Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center 2024

Meg (00:12.334)
Welcome back to the Bridgeton Beacon. Good afternoon. How are you?

Taral Thompson, she/her (00:15.979)
Good. How are you this afternoon?

Meg (00:19.598)
I'm great. Thanks so much for joining me today. I have Taral Thompson. Am I pronouncing your name correctly? Okay, Taral Thompson, Marketing Manager for the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. So we are here today. This is the third in our three -part series here at the Bridgerton Beacon on art and culture in Cumberland County. And this program is produced in part through funding from the Cumberland County

Taral Thompson, she/her (00:26.891)
Yes.

Meg (00:49.357)
Cultural and Heritage Commission in conjunction with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. And we would be remiss here at the Beacon if we did not highlight and profile Wheaton Arts. So thank you so much for taking the time to join me today.

Taral Thompson, she/her (01:04.395)
Thank you for having me. It's an honor and I'm excited to talk about everything happening at WheatonArts this, oh, goodness. This is Susan, yes.

Meg (01:11.789)
The season yeah exactly we. We and and you guys are getting ready to open for the spring season is that right.

Taral Thompson, she/her (01:21.739)
Yes, so our 2024 season is starting this Thursday.

Meg (01:27.02)
Excellent. Okay, so before we talk about everything, and I know you've got a ton of things coming up this spring and this summer, can you just take a couple minutes to tell our listeners a little bit about Wheaton Village, which started, I think, if I'm not mistaken, like almost 50 over 50 years ago. And I did a little bit of research. You've got a great website, which I would suggest everybody go to. Is it WheatonArts .org?

Taral Thompson, she/her (01:56.555)
Yes.

Meg (01:57.164)
Okay, so everybody needs to go check out the website, which has a lot of information, but tell us a little bit about the Wheaton Arts Cultural Center and how it got started and all that good stuff.

Taral Thompson, she/her (02:09.835)
Well, Wheaton Arts started around 1970, so we're a little over 50 years old now. It was kind of a vanity project by Frank Wheaton Jr., who was the owner at the time of Wheaton Industries, and he wanted to create kind of a...

Taral Thompson, she/her (02:33.547)
If the words would not escape me at this moment. Well, yeah, but it was originally it was originally a recreation of a Victorian glass town is what it originally was. And it's expanded since then. We've evolved into a cultural center that highlights all different types of arts from glass to pottery to paper, our museum stores.

Meg (02:34.187)
It's a mecca for the arts, right? I mean, essentially it's a, it's located on.

Taral Thompson, she/her (03:02.347)
have also paintings and metalwares and everything you can think of.

Meg (03:08.969)
Right. And I mean, it's known internationally and from just looking at the website, you've got everything from classes, glass blowing classes to stores to a folk life center to a restaurant. So there's so many different things. And I take it that it has grown and evolved over the years. Is that right?

Taral Thompson, she/her (03:38.827)
Yes, it has. We actually don't have a restaurant though.

Meg (03:42.217)
Okay, why did I thought that you might have a cafe? I thought I saw that on the website. What's the what's the? Got it another casualty of COVID unfortunately, but and it's located you guys are located in in Millville, right?

Taral Thompson, she/her (03:47.115)
Yeah, that was pre -COVID.

Taral Thompson, she/her (03:58.219)
Yes, so we're the same different distance from Philadelphia and the shore.

Meg (04:03.881)
Okay, so it's a great place for people who are traveling down from the shore to stop on their way to the shore, but it's also a great place for local residents to come visit. If somebody is listening and they want to come check out all the offerings that you have, let's just start with how do they get there? What's the address? What do they put in the GPS?

Taral Thompson, she/her (04:24.971)
So we actually have two addresses that we kind of use. One is for our mailing and the other is for GPS, which is 1000 Village Drive, Millville, New Jersey.

Meg (04:36.392)
Okay, and you guys are, are you right off of 55? Okay, all right. So if someone and you're the marketing manager, if someone is interested in coming to check out what you have going on, what would you recommend to them? Would you recommend that they look on the website to see what the local offering, what the offerings are for that particular day or week, or can somebody just show up and visit the different shops that you have?

Taral Thompson, she/her (04:40.075)
Yes.

Taral Thompson, she/her (05:03.275)
Yeah, you're always welcome to visit Spirited the Moment. We're open Thursday through Sunday 11 to 4, but we also have special event hours throughout the year, which will vary along with a special week and Wednesday opening in July and August as well. But mostly, though, we do recommend looking at our hours and programming ahead of time.

