State of the Arts goes on location with creative personalities and productions. Produced by NJN Public Television, the weekly magazine has earned 29 Mid-Atlantic and New York Emmys among many other awards, and is recognized as one of the outstanding arts programs in the country.
For anyone interested in the creative life, State of the Arts is an oasis, featuring writers, dancers, architects, musicians, and artists who rarely if ever show up on television. Major names are found on every show, but emerging artists are given equal time and thought. The show aims to bring a greater awareness of the cultural scene in and around New Jersey.
• Awards
• Press Room
State of the Arts has been co-produced by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts since 1985. Funding is also provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
To find out what’s coming up on State of the Arts, sign up for the State of the Arts Update, an e-newsletter preview of each show.
Some of our best ideas come from our viewers. Send your suggestions and comments to starts@njn.org.
State of the Arts is seen on NJN Public Television throughout New Jersey, as well as in the surrounding areas of New York, Delaware, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and can be watched on-line. Check for the NJN channel in your area.
State of the Arts airs on Thursdays at 8 pm on NJN1. The show has been produced in High Definition since 2008, so check your HD channels. Repeats air on NJN2 every day at 5 am, 11 am (except Sunday), 5 pm, and 5 pm.
The State of the Arts website provides a digital library of more than a hundred streaming videos – check out Find a Story for a list of stories by discipline. The WATCH button indicates which can be seen online (and we’re adding to the catalog all the time). State of the Arts stories can also be seen on NJN’s YouTube channel. This is a great place to leave your ratings and comments!
State of the Arts also produces Jersey Arts: The Podcast, featuring in-depth conversations with performers, authors, and other creative people. Visit www.JerseyArts.com for more.
NJN Public Television is committed to helping educators expand their resources for teaching in and through the arts. In collaboration with the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership (NJAEP), and the New Jersey Department of Education, State of the Arts has launched Classroom, a pilot project linking online videos with learning materials created by teachers.
The goal is to provide a database of arts videos for use in the K-12 classroom. Stories will be available in 2011 via the PBS Direct Learning Library (PBS DLL), which will provide a search feature to find videos based on content standards and grade levels. The State of the Arts: Classroom videos will also be linked through the NJ Department of Education's website, and able to be viewed on theState of the Arts: Classroom website.
Nila Aronow
Executive Producer
naronow@njn.org
 Nila Aronow joined the staff of State of the Arts within a month of the show's beginning in 1982. She became series producer three years later and executive producer in 1991. Under her direction, State of the Arts grew from a monthly to a weekly show, winner of twenty-nine Mid-Atlantic and New York Emmys. Nila is also the executive producer of major national arts documentaries, including Jerry Herman: Words and Music, George Segal: American Still Life, Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice, and Willie the Lion.
Before coming to NJN, Nila worked as a feature writer and restaurant critic, a director of retail sales training, and a high school English teacher. A graduate of Vassar College, Nila is a former member of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and a member of the Leadership NJ Class of 1997. |
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Susan Wallner
Series Producer
swallne@njn.org
 Susan Wallner joined State of the Arts as a production assistant in 1988, becoming series producer five years later. Under her direction, State of the Arts has grown to include a strong online presence, and in 2007 it received the NETA award for Best Website. In addition, Susan has produced several documentaries including Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice, which aired nationally on PBS. American Public Television (APT) is currently distributing New Glass at Wheaton, her CINE award-winning documentary about emerging glass artists, and she is in production with Michael Graves: The Warehouse, a study of the architect/designer’s home.
Susan has a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication; her bachelor’s is from New College of Florida. Her studies also include photography and art history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 11 regional Emmys, four CINE Golden Eagles, and a Worldfest Houston Gold Special Jury Award, are among her awards. |
Eric Schultz
Producer
eschult@njn.org
 Eric Schultz is an award-winning producer and director of arts and cultural programming and a regular contributor to State of the Arts. During his first year at NJN in 2001, he received the first of seven Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Before coming to NJN, Eric produced several nationally distributed PBS music programs. In the fall of 2006, PBS distributed his documentary, Peanuts Gallery, the recipient of the 2006 NETA Award for Best Performance Program and in 2009, American Public Television (APT) distributed his most recent documentary Bonaparte’s Retreat.
Earlier in life, Eric trained as a cellist and during the 1980s performed with orchestras and chamber groups in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Michigan. When he has time now, he continues to play for groups throughout the Delaware Valley. |
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Christopher Benincasa
Associate Producer
cbeninc@njn.org
 Christopher Benincasa joined State of the Arts in 2001. He produces stories for the show and works on its overall production. He won a CINE Golden Eagle Award for Peters Valley, a documentary covering a year in the life of the Peters Valley Craft Education Center. The original music for the program was written and recorded by The Band Who Planted Trees. Christopher - who played bass in the band when he was in college - remixed the music to create the Mid-Atlantic Emmy award-winning soundtrack. He has received four other regional Emmys as well.
A graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Christopher has a strong interest in the visual arts. When not working on his favorite television show, he still manages to make and write about art. His work has been featured in American Abstract Artists Journal and The Structurist. |
Juan Carlos Rojas
Web Design & Development
jrojas@njn.org |
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State of the Arts celebrated 25 years on the air in 2007 with a series of 30 second spots, one for each season (view here).
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