Narrator: The new Edelman Fossil Park & Museum in Mantua Township, New Jersey, is built around a quarry rich in dinosaur fossils.

Lacovara: The building itself is a metaphor for our mission, and our mission is to discover the past and protect the future.

Narrator: The art of the New Jersey State House tells a story that's over 200 years old.

Way: You walk around and you say to yourself, "Wow, this is the people's house."

This is history, where it's made.

Murphy: ...freedoms of every New Jerseyan.

Narrator: In Atlantic City, kids are thinking creatively at Mighty Writers.

Corvera: Sometimes I'm not open enough to talk to someone, but I know I can always write it out, and it's, like, something I can always look forward to.

The highlight of my day.

Narrator: And at Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, the legendary South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

[ Singing ] Gagamela Shabalala: The Mambazo mission is to spread love, peace, and harmony.

That hasn't changed.

It's been Grandfather's idea from the beginning until now.

That is what we are trying to spread.

[ Singing ] Long walk to freedom.

Narrator: "State of the Arts," going on location with the most creative people in New Jersey.

Announcer: The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, encouraging excellence and engagement in the arts since 1966, is proud to co-produce "State of the Arts" with Stockton University.

Additional support is provided by... ...and these friends of "State of the Arts."

Soloist: [ Singing ] I have joy, peace, and happiness in my soul.

Group: [ Singing ] Joy, peace, and happiness.

Thulani Shabalala: For me, the voice is important because it comes from your soul.

The voice connects you with God.

Group: [ Signing ] Joy, peace, and happiness in my soul.

[ Cheers and applause ] Thulani Shabalala: Ladysmith Black Mambazo was formed in 1960.

Coming from South Africa, it's an a cappella group of 10 members.

The founder is my father, Joseph Shabalala.

[ Group singing in native language ] Joseph Shabalala: As you see, all these things here is where my music comes from.

Narrator: Joseph Shabalala formed Ladysmith Black Mambazo during one of South Africa's darkest chapters.

Thulani Shabalala: During the time, the time of apartheid, it was difficult for anyone, more especially Black persons, to move around.

Narrator: At the height of apartheid in the 1960s, South Africa was torn by brutal segregation.

Yet Ladysmith's music carried joy that would soon cross continents.

A meeting was coming, one that would change their lives, and the world, forever.

Thulani Shabalala: The group, they got a chance in 1985 to collaborate with an American artist, Paul Simon.

He's the one who paved the way for Ladysmith Black Mambazo to tour around the world.

Narrator: Their collaboration with Paul Simon on "Graceland" became a global anthem, shedding light on the injustices of apartheid far beyond South Africa.

Many say it's among the best albums of all time.

Group: [ Singing ] Homeless, homeless.

Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake.

Homeless, homeless.

Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake.

Homeless, homeless.

Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake.

Amlen: We're really excited that Ladysmith Black Mambazo is playing here.

Outpost in the Burbs, our legacy has sort of been to bring people together through the musical experience.

Group: [ Singing ] Homeless, homeless.

Amlen: Good art on any medium -- on film, on music, on stage -- can get people to think past themselves to maybe greater issues than oneself.

Man: It is with our great pleasure to share with you tonight that in South Africa we are celebrating 31 years of democracy.

[ Cheers and applause ] Group: [ Singing ] Long walk to freedom.

[ Soloist vocalizing ] Group: [ Singing ] Long way, long way.

Long walk to freedom.

Long way, long way.

Long walk to freedom.

[ Cheers and applause ] Narrator: Today, Joseph Shabalala's music lives on through his family.

His sons and grandsons now carry Ladysmith's legacy, weaving past and present in every song.

Thulani Shabalala: When I was very, very young, just like him -- he's my son.

He was like 70 years old.

My father called me and my -- and my brothers, and he said to us, "I feel that I'm going to retire now, but I want to bless you."

He said, "Whatever power I got from God, I'm transferring this power into you."

This year, we are celebrating the 65th year.

[ Group singing in native language ] [ Singing continues ] Gagamela Shabalala: My father and his brothers, they joined in 1993.

The grandchildren also now have entered in the group.

This is my first tour in the U.S.

So, that is how it is evolving from generation to generation.

It's more like we're keeping the tradition alive.

The Mambazo mission is to spread love, peace, and harmony.

That hasn't changed.

It's been Grandfather's idea from the beginning until now.

That is what we are trying to spread.

It's not going to stop anytime soon.

We're hoping for the next 65 years.

[ Both laugh ] Group: [ Singing ] I have joy, peace, and happiness in my soul.

Joy, peace, and happiness.

I have joy, peace, and happiness.

I have joy.

I have joy, peace, and happiness in my soul.

[ Vocalizing ] [ Cheers and applause ] Group: [ Singing ] Homeless, homeless.

Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake.

Narrator: Next up, the historic art and architecture of the nation's third-oldest state house.