Meg (05:21.191)
Okay. And how does that work? What is that?

Taral Thompson, she/her (05:27.627)
because we do also offer make your own experiences, which you do need to sign up for in advance because the spots sell out pretty quickly.

So you can actually come in and make your own piece of glass. We have different offerings from hot glass to flame working to fused glass, which are cold pieces that you are stacking together to be tack fused together, as well as group offerings for pottery, make your own.

Meg (05:58.63)
Okay, and is that a class that has a set time frame or do you pick your own time based on the group that you have?

Taral Thompson, she/her (06:07.083)
You can pick your time based on the availability that we have for those days, which are mostly Saturdays and Sundays.

Meg (06:14.981)
OK, and how long does that take usually?

Taral Thompson, she/her (06:19.051)
It just depends on which program you pick. Some are 30 minutes, some are an hour.

Meg (06:24.133)
Okay, and if the price is per person. That's great. Okay. So a family can come on a day like today, rainy afternoon, if it was the weekend and come take a class and I imagine learn how to blow glass. Okay, that's fantastic. That's great. Is that the primary event that you guys offer at Wheaton Arts?

Taral Thompson, she/her (06:26.443)
Yes, and by project.

Taral Thompson, she/her (06:42.987)
Yes.

Taral Thompson, she/her (06:51.083)
No, we also have a collection of classes that we add throughout the year as well. They can be anything from acostics to paper, not paper, to basket weaving to egg painting. There's so many different types of classes that we offer. There's also stained glass, which is really popular and sells out instantly almost.

Meg (07:04.645)
Nice. So are they seasonal classes or are they offered year round?

Taral Thompson, she/her (07:21.163)
No, they're not exactly seasonal, but they're offered as instructors are available.

Meg (07:27.78)
So I would take it then that you would recommend that somebody who wants to come visit check out either the web page or your social media pages.

Taral Thompson, she/her (07:39.755)
Yeah, we try to keep our website as up to date as possible. We're about to reopen, so we have a lot more information about to get poured on there. But also we...

Meg (07:49.54)
So how long do you guys close for the winner?

Taral Thompson, she/her (07:52.299)
We close annually from January through March. And that's so that we can make repairs to the campus. The furnace can be rebuilt in the glass studio. The exhibits can be changed out in the Folklife Center and Museum. And we can develop our programming for the next several seasons as well.

Meg (08:12.931)
this is your busy day April 1st here.

Taral Thompson, she/her (08:14.699)
Yes, behind the scenes are extremely busy during our close season.

Meg (08:20.483)
Okay, good. Well, I'm glad that we're able to speak with you today about all the things that are going to be going on this season so that you can get as many folks out as you can. Is there any particular event that you're most excited about for this summer? You touched on a couple already, but anything else that you want to touch upon?

Taral Thompson, she/her (08:40.043)
Well, we have several annual events that we just love or locals love. We have people that come in from all over. That includes EcoFair on the first Saturday of May, Fantasy Fair, which is in mid -June, and then our Antique and Summer Market in July.

Meg (08:53.186)
What is that? What is that last one you just mentioned?

Taral Thompson, she/her (09:03.947)
the Antique and Summer Market. So that's a collection of antique dealers that come to our campus. It'll be inside and outside in our event center. But then we also have a collection of artists and farm markets that'll come and set up as well. So there's a little bit of everything for everyone.

Meg (09:18.625)
Oh, nice. Now, when you say farm work, it's you, you talking about like fruits and vegetables, or are you talking about other? Oh, very nice. Is that what days of the week is that on?

Taral Thompson, she/her (09:33.131)
So most of our events are always Saturday and Sunday.

Meg (09:36.737)
Okay, great. And do you find that you attract locals mainly or do you mainly attract folks coming from Philadelphia area down towards the shore?

Taral Thompson, she/her (09:47.339)
It's all of the above. So we're a great stopping point on people on further away to the shore, but we also have a great local community.

Meg (09:49.601)
Okay.

Meg (09:57.441)
Excellent. How many employees do you have year round full time?

about.

Taral Thompson, she/her (10:04.843)
Well, that depends throughout the year because we'll have a lot of part -time employees, but I want to say somewhere between 30 to 60 throughout the year.

Meg (10:15.712)
Yeah, so I mean, it's a big place. I was surprised when I went onto your website to hear that it's located on 45 acres of wooded area in South Jersey. So was that was that land land that was owned by the Wheaton family?

