This past weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of attending “Art All Night,” a 24-hour event spanning from 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 18 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 19. I went at night, of course, with a relatively small group of friends. It was wonderful, besides the swarms of people we had to elbow and fight through. Before going ( I had never been until this year), I was under the impression that it would be a bunch of artwork from people in the Trenton community.

What I found was that and so, so much more. In addition to art, there was live music, carnival food, and art exhibitions such as live demonstrations of iron working. There were people passing out flyers and there were stands selling eccentric jewelry and trinkets. People also had the opportunity to shop at local businesses that were in the immediate area. It was incredibly amazing to see this outpouring of community togetherness for 24 hours, especially since everyone had told me that Trenton is an incredibly dangerous place. (For the record, yes, there are indeed areas that are dangerous, but when I walk through the city, I feel ultimately safe and protected. While this may be because I am a white female, and however much that might affect how others in the community react to me, I have yet to really run into any danger on my way to and from work).

My friend and I weren’t able to get as many photos as I would have liked because there were far too many people and we spent nearly half of our time there trying to find the bathroom and then trying to get into the bathroom, but what we did capture was really cool.

We saw a duo of men wearing amazingly decorated blazers.

We had great food (including these donuts from Underground donuts, a donut shop based out of Philly).

And we saw kick-ass art from artists in the community, including this cello art, which I would have loved to buy if only I had a bajillion bucks in my bank account:

There were a few things I especially loved about "Art All Night," including the fact that events like these bring art to those who perhaps wouldn’t see themselves in a museum or care to spend their time in a museum. I think we have this convoluted view of art, who it is accessible to, and who buys it along with who makes it.

This event is put together and sponsored by Artworks Trenton, an organization that seeks to make art “accessible to all,” and that’s exactly what they do with events like these. The art that is on display is 100 percent submitted by people in the community (ranging from kindergartners who still draw humans that look like potatoes with sticks to professional artists who are struggling to breakthrough), and they don’t turn anyone down— no questions asked. The art is then hung up and put on display for people to buy, and most artists donate some of the proceeds to ArtWorks, so that more programs like this can go on. ArtWorks also offers affordable art classes for children and adults alike in the community to go and learn something new. (I thought about signing up for the Printmaking class myself, but alas, work!)

ArtWork’s work is part of this larger nationwide movement to make art more accessible to people who would otherwise not engage it, especially as art programs are being cut from schools as funding becomes less and less readily available to schools. Of course, art is always the first to be cut, and ArtsEd Washington reports that 6 percent of public elementary schools do not offer music and 17 percent do not offer visual arts. In public secondary school, the numbers climb for music classes, with 9 percent of schools reporting that they do not offer music and 11 percent report that they do not offer visual arts. These numbers were reported in 2010, and the numbers have surely climbed as states in the nation give less and less funding to public schools. Of course, the number of schools who do not offer arts or music tends to correlate with serving low-income areas, and conversely, schools that do offer these programs tend to correlate with serving high-income areas. One can then consider that people in a certain school district pay taxes and a portion of those taxes go to the school district, meaning that those in lower income areas tend to get drastically less funding for fine arts and music. This is the infuriatingly unfair cycle of poverty coupled with a federal government that doesn’t seem to care or to be taking much action against this cycle.

Trenton is a low-income area, and I know this because I had to do some data research for my internship, but one can access these numbers anywhere. Trenton also faces high dropout rates and unemployment rates. As one could naturally assume, the school districts can’t afford to have elaborate art programs, which is, frankly, a damn shame and leads children to think art is only for those who can afford it. This has been wildly true as art has been elevated to something that only the bourgeois can afford or even understand, and the purpose of art has been lost. It has moved from something that ignites feelings and emotions, something that captures how we feel, to something that hangs on the walls of the rich, famous and pretentious.

That is why I love programs like “Art All Night,” in that it reminds us that art is something to be looked and enjoyed by everyone. I hope that we see more programs like this pop up in underserved communities and that other places that house art, such as museums, follow suit. When I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a learning trip about how community organizations seek to serve their communities through arts, one of the curators told us that they have special nights during the week where they rearrange furniture and play music in the lobbies and sitting areas while also offering free admission after 5 p.m. to draw those in the community who could not otherwise afford admission to come and enjoy art. They also offered workshops on how to make art, and the specific night we were there, tables were filled with people making collages.

But, I am left to wonder why they have to rearrange furniture to make a museum feel more welcoming? Shouldn’t furniture be left that way always? Shouldn’t everyone feel welcome all the time at museums? And, why are we designating certain nights to offer free admission? In my opinion, they should open up free admission every night, so we can all enjoy art without the burden of financial cost. I understand that museums have to make money, but I feel like it wouldn’t be that much of a detriment to offer free admission to those who couldn’t afford every night.

The bottom line here? Art is for everyone, so attend any events like “Art All Night” to witness the unifying power of community art.