Past Arts Award Winners

+ Arts Education Award: Ibn Sharif Shakoor

Ibn Sharif Shakoor, co-founder of The Spot JC LLC and Spot JC Foundation, is a licensed teacher, school counselor, and therapist. Ibn graduated from Saint Peter’s University with a Master of Arts in Education. He is also a songwriter, poet, known for his soulful lyrics, creative visuals, as well as classroom lessons that connect hip hop to the world of education.

Ibn was born in Hoboken and raised in Jersey City. Around his third birthday, his father Sharif was sentenced to eight years in prison. By the time he turned five, his mother became addicted to both crack and heroin. Ibn was directly touched by witnessing his mother abuse drugs, often experiencing late-night convocations on dangerous street corners filled with violence. Ibn then lived with his great-grandmother, who was a pianist and writer until her death when he was in the sixth grade.

His upbringing and the foundation laid by his great-grandmother influenced Ibn to work to become an excellent student and writer. As a natural born artist and observer, Ibn turned to the likes of Method Man, Jay-Z, and Spike Lee as sources of inspiration, and as an outlet from the harsh realities of life. He also credits Ms. Jacqueline Boroughs and Ms. Tommie Stephens for helping channel his inner creativity. Both were teachers in the Jersey City Public School System who went beyond the textbooks to educate youth. He is currently working diligently to cement his legacy as a creative and educator through his different forms of art and interaction with youth through The Spot JC Foundation.

+ Arts Organization Award: Speranza Theatre Company

Speranza Theater Company, a member of The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, is a non-profit women’s theatre company founded to provide an opportunity for artists, particularly females, to share their voices through entertaining and challenging theatre. This year marks Speranza’s ninth season sharing both contemporary and historical programming with our Hudson County community and offering youth educational opportunities, including summer camps, year-round classes at local schools, and private instruction. In 2022, Speranza will present the world premiere of WALK BY THE WAY OF THE MOON, a family-friendly historical play about Jersey City's connection to the Underground Railroad.

+ Film & Television Award: #LIVEatNLKStudio

This web-series is a partnership between NLK Studio and The Latest Noise. NonLinear Knitting is a video/editing/photo production brand run by CourTney Collins. Collins and musician Jack Breslin own and run NLK Studio (a photo/video/music studio). The Latest Noise (Mike Kuzan) is a "music amplifier," creating live music events, producing multimedia, and supporting the community with his online platform.

#LIVEatNLKStudio is a three-song set of original music broadcasted as a web-series featuring local artists, hosted live-to-tape at NLK Studio in Jersey City Heights. In collaboration with The Latest Noise, #LIVEat's goal is to spotlight talented and diverse musicians and provide the music community with a digital platform to perform. NLK Studio, The Latest Noise, and all musicians donate their time and talents in order to increase awareness of local musicians in Jersey City to a broader digital audience. The show is currently in its third season and releases a new episode each month.

+ Leadership Award: Naquasha Hawkins

At only 29 years old, Naquasha Hawkins has had an outsized impact on the Jersey City community. Raised in Sal Laf Court in Jersey City, she started her creative journey as a child but soon discovered there weren’t enough art outlets in Jersey City. In 2017, she began hosting creative workshops for children on Saturday mornings in local parks, inviting families out to be part of a growing creative community. Naquasha is known for crafting but taught a variety of workshops where kids could make anything: art kits, doll houses, creative designs, and more. The workshops grew to the point that she launched Qua’s Creative Art Center in 2020. The organiztion has two locations (758 Ocean Ave in Jersey City and 275 Broadway in Bayonne) and will be opening a third in early 2022!

Naquasha continues to play a major role in her hometown. She has led community give backs for families throughout the years, and works to be a role model and inspiration for youth. She’s determined to succeed at anything she does, and fights for the best in her community. She’s been featured on Fox 5 News and in the Jersey Journal, NJ.com, and other media outlets.

+ Legacy Award: Daoud-David Williams

+ Literary Arts Award: Jersey City Writers

Jersey City Writers (JCW) seeks to build a community for writers to develop their skills. They inspire and support each other through dozens of monthly events, including workshops, writing prompts, marathons, and special events.

All genres are welcome at JCW. Their diverse meetings cater to writers of novels, plays, poems, memoirs, short stories, and more. Stop by and bond with others who understand the complicated yet satisfying process of creating something from nothing.