Taral Thompson, she/her (10:33.771)
Um, I'm honestly not sure about that, but we are on the Linnaepe lands.

Meg (10:39.039)
Mm -hmm. Okay, got it. And so I would imagine it's preserved lands that they wanted to utilize as a nonprofit to, you know, create and establish a place for the arts. I mean, it's literally Wheaton Arts. And it was always referred to when I was younger as Wheaton Village. Do you guys still refer to it as that or is that kind of a name? Yeah.

Taral Thompson, she/her (11:04.043)
So once we lost our founder, the center went through a transition to become a nonprofit, and the name was changed in 2006 to Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center.

Meg (11:19.135)
Okay, all right, that makes sense. So you've got the, you've also got, is it one store or more than one store on site?

Taral Thompson, she/her (11:28.395)
There's technically three stores, so we have the general store, the paperweight shop, and the gallery of fine crafts.

Meg (11:36.798)
Okay. And so I haven't been over there in a while and we talked about doing this interview in person or remotely and with the weather and schedules, we figured we would do it remotely. So if someone is coming from out of the area that hasn't been there in a while, is there parking? Okay. When you park, you can walk to all the stores that we're talking about. Great. Okay.

Taral Thompson, she/her (11:54.059)
Oh yes, we have a large parking circle.

Taral Thompson, she/her (12:00.587)
Yes, yeah, our campus is all one level, so it's walkable, it's all paved, so it's wheelchair friendly as well, and it's accessible, it's accessible. But yeah, our main parking is around the central circle.

Meg (12:08.093)
Mm -hmm.

Meg (12:19.965)
Okay, how long have you worked for Wheaton?

Taral Thompson, she/her (12:24.523)
since April, 2017.

Meg (12:26.973)
Wow, okay. So you started and then of course COVID hit. How did Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center kind of maintain its support and funding during that time? Was that a hard time for you guys? Yeah.

Taral Thompson, she/her (12:40.619)
Yes, so we really went for a lot of different grants that were available. We shifted some programs to be virtual so that we could still maintain our audiences and support everybody with visuals and artistic divergence while we were all locked in lockdown. So we did a lot of.

Meg (12:59.26)
Okay.

Taral Thompson, she/her (13:04.779)
family art activities that we used to do in person and we shifted those to be online and at a more regular pace so that families could create at home. We developed a Wheaton Conversation web series where we talk with artists in our community and beyond to give everybody an idea of different artistic processes and different types of art that...

really showcase a diverse and rich community.

Meg (13:36.763)
Do you still have those programs available online or and how can how can you access that? Yeah, do you have a YouTube page or is it on your website?

Taral Thompson, she/her (13:41.739)
Yes, we do and they're still ongoing.

Taral Thompson, she/her (13:49.163)
It's on both.

Meg (13:50.651)
Okay, what's your, I didn't check out your YouTube channel. Tell me, tell me how you can access that. It just.

Taral Thompson, she/her (13:56.555)
It's Wheaton Arts. Yeah.

Meg (13:58.426)
Wheaton Arts, all right. We'll check that out and we'll actually also send you a copy of this video if you want to post it. So that got me thinking. So these programs, the online programs are still ongoing. Okay. And if, how do you access them through the, just through the webpage in terms of where they're going to be?

Taral Thompson, she/her (14:12.523)
Yes, they are.

Taral Thompson, she/her (14:17.739)
Yeah, so for the WeeN Conversations, we still have episodes that are ongoing. So you can actually register to participate in the audience and ask questions during the event, which are on select Thursday nights. And then we post those videos on the website so that you can then, and on YouTube, so that you can then go back and watch all the previous episodes. And...

Every first Tuesday of the month we post a new family art activity or family art workshop. Sorry.

Meg (14:51.13)
Okay, and what age levels are you gearing those towards?

Taral Thompson, she/her (14:55.627)
all ages really, you can really take the crafts that we create and make them your own. So there's a lot of different levels that could come into play.

Meg (15:09.849)
Okay, what do you mean by that?

Taral Thompson, she/her (15:11.915)
Meaning that it's a very simple craft and you can elevate it with like some of our take your craft to the next step ideas or you can do the.

Meg (15:19.704)
So even non -artists like myself would be able to have fun with it.

Taral Thompson, she/her (15:26.155)
Oh yes, there's a lot of really cool things. We even have like segments where you can make your own chalk or or make your own clay dough or play dough. Sorry.