Group: [ Singing ] Homeless... [ Music plays ] Narrator: Capitol buildings are more than just a place for politicians to gather.

They're also repositories of history and art, crucial to a state's identity.

The New Jersey State House opened in 1792, just two years after New Jersey's capital was moved from Perth Amboy to Trenton.

From the very beginning, it was a symbol of democracy.

Docent: So, the state bought 3 1/2 half acres from various businesspeople and sited this building on a bluff overlooking the Delaware River, so no matter how you came into town, you saw democracy.

[ Music plays ] Narrator: As more space was needed, the State House began to grow.

Around it, the city of Trenton expanded.

Today, the Capitol Complex is part of the city, not set off on grounds of its own.

And like any old house, the State House is a work in progress.

Recent renovations made the building safer and restored its original glory.

Way: The first time I actually came into the building was when I served as a county commissioner in Passaic.

And similar to today, you're just in awe.

You walk around, you see the intricacy, right?

And detailing and architecture.

You see all the exquisite artwork and you say to yourself, "Wow, this is the people's house."

This is history, where it's made.

Present-day decisions and future decisions.

Murphy: From voting rights to LGBTQ+ rights... Narrator: Many governors give their big speeches in the Assembly Chamber.

On other days, it's business as usual for the House of Representatives.

Man: Assemblywoman Lopez moves the bill.

Narrator: The Senate Chamber is where the state senate meets.

It has an elaborate glass oculus surrounded by lunettes -- allegorical paintings focused on New Jersey's history and industries.

Freeman: Those were created by William Brantley Van Ingen.

He started at a very obvious artistic standpoint, which is the state seal.

He took the two women that are in the state seal of New Jersey, Liberty and Prosperity, and used them as his muses.

[ Music plays ] So, as you look around the room, some of those images are represented by Liberty.

They tend to be wartime efforts that have helped to make New Jersey free.

Then there's also images that are represented by Prosperity, and they tend to be industries that you can find throughout the state.

There's only one in the room that actually is not represented by one of the two women in the state seal, and it represents machinery and industry.

The artist at the time could not even imagine, I guess, having Liberty and Prosperity in those spaces, so there is a man that represents that one industry.

Narrator: The last major building in the Capitol Complex, the State House Annex, was finished by 1931.

It was filled with art, including murals and stained glass.

Even the exterior doors, made of bronze, are embellished with details of New Jersey's story.

It would be many years before art on this scale would be made for the State House again.

[ Music plays ] Freeman: Really, in the 1990s is when we saw a pretty significant influx of artwork into the State House Complex.

Those were brought in largely due to massive renovations that occurred in the State House Annex, as well as in the State House Chambers.

We saw installations of marquetry by artists like Hiroshi Murata.

"New Jersey: A 360-Degree View" by J. Kenneth Leap was added to the State House Annex.

And large paintings that were put in throughout the complex, and those all really happened in the early 1990s into the early 2000s.

Narrator: A 1999 painting of the State House by Robert Birmelin captures spectators and protesters, lobbyists and guards.

It's a picture of the energy in the building when both the House and the Senate are in session.

O'Reilly: People don't think about that.

They think of this very wonderful, beautiful, intimidating building, but it's an office building.

It's where things are happening all the time.

Yeah, people are fighting, and rightly so, because democracy isn't easy.

It's not pretty.

Lawmaker: It's another business-killing bill in a day of business-killing bills.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

O'Reilly: But it's all cloaked in this history that's all around us, because we know the people who came here before us.

We know that Woodrow Wilson was in this building, and we know that Governor Livingston, the first governor when New Jersey became New Jersey.

Narrator: Portraits fill the State House -- the New Jersey signers of the Declaration of Independence and the former governors.

In the 20th century, the governor's portraits became larger and more about them as people.

O'Reilly: Obviously, Governor Christine Todd Whitman's portrait stands out because she's the only woman to date.

I love that portrait of her.

And it's, again, a very direct portrait, just like she was.

She was a pleasure to work with.

Narrator: In Margaret's role as the executive director of the New Jersey State Museum, she's worked with many outgoing governors on their official portraits.

O'Reilly: Governor Christie's portrait is unusual in that it's the only one with a podium in it.

A lot of us remember him standing in front of that podium giving very long press conferences.

Christie: Well, good afternoon, everybody.

Thank you for being here.

O'Reilly: The other thing interesting about the podium is that there's a very small Easter egg in it.

It says "S.T.T.S.," "stronger than the storm," because he was the governor during Superstorm Sandy.

Narrator: Margaret also helps select artwork from the State Museum's collection for some of the executive offices at the State House, including for the lieutenant governors.

Way: Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

It fills my heart because, you know, as an African American woman, especially during the time she lived, was able to be an educator, a leader, someone who championed women's rights and voting rights.

And she just continues to inspire me in my work.

I was thankful that the museum afforded the opportunity for her to be showcased here.

Narrator: At the New Jersey State House, the past is always present.