+ Performing Arts Award: Kyle Marshall

Kyle Marshall is a choreographer, performer, teacher, and artistic director of Kyle Marshall Choreography (KMC), a dance company that sees the dancing body as a container of history, an igniter of social reform, and a site of celebration. Since its inception in 2014, KMC has performed at venues including: BAM Next Wave Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Actors Fund Arts Center, NJPAC, Little Island, and Roulette. Kyle has received choreographic and dance film commissions from the Baryshnikov Arts Center, "Dance on the Lawn", Montclair's Dance Festival, Harlem Stage, and THE SHED.

Kyle is a recipient of a 2020 Dance Magazine Harkness Promise Award and 2018 NYJuried “Bessie” Award. As a teacher, Kyle has conducted masterclasses, creative workshops, set choreography at schools including ADF, Rutgers University, Ailey/Fordham University, Montclair State University, County Prep High School, and Bloomfield College. He is currently a Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence at Princeton University and is in residence at the Center for Ballet and Arts at NYU. Additional residencies for KMC include MANA Contemporary, 92nd St Y, CPR, and Jamaica Performing Arts Center. Kyle dances with the Trisha Brown Dance Company and has also worked with doug elkins choreography etc. and Tiffany Mills. Kyle graduated from Rutgers University with a BFA in Dance and resides in Jersey City.

+ Public Art Award: JCHundredsmuralco

JCHundredsmuralco is a community-based organization that advocates for the freedom of artistic expression, promoting art therapy as a lifestyle. Started by Wysme Santos and Anna Sibel, the group is the embodiment of the idea that artists need to Art.

Says Santos: “I was born and raised in Jersey City, and have felt a need to effect the landscape as long as I’ve been a person. I was immediately drawn to graffiti and how it allows one to express themselves as a complete individual, without the rigid rules of society to impede upon it. Jersey City has recently become a place that promotes expression, and we love to add on to that idea. JCHundreds creates positive spaces for people to feel comfortable and be themselves in the wall. In any piece of art that you see us do there is a real human quality to the movement. And there is a beautiful reward. We are not in this for the money. This organization was truly founded from good vibes, as well as hurt and a need to output artistic energy. Our aim is to be something we never had ourselves during our own growth. I appreciate the amount of people who have been amazed at their own accomplishments through something they did with us.”

JCHundredsmuralco has designed and curated multiple spaces within Jersey City and around the country. From “We Can’t Breathe” on Monticello Ave, to helping with the Art Bastards show at Art Basel, to the Chase Contemporary Art Gallery in SoHo, their work has received much positive energy. They appeared in Forbes magazine for their work during the heart of the social justice riots. Says Santos: “Painting with Distort and Anna Sibel. Packing the car up whilst hundreds of protestors were seconds away. Within all that rage they stopped and waited for us to make a U-turn to hit the road. Energy is everything! It’s really dope to us at JCHundreds to be there for so many artists. We hope to be here for a long time. Not as a company but as a culture. Give artists space to art. Let their hand go. So they can be 100% themselves. We have an amazingly big art community. And I want people to be great. It makes me so happy to be of service.”

+ Visual Arts Award: Catalina Aranguren

Catalina Aranguren has been a Jersey City resident for the past 20 years and has lived by Van Vorst Park, Hamilton Park, in BeLa and now in McGinley Square. Catalina began her studies at the Instituto de Diseño de Caracas in Venezuela, where she was raised. In her early 20s, she moved to Chicago to study photography and design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before she graduated, she did a semester in Europe at Spéos in Paris, France.

Catalina was on the board of Jersey City Children’s Theater as well as Educational Arts Team (Camp Liberty), as she has always held a strong commitment to arts education. Later she was on the board of Jersey City Theater Center, and then became the organizer for Plates 4 Parks and co-organizer of the West Side Stories Festival. Most recently, she was on the board of Welcome Home, an organization committed to providing educational, employment, and material support to refugees, asylees, and asylum-seekers in the Jersey City area.

During the pandemic, Catalina created Walk Bye, a public arts organization that showed work from artists around the world, as well as showcasing local artists. Walk Bye originated as a collective outdoor exhibition to bring together artists and community members with a sense of hope and connectivity through the experience of public art.

