Artist are set makeover Trenton business’ roll-up gates during Storm the Gate.
Trenton’s S.A.G.E. Coalition, working with the Trenton Downtown Association, is striving to bring “creatification” to the city’s downtown business district with a weekend art event.
Storm the Gate kicks off with a pop-up art gallery 6 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 5 at 7 South Broad St. The location is set to be home to a storefront bicycle shop managed by the Boys & Girls Club of Trenton and a hub for The College of New Jersey to connect their student volunteers with organizations.
The next day, local muralists are set to paint the roll-up gates of downtown businesses along East State and North Broad Streets 12 to 7 p.m.
When the businesses are open and their gates are rolled up, the murals are unobtrusively out of sight, but when the businesses close up and roll down their gates, the downtown area around Broad and State Street will be transformed into an open-air urban art gallery.
“The city is the gallery and the roll-up gates are the canvases,” S.A.G.E. Coalition member and artist Graham Apgar said in a statement. “The idea is to animate otherwise desolate areas of the city, and there is no more desolate area than downtown on a weekend.”
Storm the Gates is similar to S.A.G.E.’s Windows of Soul project on Hanover Street. During the annual project, S.A.G.E. adorns abandoned windows with artwork to beautify the area.
Free garage parking is set to be available at 16 East Front Street during the event.
More information is online at sagecoalitionnj.com and destinationtrenton.com.
