coLAB Arts

coLAB Arts engages artists, social advocates, and communities to create transformative new work. A NOTE ON HOW WE WORK
We are an artist driven organization.

As artists we look to our communities to both inspire new ideas and to teach how the arts can be used as the most powerful communicative tool to advance the civic conversation. Every quarter we choose a different theme or topic to guide our regular programs. Curators decides how this theme will be explored in their own platforms. These conversations develop relationships between artists and commun

ities, and generate some of our best ideas for long term arts projects. WHAT IS CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT? Facilitate artistic conversation in sometimes unlikely places where opportunity and inspiration will lead to innovative new ideas. Connect creatives of all kinds with individuals and organizations that work directly with communities in all areas of civic life. Create new work that is reflective of those conversations and relationships and challenges perceptions and inspires action. OUR VALUES
The people who offer their time and energy to coLAB Arts in strong volunteer capacities are called Collaborators. Collaborators come together monthly to help guide coLAB Arts events, projects, and platforms. coLAB arts Collaborators describe themselves as being:

Frustrated with the status quo

Searching for personal meaning

Believe that art should be local and accessible

Know that art has the power to transform hearts and minds

Eager to create and use artistry to serve communities

Seek fulfillment and challenge

Believe in new models of collaboration

OUR EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY - KNOWLEDGE PUT INTO PRACTICE
All of our programs (a) teach and promote a specific knowledge and technique of a particular form or craft and (b) use that specific knowledge with the freedom of interdisciplinary experimentation to create reflective projects and programs. ANTI-RACISM STATEMENT
coLAB Arts is only as strong as the advocacy partners, artists, and community members who choose to bring us into their spaces and tell their stories. Thank you for making us strong. Strong enough to know that the small gains we make towards forwarding our anti-racist mission aren’t summits but steps. Strong enough to recognize that we are a senior staff of two white men, with an all white board, and a primarily white volunteer base. Strong enough to confront the fact that we’re based in a politically blue city, in a blue county, in a blue state, which makes it inexcusable for us to settle for performative or empty gestures. This is our Action Statement. A reaffirmation of our anti-racist mission and a new commitment to dismantle white supremacy. We will be transparent and we will stumble. And we invite you to join us in holding our organization accountable. Black Lives Matter. coLAB Arts' storytelling is defined by the individual experiences comprised in its work. We've invited members of the coLAB Arts community to share their personal anti-racist statements so serve as part of our collective response. If you'd like to add your statement, all are welcome and can be shared here: http://www.colab-arts.org/anti-racist-statement-form.

Photos from Epic Actors' Workshop - US's post

06/05/2026

🎭 The 21st Annual South Asian Theatre Festival will be on June 13-14 & 20-21, 2026!

🎟️ TICKETS ON SALE NOW: colab-arts.org/south-asian-theatre-festival

Two Weekends! New Venue! We're partnering up with coLAB Arts to host the Festival at their new performance space at 9 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, NJ

Visit colab-arts.org and get your tickets today!

DAY 1: Sat., 13 June:
• Inauguration
• Heart Burst (English) by coLab Arts, NJ: A verbatim play by Dan Swern exploring generational perspectives on mental health
• Attojon (Bengali) by Spotlight, Columbus, OH: A thought-provoking contemporary commentary by playwright Ujjal Chattopadhyaya, directed by Meghnad Bhattacharyya
• Theater in Life 1: What it Takes by Vivid Stage & Epic Actors’ Workshop: A workshop collaborative bringing tales of cancer patients to life through storytelling

DAY 2, Sun., 14 June:
• The Whispers of a Banyan Tree (English & Hindi) by Lights & Shadows Theatre Company, NJ: A vivid kaleidoscope of Indian folklore, dramatized by Priya N Iyer and directed by Mahesh Dattani
• Omanush (Bengali) by Suchona Theater, NY: Playwright Mamunur Rashid examines the stripping away of humanity by corruption, directed by Zannatul Tumpa
• Theater in Life 2: All is Well by Kushilob Collective: Come on, don't you believe it? Let's practice together.