Meg (15:38.201)
Great. Do you have classes that come in for like class trips, that kind of thing?

Taral Thompson, she/her (15:45.195)
Yes, we do. So we'll have a lot of different homeschool groups, but also classes like fourth grade trips or high schoolers that'll come in. And we do have different projects that the teachers can sign up for to have the students partake in.

Meg (15:59.8)
Okay, all right, that's neat. So all of my teacher friends I can share that information with. And then I would imagine at the holidays, you guys are busy with different events too.

Taral Thompson, she/her (16:13.131)
Well, it depends on which holiday, but yeah, we have an annual craft sale. It's the Holiday Studio sale in November to December where we have like about 30 % off on all the handcrafted items from our artists.

Meg (16:31.351)
Okay, all right, great. So you as the marketing manager, do you basically plan out like a year in advance or a season in advance as far as getting artists to come in to run these different programs and the different things that you've talked about?

Taral Thompson, she/her (16:49.483)
So we have a really great team that go above and beyond with all the different programming that we offer. They work throughout the year to create enhancements for different programs, as well as entirely new segments, so that everyone that comes to our campus will always experience something different.

Meg (17:05.398)
That's excellent. Do you partner with any other local organizations?

Taral Thompson, she/her (17:14.091)
Yeah, we do. We have several different local partners including CU Morris River and Rutgers Master Gardeners.

Meg (17:21.27)
Tell me about that. What are the master gardeners? How do you work with them?

Taral Thompson, she/her (17:25.963)
So the master gardeners really take care of what we call the discovery garden that's over by our schoolhouse. And they do different programs with our different events throughout the year, especially like offering crafts for the kids. And then CU Morris River really took control of the parking circle, which used to be just like a dead space, but they've created this beautiful rain garden and pollinator garden there that just

Meg (17:42.165)
That's wonderful. What do you think is your biggest challenge in terms of getting folks to come out and getting the word spread about the things that you've been talking about?

Taral Thompson, she/her (17:55.917)
really comes alive during the summer.

Taral Thompson, she/her (18:08.875)
Um.

Meg (18:11.381)
Is it really just word of mouth or?

Taral Thompson, she/her (18:11.595)
I think, no, it's a little bit of everything. Word of mouth is always the number one though. I think that's with any field, but I think a lot of it comes down, we're a nonprofit, so we have limited funding. So we're not really able to promote ourselves as much as we would like to. So we do a lot of grassroots efforts to get the word out. So thank you.

Meg (18:37.94)
whole you know that's the whole point I mean we our goal at the brichton beacon is to really shine a spotlight. On people places and things in the Cumberland county south jersey area they're doing great things and - this series as I mentioned the beginning was really meant to highlight. Art and culture in Cumberland county and really try to show that there are a lot of organizations that are.

you know, making the arts come alive in our area. And it really does come down to getting the word out and talking about it and showing people what there is to do in our neck of the woods, literally and figuratively. So that was really the purpose behind this particular series. And we've just been so excited to speak with you about everything that you have to offer over at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. So.

We really do thank you for all that you do too. You know, I was wondering if individuals are able to be financial contributors, sponsors, that kind of thing. Is that something that you offer?

Taral Thompson, she/her (19:53.419)
Yeah, we have an amazing membership program. So a family can actually come and visit our campus as many times as they want throughout the year for only $55. And that includes the two parents and all kids under 18. So that would make all their events free. Yeah, it's really great.

Meg (20:10.77)
Wonderful. That's a really nice opportunity to have for a family that's, you know, even within a couple hour radius, I would imagine.

Taral Thompson, she/her (20:20.139)
Yeah, and we have so many different events throughout the year that are family friendly. So there's always crafting opportunities, special demonstrations from artists and exhibit highlights to really focus on and enjoy.

Meg (20:31.537)
That's great. So even on a day like today, a rainy day, family could come in. So that makes me think that even folks that are at the shore in the summertime, you get a bad day. It's not a great beach day. You take a ride up to Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. It's what, half hour, 40 minutes from the shore. So that's a great opportunity for families that are not necessarily living in the area, but might be here on vacation.

Taral Thompson, she/her (20:52.843)
Yeah.

Meg (21:00.688)
and be looking for something to do. So I think that's fantastic. I like this. I like the idea of what you were saying of partnering with other organizations. We do have so many great organizations. Just what I've found in doing this series is there are so many people and organizations that work really hard to get the word out about so many things that there are to do and see and visit in Cumberland County. It's fantastic.

