“SPIRAL Q: THE PARADE”: Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton has received funding from the NJ Council for the Humanities to support programs in conjunction with its “Perspectives” series, which includes the current exhibits “Local Voices: Stories, Memories, and Portraits” and “Spiral Q: The Parade.” Both exhibitions are on view through January 7.

Grounds For Sculpture receives funding from the NJ Council for the Humanities to support its “Perspectives” series programming.

Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in Hamilton recently announced that it has been awarded funding from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) to help support several programs in conjunction with GFS’ “Perspectives” exhibition series, including panel talks, storytelling workshops, and a community procession. NJCH supports public humanities events, programs, and opportunities that help institutions serving the people of New Jersey explore the public humanities in their lives.

GFS is currently presenting two exhibitions as part of the “Perspectives” series. To create “Local Voices: Stories, Memories, and Portraits,” GFS partnered with Madhusmita Bora, a folk and traditional artist, teacher, and trained journalist, to gather 15 members of New Jersey’s Indian community to tell their personal stories. These stories highlight the universal themes of love, loss, and resilience. This fall, there will be panel talks and workshops exploring individual storytelling. A panel discussion with Bora and select storytellers from the exhibition will discuss their experience creating the exhibition and the effect it has had on their lives, with a focus on cross-cultural stories and the importance of understanding legacy. Storytellers and communications professionals Paul Best and Meera Nair will hold public workshops that focus on different approaches to and of the healing power of personal storytelling.

“Spiral Q: The Parade” is a showcase of the Philadelphia-based organization’s rich history of working in collaboration with marginalized — Black, brown, and queer — communities through collective storytelling, resulting in the creation of memorial tributes, banners, and puppets. Spiral Q will host workshops, gallery talks, and panel talks at GFS. Through a July residency at ArtWorks Trenton, Spiral Q will lead conversations around personal and communal agency while guiding community members to share their stories through puppet and banner making, culminating in a procession on July 29. There will also be a Family Open Studios maker workshop at GFS on July 8, where everyone can create items from recycled materials that they can then use in the procession.

The Spiral Q: The Parade procession will take place on Saturday, July 29 at 11 a.m. with a rain date of August 5. After building puppets, banners, protest signs at Artworks Trenton with local community partners and the GFS community, makers will gather to celebrate with a walk from Hamilton Township’s Farmingdale Park to GFS.

“Our partnership with Spiral Q and Artworks Trenton for the July 29th procession will be about breaking boundaries — inviting the communities of Hamilton and Trenton to explore GFS, taking ownership of the grounds as a place of belonging, and building relationships.,” said Julio Badel, GFS’ director of education and community engagement.

Community members of all ages and abilities are encouraged to participate in the procession, including families, youth groups, community groups, cultural institutions, and activist groups.

For more information on maker meetups, visit artworkstrenton.org or groundsforsculpture.org.

This event is family- friendly and will include free access to GFS on July 29 for procession participants.

To register for “Perspectives” programs, visit groundsforsculpture.org/calendar.