Talent Comes To The Borough August 14th

The Freehold Borough Arts Council in association with DowntownFreehold.com are hosting the first ever Freehold's Got Talent event on Tuesday, August 14th at 7:30pm in front of the Hall Of Records located at 1 East Main Street, Freehold Borough, NJ.

The event which includes 25 acts totaling 65 performers promises to be a variety filled show of the most talented individuals and groups to gather in one place at one time and a winner will be crowned the same night.

The talent extravaganza  hosted by Neal Girandola, a professional actor and writer as well as the President of the Freehold Borough Arts Council, will be judged by a celebrity panel made up of radio personality Lisa Anderson of 107.1 The Breeze; Agent Michael Arbeeny of Jersey's own 107 Productions; and Myndi Lauper lead singer for the nation sweeping 80's tribute band Weird Science.

Open to all ages, talent submissions for the freshman event in the borough began in May and the Freehold Borough Arts Council received close to 60 submissions that included video of all talent. "From there we put together a show not only based on talent but on variety to assure the audience would be in for an amazing event" said Neal Girandola who also produced the show on behalf of the FBAC and DowntownFreehold.com.

"The real goal of this show is to support and bring awareness to the arts in New Jersey, specifically in Western Monmouth County. The FBAC and DowntownFreehold.com continue to provide venues for artists to become inspired and appreciated for their talents" added Girandola.

Additional sponsors for Freehold's Got Talent include the Monmouth Academy Of Musical Arts.

If you are planning on attending Tuesday's event in front of the Hall Of Records, it is suggested you bring a beach chair and arrive by 7pm for this free event.

For more information email the FBAC at Info@FreeholdBoroughArtsCouncil.org

FBAC's Mural Project Defaced

The following was the Freehold Borough Arts Council's letter to Rakesh Kumar the owner of 63 East Main Street where the mural park once stood following the removal of 8 panels from the site in December. The letter from the FBAC had gone unanswered.

To: Rakesh Kumar 12/29/11

Re: 63 East Main Street

FBAC Mural Project

Dear Mr. Kumar,

Thank you for your generous tax-deductible donation to the Freehold Borough Arts Council. Your support to the community mural project has resulted in a much talked about statewide cultural event. More importantly, it is a source of community pride for those residents and local students who helped create the mural as well as for the numerous local businesses and government agencies that have backed the project.

The Arts Council is supportive of your efforts in locating a new business at 63 East Main Street. One of our primary missions is to drive commerce into town by making Freehold a cultural destination for the arts. The mural’s intent is to draw attention to that mission by attracting visitors and therefore, more business to the Borough. With over 18,000 vehicles a day passing the site, we hope that any business will take advantage of the high visibility and unique marketing value the mural has to offer. Retaining the mural at this location represents good will towards our community and shows a commitment to art appreciation and culture. If the building at 63 East Main Street must be demolished, in part or total, for a new business venture, we ask that you offer us an opportunity to work with you in figuring out an amiable way forward to help save and preserve as much of the artwork as possible so that others may continue to enjoy it. If a new building is to be constructed, we would like to speak with those involved about providing public art on the site.

As I indicated in the opening of this letter, your continued contribution is tax deductible since the FBAC is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 charity.

Please help preserve the mural by considering our request to keep it in tact within the site. The mural's presence signifies a historic new partnership between private business and public art in Freehold Borough.

I thank you for your time and look forward to our continued efforts in attracting arts and business to our hometown.

Sincerely,

Neal Girandola

President - FBAC 

The only contact we received since this letter was on Wednesday 1/3/12  requesting to meet at the site on Saturday 1/7/12 at 10 am to discuss preservation scenarios.  On Friday 1/6/12 Kumar had the mural painted over.