grabbe reached out to Levina when he learned she and LoPiccolo were creating a new theater center. After the gala, all the performers will have their own run of shows at Merseles Studios as JCTC plans the new season.

“We selected Personal & Universal as the theme of our first official event because it describes how artists give voice to a community,” Levina says. “We have talented artists from all disciplines living in Jersey City and a community that enthusiastically supports the arts. Merseles Studios is a place where community and artists come together for a dialogue.”

ARTISTS†STUDIOS AND GALLERY

Personal & Universal is also the debut of the Merseles Studio Gallery – a permanent art gallery showcasing regional and Jersey City artists. The opening exhibition is part of the event and is curated by Thomas John Carlson, Visual Arts Director of JCTC and founder of the Jersey City Arts School, which offers classes in drawing, painting, photography – even glass-blowing.

“This is an opportunity to give exposure to local artists and their work,” Carlson says. “The gallery will set the tone of quality and thought-provoking work that JCTC will bring to its multi-faceted art programming and future gallery events.”

 Artists interested in contacting Carlson regarding gallery submission guidelines can reach him at merselesstudios@gmail.com.

PERFORMANCES FOR CHILDREN, TOO!

Plays for children are also on JCTCs schedule and on May 11^th, JCTC-KIDS presents Puppetworks, a company of marionettes from Brooklyn in a production of CINDERELLA playing at Merseles Studios every other Sunday through July. Shows will be at 12:30 and 2:30 pm.

WHITE EAGLE, POLISH MEETING HALL TO ROCK N ROLL

The larger JCTC project which is currently under construction is White Eagle Hall, a 400-seat theater/music hall which will present plays, concerts, dance, films and educational programs. It will also house two restaurants: Madame Claude owners Alice Troletto and Mattias Gustafsson will open Madame Claude Bis that will seat about 80 and Todd Abramson, formerly of Maxwellâ€s and now JCTCs music coordinator will wear the hat of restaurateur when he and his partners open the tentatively-named Bingo, a 200-seater that will serve American cuisine.

Fallow since 2004 and built originally in the early 1900s as a place for local Polish immigrants to celebrate their heritage by a Polish priest of St. Anthonyâ€s parish. It boasts two beautiful stained-glass windows in the ceiling, one depicting the likeness of Chopin, the other a portrait of opera singer Marcella Sembrich. After it stopped being a meeting hall, St. Maryâ€s basketball coach Bobby Hurley used it for his star-teamâ€s practice sessions and throughout the years all the historic details became covered up in wood panels and dropped ceilings, LoPiccolo says. In the planning for the past three years to become a theater and performance space, White Eagle Hall is now in bare form, void of artifice and naked in its natural beauty: red-bricked walls, staircases and original iron balustrades screening a planned lounge upstairs. The floors are yet to be done but itâ€s easy to see LoPiccolo is paying close attention to every detail as he transforms the building into a thriving performance space.

“BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and LaMama – thatâ€s where weâ€re coming from,” Lo Piccolo says.

 If you go:

Sat, April 26; Doors open 6 pm; Reception precedes performance at 7 pm

JCTC presents at Merseles Studios

PERSONAL & UNIVERSAL

339 Newark Ave

(2^nd floor of Monaco Lock building)

Jersey City

www.jctcenter.org

Tix: $15; $20 at the door

For tix go to: www. brownpapertickets.com

 

The post ARTS EXPRESS- Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) Opens Merseles Studios with Dance, Music, Drama and There’s More to Come! first appeared on River View Observer.