After many years in downtown Newark, the Newark Arts Alliance moved to the Shoppes of Louviers last year, bringing that same quality of classes, public events and ingenuity to new students and audiences. Recently, Newark Life met with its Executive Director Pamela Draper to discuss the Alliance’s new home, its popular Camp Imagine, the future of funding for the arts and Pamela’s very special dinner party.

Your new location is located halfway between Pike Creek and Hockessin and downtown Newark. How has your new location stimulated attention and attendance from members, students, artists and the general public?

The relocation has been a wonderful upgrade for us and we’re so grateful to have found a final home after a lot of searching. We have seen a great increase in our attendance, mostly at our recurring programs, which has become a new subcommunity of the Alliance and we see that people are really investing in that. We also have a lot more foot traffic and that is growing in a beautiful way. People were concerned for us about moving from downtown Newark, but our old location, while we loved it, was slightly tucked away from Main Street. Because of our new location, we have many visitors who are shopping at other stores in the Shoppes of Louviers and stopping in to see us.

A run through your class schedule for this Spring reveals a wide variety of opportunities to develop one’s drawing skills, from contour illustration to comic book illustration, and much more. How are classes at the Newark Arts Alliance ultimately chosen to be offered?

Our education committee was one of the things I made sure to incorporate when I took the executive director position, in order to provide structure and community engagement. The committee is made up of wonderful people who are invested in seeing the Newark Arts Alliance as a resource not just for students but for people who want to be teaching artists. One of our strengths is that we work with people who have been in their respective fields for a long time, and we say to them, ‘You have a beautiful art form. Would you like to learn how to teach it?’

Classes are ultimately chosen by the committee and me, and we’ve had a nice experience of developing relationships with new students and new teachers as a result of these classes.

For the past 27 years, Camp Imagine has introduced thousands of young people to the limitless creativity of their mind. This camp serves as an incubator of ideas, artistic development and confidence, yes?

My background is in music therapy, so I am very familiar with the way the arts help develop social, physical and motor skills. Camp Imagine is enriched by our students’ ability to do creative things on their own terms, in an improvisatory setting, and that is what this camp thrives on. We have projects, but the camp allows the kids the chance to play and have fun. 

While it is a thrill to see kids come back here year after year, but my biggest thrill is when my campers become interns. We work with up to six high school interns at every camp.

In what ways has the Alliance sought out other funding sources during a time when the entire future of the arts education funding in America is under scrutiny?

The Delaware Division of the Arts provides major funding for the Newark Arts Alliance. We are closely in contact with them about changes that may be coming down the pike, and everyone's feathers are certainly ruffled about this! We have always placed our strongest hopes in our amazing community of local supporters and are ramping up our fundraising efforts, which heavily depend on our minimal staff time. Overall, we are ready to meet whatever challenges may come! 

What are your happiest moments at the Newark Arts Alliance? Take the readers of Newark Life on a visual tour of those moments.

One of my happiest moments was our grand opening party at our new location at the Shoppes at Louviers. We pulled out all the stops that night and really had a chance to celebrate all that the Newark Arts Alliance has come to mean to the greater Newark community: a place to shine, to be inspired, and to connect. In many ways we were also celebrating the legacy of our outgoing Executive Director Terry Foreman, whose influence and guidance will be felt in our organization for decades to come. In spite of the intimate size of our new home, the grand opening party had over 300 guests. We dined, danced and carried on until late in the night. Lelane Rossouw-Bancroft, one of our core artists/volunteers, created an incredible four-tiered cake that featured an incredible array of artistic styles, and she even made a layer that was gluten-free! 

What is your favorite spot in Newark?

I love Days of Knights because I am a board game nerd. I also love thrift shopping at the Goodwill in the Newark Shopping Center. 

You throw a dinner party and can invite anyone – living or not, famous or not. Who would you like to see around that dining room table?

Writer Audre Lorde, writer Adrienne Maree Brown, singer Nina Simone, poet Joy Harjo and Carol Post, who is the vice president of our board. 

What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?

Miso paste! I love making miso soup for breakfast. 

The Newark Arts Alliance is located at 207 Louviers Drive, Newark, and is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more about classes, camps and special events, call (302) 266-7266 or visit www.newarkartsalliance.org.