Catalina is a latine woman, immigrant, photographer, designer, curator, community organizer, and social justice warrior. She has used her design skills to help all the organizations she has worked closely with. Her photography is in private collections across the United States, Australia, Italy, Colombia, and Chile, among others. She is currently raising three bilingual, bicultural, biracial and bustling boys with her husband and their giant dog.

+ Young Artist Award: Nandi Christina Ralph

Nandi Christina Ralph is an Antiguan-American raised in Jersey City. Growing up, she has always been obsessed with fashion magazines such as Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue. But she remembers how sad it made her to realize the lack of representation of black men and women in not only these magazines but in media in general. As a black visual artist, she feels it is her duty to highlight her people. Living in the most diverse city in the US has granted Nandi Christina the opportunity to provide proper representation of Black individuals, that so many have fought for.

Nandi Christina’s work has been published five times. She enjoys experimenting with various styles of photography, but specializes in portraiture and maternity. In 2019, after losing one of her best friends to gun violence, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety. This resulted in her having to drop out of college (NJCU) where she was studying Computer Science. This hiatus from school gave her time to recharge and she used photography and film as an outlet to escape sad thoughts. Fast forward to 2021, and she is once again enrolled in college, taking clients regularly, and happier than ever. She has drawn inspiration from her friend’s death and has been working on a documentary covering the history of Jersey City.

+ Architecture & Design Award: The Statue of Liberty Museum

With its combination of breathtaking views and living history, the Statue of Liberty Museum stands as an inspiring and dynamic part of the Liberty Island experience, inviting visitors to dive into the story behind the sculpture and immerse themselves in unique artifacts.

Opened in 2019, the 26,000 square-foot museum is a destination unto itself. Beautifully designed, universally accessible, and housing an extraordinary and engaging collection of American heirlooms, the Museum enhances visits to the Island with interactive exhibits that enable visitors to explore the Statue’s grandeur without the need for additional advanced reservations or tickets.

+ Arts Education Award: The School of Nimbus Dance Works

The School of Nimbus offers professional dance instruction in ballet, modern, hip hop, tap, and other dance forms for children, teens, and adults. The school emphasizes small classes, excellent instruction, and opportunities for students to perform alongside Nimbus’ professional dancers, including in the annual Jersey City Nutcracker production. Classes are taught by Nimbus' company dancers and Teaching Artists, who are trained by national leaders in dance education.

The School of Nimbus gives students the opportunity to explore creativity and movement while advancing their technique, so that those who are interested in pursuing dance as a career receive the preparation they need. But their classes are also fun! For students who simply want to explore creative expression through dance, their classes provide a challenging yet supportive environment.

+ Arts Organization Award: Jersey City Theater Center

Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) is committed to inspiring conversations about the important topics of our times through innovative and progressive performing and visual arts that embrace the diversity of Jersey City, bringing its community closer together and enhancing its quality of life.

Works presented by JCTC are global in scope yet relevant to the community, and explore themes using visual arts, theater, dance, monologues, and other performances. By using a diverse range of art-forms and genres – as well as artists – creative themes are comprehensively examined, fomenting an atmosphere of discussion and exchange of ideas. Most events include a Talk-Back, where audiences and artists can discuss and ask each other questions, forming a basis for an enriching dialogue between artists and community.

JCTC-KIDS provides professional theater and other arts programming to young people. The award winning and critically acclaimed Puppetworks is JCTC's resident marionette company, presenting productions of classic fairy tales, folklore and children tales through the classic art of marionette puppetry. JCTC’s Art-4-All program subsidizes tickets for under-served children.

+ Film & Television Award: Jane Steuerwald

Since 1980 Jane Steuerwald has been working with 16mm and Super 8mm film and video as an art medium. She has created installations, documentaries, found footage works, narrative and experimental films, and single edition art books. Her work explores memory, family, and personal narrative.

She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival for many years, where she continues to serve as a pre-screener and guest curator. Her film and video has been shown in arts venues and festivals including MoMA and Millennium Film, and she has won numerous awards including from the Black Maria Film and Video Festival, the Asian Cinevision International Film Festival, the Atlanta Film and Video Festival, and the Athens International Film and Video Festival.

Jane is the coordinator/curator of Urban Image, a collective of media artists based at the Media Arts Department of NJ City University and the curator of the Womenswork Media Collective also based in Jersey City. She was chair of the Media Arts Department of NJ City University for many years, and has taught media production, history and aesthetics for decades.

