The Center’s Mission
The mission of the Center is to build awareness and appreciation of cultural traditions in ways that both support the region’s diversity, and celebrate folk and traditional arts passed down through generations. We feel strongly that our work should be driven by the needs and priorities of communities. As a result, outreach in the form of fieldwork is essential.
The Center continues to identify and document tradition bearers, occupational folklore and foodways in Paterson and other areas of Passaic County, as well as Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties. We invite the public to participate in the Center’s free folklife programming, and to celebrate with us the abundant regional cultural contributions.
Our support for local folklife events creates a platform for the community, stakeholders and folk artists that encourages interaction and dialogue about cultural traditions. Sharing these traditions with like-minded communities, as well as with a public that may have limited knowledge of their neighbors’ customs, helps to ensure the existence, growth and longevity of the area’s folklife. Most of the tradition bearers living in the region share their art informally.
The Center helps facilitate greater public access to these rich cultural traditions via performances, exhibits, demonstrations and educational activities.
Explore Our Programs
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Folk & Traditional Arts at Home
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Folk Arts in Education
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General Folk Arts
Grand Opening, 2019
The Folklife Center of Northern NJ is the newest center in the state, having been in operation since Fall 2018 and officially opening to the public on May 21, 2019.
At the grand opening ceremony, numerous artists and tradition bearers demonstrated their craft, foreshadowing the cultural programming that lay ahead.
Meet Our Staff
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Susan Lembo Balik
Director
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Madeline Lora
Arts in Education Coordinator
Ethnographic Fieldwork at the Center
Ethnographic fieldwork is the basis for all programming. Folklorists working in the public sector carry out ethnographic fieldwork to understand how people celebrate and carry on community identities.
This work involves exploring neighborhoods, meeting members of ethnic, occupational and cultural communities, and identifying people who are esteemed for their traditional skills and knowledge.
Folklorists document their findings through interviews, photographs, audio and/or video recordings. The results of their fieldwork are then presented in public programs aimed at enhancing appreciation for artistic and cultural traditions.
Lael Leslie carries out ethnographic fieldwork as a consultant for the Center. She identifies and interviews tradition-bearers in the wider northern New Jersey region and also consults on other FCNNJ programs – Folk Arts in Education and Folk Arts for Homebound. She has wide-ranging experience as a teacher, researcher, and public-sector folklorist.
Lael has a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, exploring tucked away parts of New Jersey, and trying out all varieties of international food.
Meet Lael Leslie, Folklorist
Marcie Frishman is a consultant for the Center, where she conducts research and community outreach for the Folk Arts for Homebound program. Marcie is an ethnomusicologist and ESL teacher, and she holds a Master of Arts degree in World Music and a Master of Professional Studies degree in Education.
Marcie has served as a member of the Experts Panel for Folk Arts Grants at the NJ State Council on the Arts, and received a Fulbright Scholarship for research in South Indian Classical music. As an educator, Ms. Frishman is involved with immigrant students from
many cultures.
Meet Marcie Frishman, Folklorist
About Our Funders
The Folklife Center of Northern NJ is a co-sponsored project of the NJ State Council on the Arts and Passaic County Community College, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Folklife Center of Northern New Jersey is one of five Folklife Centers in the state. Each Center serves a different region and works with their own group of folk artists to develop programming specific to their community’s needs and interests. We encourage you to visit the other Centers and explore their offerings.
The Folklife Center of Northern New Jersey celebrates diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our commitment to these values is unwavering. We also seek to increase our awareness, and support of, cultural equity, health, environmental and restorative justice issues as they pertain to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQA communities, persons with disabilities, and women’s, children’s and animal rights. These commitments inform our mission as a Folklife Center, because we understand that diverse perspectives inspire innovative ideas and the humane treatment of all living entities promotes harmony within our communities.