Blue Butterfly Arts & Media (BBAM — A NJ Nonprofit Corporation), our 501(c)3 organization was formed in early 2022 and is the umbrella organization for The Wynona Lipman Project. The mission of BBAM is to create, develop, advocate for and produce visual and performing, literary and media arts and history programs, and to provide creative opportunities for artists working in these genres. The organization also serves as an umbrella agency for our other creative ventures including ELMART Theatre Service,
Five Women Performance Ensemble and our film projects. The Wynona Lipman Project encompasses a documentary by filmmaker Celeste A. Bateman which premiered at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on June 22, 2024. In April 2023, we hosted a Wynona Lipman community forum at The Newark Public Library and from November 2023 to June 2024, we collaborated on an exhibit and public tribute to the Senator who would have turned 100 on November 17, 2023.
We appreciate the many who joined us at the Wynona Lipman Community Forum on Saturday, April 22, 2023. The community forum was an opportunity for friends, colleagues, politicians, social service providers and the general public to discuss and learn about the late Sen. Wynona M. Lipman (1923-1999), New Jersey’s African-American woman Senator. The event opened with a reception which featured live music and poetry produced by Off the Rock, LLC. ( vocalist Mercedes Alexus, poet Mia X and Carter “Roc” Mangan, Jr. on guitar/keys) The feedback from the community forum was outstanding.
Moderator (then) Newark Municipal Council President LaMonica McIver, was joined by panelists Senator Nia H. Gill, Senator Loretta Weinberg, Senator/Mayor Sharpe James, and lobbyist and co-founder of Wynona’s House Jeannine LaRue. Members of the Newark Municipal Council showed up to support — Councilman Dupre Kelly, Councilman Patrick O. Council, Councilwoman-at-large Louise Scott-Rountree.
We fished shooting our documentary Stronger Than Steel: The Senator Wynona Lipman Story, in June 2023. During a political career that spanned three decades, she proved herself a talented legislator, securing passage of more than 145 bills championing the interests of people of color, women, inner-city residents, children and families, and small business owners. – Stephanie R. Sims, In Profile: Senator Wynona M. Lipman
(Above: Wynona Lipman Project Sizzle Reel)
After two years of planning, interviewing, filming and editing, we premiered the film at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 22, 2024. We accomplished a momentous task with this film, presenting the life and legacy of the Senator through firsthand accounts, historic photos, a beautiful soundtrack by Newark musician/producer Carter “Roc” Mangan, Jr. and outstanding interviews to create a comprehensive portrait of the State Senator (29th Legislative District). Having the premiere at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center was a bonus and we are grateful for their ongoing support.
We explored Senator Lipman’s life and her remarkable achievements, highlighting legislative initiatives and accomplishments. How did her challenges inform her work? We examined her legacy and provided a historic context from which other women, students and political aspirants can draw from as they pursue their specific goals and objectives.
The Wynona Lipman Family Courthouse
On May 18, 2023, the County of Essex unveiled plans for the new Wynona Lipman Family Courthouse slated to open in 2025 in downtown Newark, NJ. Numerous County and City officials were on hand to lend support to the project and to express the importance of this facility and how it’s going to be a game changer for families in distress. We were there to film it.
The Essex County Wynona Lipman Family Courthouse, which is estimated to cost $177.2 million…is scheduled to be completed in 2025, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. announced. The new building will include 22 courtrooms, 19 of them for family court and three for children-in-court courtrooms…” The plans call for waiting rooms with child play areas for child support, space for a domestic violence unit and offices for the Prosecutor’s Office and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), according to the county. Source: Tap Into Newark
(Video: Lipman Courthouse Press Conference & Groundbreaking)
Or send donations to Blue Butterfly Arts & Media, c/o Celeste Bateman & Assocs., LLC, P.O. Pox 4071, Newark, NJ 07114-4071. We also accept Venmo using (@
Blue Butterfly Arts & Media (A NJ Nonprofit Corporation)
EIN 87-4504131