Taral Thompson, she/her (21:04.043)
Yeah.

Meg (21:32.72)
So before we wrap up, anything you have really like on the immediate forefront that you wanted to share with our listeners to highlight or promote.

Taral Thompson, she/her (21:41.067)
Yes, so we have two amazing new exhibits that are opening up in April and they'll run all year long, but those are in the museum and in our Folklife Center. So in the museum we have...

centuries of tomfoolery trick glasses pipes and whimsical delights so it's all about uh these age -old glass tricks that would trick people when they're like taking a sip of a glass or something um and then they would just get a face full of water or whatever their beverage was uh so it's like a collection of those but a lot of them are like recreations from the past by uh

current glass artists in the field. And the other one is ceremonies and circles, which focuses on West African masks and masquerades. So it really interprets everything from the perspective of the African cultures.

Meg (22:43.982)
They're both sound really, really interesting. How do you come up or formulate the ideas for the different events that you have? You have like a team that think about things that you haven't done because they're very unique. I want to say unusual, but unique programs that you have coming up.

Taral Thompson, she/her (23:05.387)
Yes, so we focus on unique and thought -provoking things. Our Folklife Center is run by Aveda and she always partners with a new ethical group from our region.

So really highlight how wonderfully diverse of a region we have. So we've already highlighted, I think now over 60 different types of communities, which is fantastic. And over 25 years of the Folklife Center and the glass, the Museum of American Glass, they're always looking at ways to really push the boundaries of glassmaking and showcase what everybody in the field is doing.

Meg (23:29.326)
Wow.

Meg (23:47.821)
Wow, that's fantastic. Okay, great. So if I wanted to go and look and see some of the earlier events that you've had, do you still have them listed on either your website or your social media page?

Taral Thompson, she/her (24:01.835)
Oh, I don't quite understand what you just meant by that, by earlier events.

Meg (24:05.772)
So, well, so you mentioned that you have highlighted, you know, dozens of other individuals. So if I wanted to go back and say, I'm curious what other individuals have been profiled or highlighted, would I be able to see that?

Taral Thompson, she/her (24:23.627)
I think so. I don't know if you can go back all 25 years, but I do know we have several different web pages, but it just depends on like what you're really looking for. Mostly you could search in the website bracket, but yeah, we usually just keep everything up to date with what we have currently.

Meg (24:25.42)
Mm -hmm.

Meg (24:36.107)
Got it.

Meg (24:44.427)
Okay, all right, excellent. All right, well, I would encourage all of my listeners to check out the two events that you just mentioned coming up in April to share all of that with their friends and families. And we'll definitely be keeping an eye on what you have coming up this summer. And maybe we'll come over there and actually take some video of some of the things you have going on. I'd love to check it all out.

Taral Thompson, she/her (25:13.451)
Oh, please do. Let me know when you're on your way.

Meg (25:15.755)
I will, I definitely will. So now here on out, you guys, you're open. Can you just repeat the hours one more time for us?

Taral Thompson, she/her (25:23.147)
Yeah, so we're open April through December, Thursday through Sunday, 11 to 4, with special hours for selected events.

Meg (25:31.53)
Great, and the address one more time.

Taral Thompson, she/her (25:34.187)
1000 Village Drive, Millville, New Jersey.

Meg (25:37.515)
OK, excellent. If anybody has any questions, wants to call, are they able to call and ask questions about different events you might have?

Taral Thompson, she/her (25:46.443)
Oh, of course, yes. So you can call us at 856 -825 -6800 or you can just look up our website at WheatonArts .org.

Meg (25:58.569)
Great. And Facebook you have and Instagram and YouTube.

Taral Thompson, she/her (26:03.851)
So we have, yes, that is correct, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and our website, all great places to find information.

Meg (26:12.937)
Great, excellent. Well, I intend to check it out this season and meet you in person and really do appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. And I'm sure Mr. Wheaton would be thrilled with all the wonderful events that you guys have planned for this coming season.

Taral Thompson, she/her (26:32.427)
Thank you.

Meg (26:33.641)
All right, I will talk to you sometime soon.

Taral Thompson, she/her (26:37.259)
Alright, thank you so much. I hope you have a great day.

Meg (26:39.753)
Thank you very much.

Taral Thompson, she/her (26:44.907)
Yeah.