+ Leadership Award: Michael Endy / Pro Arts

Pro Arts Jersey City is a professional membership community dedicated to advancing and promoting visual artists and their work.

Largely volunteer-run, Pro Arts is comprised of roughly 150 emerging and professional artists living and working throughout New Jersey and New York who are actively engaged in pursuing the visual arts as a career.

Yearly programming includes exhibitions and professional development events that introduce curators, collectors, and the general public to our members and their work. Our signature “Meet the Curators” portfolio review event has served as an exhibition springboard for many of the participating artists, and our popular “Salons” bring groups of artists together for collaboration and peer to peer critics.

Volunteering and community-building are key components of the Pro Arts non-profit 501(c)(3) model established in 1994. The camaraderie and friendships that form from collaborating with like-minded people has sustained Pro Arts over the years and built it into a recognized arts leader in New Jersey. Their member volunteers have abundant opportunity to rise through the ranks and develop both curatorial and leadership skills, which often positions them to leverage the Pro Arts reputation in interesting and advantageous ways.

+ Legacy Award: Grigory Gurevich

+ Literary Arts Award: RADI the Poet

+ Medici Award: Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

+ Performing Arts Award: Lillian Bustle

Lillian Bustle is a burlesque performer, singer, MC, and public speaker/gleeful loudmouth about body positivity! Her recent TEDx talk, Stripping Away Negative Body Image, sheds light on the positive effect of burlesque and visual diet on self-image, and has been shared by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. She currently produces and hosts Jersey City's premiere monthly burlesque show, LiberTease, and the bimonthly Bingo Bongo Show, featuring performers who are as diverse as they are talented. Lillian believes that drag and burlesque are for every body, and strives to create a welcoming environment for people of all orientations and genders.

Although her first Burlesque performance was in 2012, she made her nightclub debut at the age of 14 as a singer in a drag show. She's been covered in glitter and boas ever since! Lillian has performed with Burlesque shows and festivals across North America such as Rabbit Hole productions, White Elephant Burlesque, Switch n Play, Montreal Bagel Burlesque Expo, Alterna-Tease, and The Philadelphia Burlesque Festival.Her signature YES act has been highlighted by media outlets like People.com, and this year Lilian was thrilled to bring this body-affirming performance to CurvyCon, one of the biggest annual events for plus-size women.

In 2019, Lillian received the Women of Action award from Jersey City for her free speech advocacy. She has recently been accepted into a program with the Index on Censorship to receive training and mentorship to continue challenging censorship and championing freedom of speech.

+ Public Art Award: Duda Penteado & Catherine Hart of the Jersey City Youth Mural Arts Program

The Jersey City Mural Arts Summer Youth Program offers students an outlet to express their artistic creativity through various educational and enrichment opportunities. As part of the program, students spend six weeks in apprenticeships to local artists, who help them to create public mural art throughout the City.

The program also aims to promote interdisciplinary art history education as well as provide opportunities for young people to engage in the interactive processes inherent in the production of public art. JCYW Public Art students will engage in research workshops and community engagement in order to foster a greater cultural and historical understanding of the contexts they will be working in.

The program apprentices students with strong artistic interest and a visual arts portfolio. Students receive arts training and enrichment as well as a financial stipend.

+ Visual Arts Award: Nyugen Smith

Nyugen E. Smith is a first-generation Caribbean-American interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, NJ. Through performance, found object sculpture, mixed media drawing, painting, video, photo and writing, Nyugen deepens his knowledge of historical and present-day conditions of Black African descendants in the diaspora. Trauma, spiritual practices, language, violence, memory, architecture, landscape and climate change are primary concerns in his practice.

Nyugen holds a BA, Fine Art from Seton Hall University and an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been presented at the Museum of Latin American Art, Peréz Art Museum, Museum of Cultural History, Norway, Nordic Black Theater, Norway, Newark Museum, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, among others. Nyugen is the recipient of the Leonore Annenberg Performing and Visual Arts Fund, Franklin Furnace Fund, Dr. Doris Derby Award, and Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. Nyugen is a Lecturer of Interdisciplinary Art in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

+ Young Artist Award: PeteyxKraze

PeteyxKraze is a hip-hop duo from Jeresey City.