Fanwood's Cultural Arts Committee
 
   In 1998, as a project funded in part by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Department of State (through a grant administered by the Union County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs), the Carriage House Poetry reading Series was established in Fanwood. This project brought eight of the finest contemporary poets in the United States into our community, including New Jersey's first Poet Laureate, the 1998 National Book Award Winner, and a Pulitzer Prize recipient. The Reading Series was so well received during its 1998-99 season that former mayor Maryann Connelly and grant author/series director Adele Kenny began to discuss the establishment of a more comprehensive arts program for the community.
  
   In March 1999, The Fanwood Cultural Arts Committee was established as a special Mayor´s Committee. Comprised of volunteers, the current committee includes: Seena Allen, Robert Chang, Raj Dogra, Adele Kenny (Director), Tom Plante, Carol Oakes, Dolores O'Brien, and Pam Yeager.
  
   The site chosen for community cultural arts events - the Patricia M. Kuran Cultural Arts Center (formerly the Fanwood Carriage House) - is one of Fanwood's historic landmarks, a 19th century building well known to most of our residents. It once housed the carriages, sleighs, and horses for the Homestead, a popular country resort before the turn of the 20th century, which stood where the present Borough Hall is located. Recent restoration and renovation of the facility has been geared toward protecting and preserving the building as an important historic site within our community. The building has been designated for limited community use. The Kuran Center is not available for general meetings or rentals, and all requests to use to the building should be addressed to Borough Hall or to Fanwood´s Historic Preservation Commission.
  

   The committee holds as its "motto" Tolstoy's statement in What is Art? - "Art, like speech, is a means of communication and therefore of progress, that is, of the movement of humanity towards perfection." To date, the Cultural Arts Committee has presented twenty-five events, a number of which have been taped and shown on Fanwood's community access television station, Channel 35.
  
   Cultural Arts Committee members are appointed by the Mayor, but volunteers are always needed to assist with various activities. Grants, Fanwood´s Council, and donations from our local merchants have helped support past programs. Donations are always needed and are gratefully received. For additional information, contact Adele Kenny at (908) 889-7223.