DAY 3, Sat., 20 June:
• Eidur Kol (Bengali) by BCS Natyagoshthi, NJ: Adapted by Asit Ghosh from the classic thriller The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, directed by Pradeep K. Banerjee
• Medea’s Sisters (English) by Epic Actors’ Workshop, NJ: Developed as a Greek Theater Lab production
• Theater in Life 3: AbraCaDabrA by Epic Actors’ Workshop: The Vanishing Act we all live in - P**f!
• Crossing to Talikota (English) by ICS Theater, NJ: A timeless classic by playwright Girish Karnad exploring the interplay of power, religion and betrayal, directed by Anand Rao

DAY 4, Sun., 21 June:
• The Whispers of the Banyan Tree (English & Hindi) by Lights & Shadows Theatre Company, NJ
• Crossing to Talikota (English) by ICS Theater, NJ
• Theater in Life 4: AbraCaDabrA by Epic Actors’ Workshop
• Medea’s Sisters (English) by Epic Actors’ Workshop, NJ

05/29/2026

We’re honored to spotlight this month's grant recipient, Carl Brister, an award-winning artist and community leader whose commitment to arts education, inclusion, and community impact reflects the values at the heart of coLAB Arts. 🎶✨

🔗 https://bit.ly/CLAMonthlyWinnerCarlBrister

05/22/2026

We’re excited to welcome Epic Actors' Workshop to coLAB Arts this June for their 21st Annual South Asian Theatre Festival 🎭

🎫🔗 https://bit.ly/CLASATF2026

The festival celebrates storytelling, performance, and South Asian theater traditions through a dynamic lineup of productions in Hindi, Bengali, and English.

Single performance and all-day tickets are available.

Join us for two weekends of exciting theater and cultural exchange. Full schedules are available on our website.

Weekend 1: Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14
Weekend 2: Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21

04/30/2026

This month’s Artist Grant goes to Speakeasy ✨

A Q***r Black + Brown femme-fronted SoulPunk band rooted in NJ + NYC, creating music that moves, resists, and reimagines what’s possible. 🎶🔥

🔗 Learn more at their website in bio / here: https://bit.ly/CLASpeakeasy

04/30/2026

May is here & it’s bringing bold stories, creative energy & community moments at 🌿✨

🔗 bit.ly/coLABNewsletter

04/27/2026

New Brunswick’s favorite Story Slam is back ✨
theVOM: Mother is Mothering
A night of fierce love, complicated legacies, and the many forms of motherly power.

📅 Friday, May 8
⏰ Doors 6:30PM | Stories 7:00PM
📍 coLAB Arts

🔗 RSVP to save your seat here: https://bit.ly/CLATheVomMotherIsMothering

04/27/2026

New Brunswick’s favorite Story Slam is back ✨

theVOM: Mother is Mothering
A night of fierce love, complicated legacies, and the many forms of motherly power.

📅 Friday, May 8
⏰ Doors 6:30PM | Stories 7:00PM
📍 coLAB Arts

🔗 RSVP to save your seat here: https://bit.ly/CLATheVomMotherIsMothering

04/22/2026

This , we’re celebrating monument artist Chat Travieso 🌱

His monument, En Root, includes a citywide pollinator garden network connecting public history and civic science across .

🔗 Learn more and join upcoming garden build days here: bit.ly/Colabartsevents

04/16/2026

Swipe ➡️ to learn more about The Institute with Esperanza coming this August 3rd -21st! ✨

Monday - Friday at📍

More info here🔗https://bit.ly/CLAInstitute26

04/14/2026

work matters now more than ever.

Make a gift today, one-time or monthly, and help sustain transformative public art in here https://bit.ly/colab-give 🔗

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http://www.colab-arts.org/

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9 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ
08901

coLAB Arts

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