Governors make their speeches near a portrait of Lincoln, who spoke there in 1861 under a chandelier lit by Edison light bulbs.

The State House is a workplace, but the art of the State House reminds us that the work, messy as it gets, has a lofty mission.

It's the art of democracy.

[ Music plays ] Narrator: Coming up next, a new dinosaur museum designed for a sustainable future.

[ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] Lacovara: The concept for the museum came from the fossil quarry itself.

Once we started to understand the paleontological riches that we had in the quarry, we knew that, "A," we had to preserve the location, and then, "B," we had to find a way to share it with the public.

And what better way to share it with the public than to build a museum right on site, overlooking the fossil quarry?

Wong: Like art, which is the embodiment of human culture, I think architecture also demonstrates a lasting record of what we people feel is important.

Architecture does take a sort of personal expression, something that comes deep with inside that you're bringing to the table, but it also requires a deep consideration of what this place or the place you're creating needs.

Lacovara: The first two things I said to Tom were, "No fossil fuels at the fossil park, and build us a building that could exist nowhere else."

Sniderman: The core thesis that Professor Kenneth Lacovara gave us was, "You have to give primary importance to the visitor."

So, all of the decisions that are being made, from the big-scale idea to all of the small-scale details, are geared towards how the visitor is going to see them and how the visitor is going to experience them.

So, that includes things like interacting and exposing people to views and a journey down into the quarry.

That includes this concept of framing the views and having lenses bridge the interior experience and the exterior.

Lacovara: I think the thing that I'm most proud of with this building is that the building itself is a metaphor for our mission, and our mission is to discover the past and protect the future.

Wong: Natural history museums educate people about the natural world.

That is done not only through the messaging, through the experience of the exhibits, but the demonstration of this building and how it operates in the world is a model for how other buildings, or even people in general, can be more responsible.

Sniderman: We as architects want to promote sustainability because that's what's going to be needed to solve the world's problems moving forward.

Lacovara: The operation of this building contributes no greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

We achieve that by having geothermal wells under our parking lot.

That provides all of our heating and our cooling needs.

And then currently we have a power-purchase agreement for a source of renewable electricity.

Ultimately, I would like to have a photovoltaic field on the property so that we are not only a carbon net-zero facility, but we become an exporter of clean electricity back to the grid.

We have reduced-carbon concrete.

We have a lot of mass timber in the building and wood cladding, so we have a lot of embodied carbon in the building.

We imported a product called Ornilux, which relies on evolutionary principles to create bird-safe glass.

To us mammals, the glass looks like clear glass, but to birds, who are literal dinosaurs, the glass looks like spider webs, and they are evolutionarily adapted to avoid spider webs.

We made sure that we included a lot of free activities on the property, like the cafe and the veranda and the nature trails and the playground, because we really wanted to embed this place in the community.

If people are habituated to gathering here, then surely at some point they're going to take in our stories, they're going to -- they're going to take in our message, learn about our planet.

And really our ultimate goal here is people love what they know and people protect what they love.

And we would like for people to get to know this amazing planet that we live on, we would like them to fall in love with this incredible planet, and then we would like them to protect it so that our children and our grandchildren have the same beautiful Earth that we have enjoyed.

[ Music plays ] Narrator: Last on the show, Mighty Writers helps kids learn how to write, and more.

[ Music plays ] [ Music plays ] [ Singing ] Everything dies, baby, that's a fact.

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.

Corvera: I didn't like writing before, but since Mighty Writers, I've grown to like it.

It's sort of calming.

It's like a hobby, I guess you could say, like how people enjoy painting.

If I've had a long day, it's, like, therapeutic 'cause maybe, like, sometimes I'm not open enough to talk to someone, but I know I can always write it out, and it's, like, something I can always look forward to.

The highlight of my day.

Sykes: Awesome school year.

Awesome progress.

You don't even know how much you've improved in writing.

Narrator: At Mighty Writers, the power of creative writing helps kids navigate the often troubled world around them.

Mighty Writers goes where the need is greatest, with locations in Philadelphia, Camden, Newark, and Atlantic City.

A lot of people have hardship with writing because, "A," they're not confident that they're arriving at an idea that's worthy.

Also, they feel that they have to restrict themselves because they don't want to write something that would get them in trouble, something that will embarrass them.

A lot of writing is confronting personal demons.

You see these kids come in here and they -- they start writing these things and getting them down, and they start understanding each other a little more.

And in that, the creative problem-solving kicks in by acknowledging the other -- other humans around you, the other people, the other life, and learning from them, understanding them, being empathetic with them, as well as starting to learn yourself and know yourself.

Narrator: Students learn to write at Mighty Writers, but the program's impact is much greater than that.

For many kids, it's a refuge and a home away from home.

I don't think people could do this job in Atlantic City unless they're from Atlantic City, because it's unique.

We are not your typical 9-to-5 family structure here.

The kids, um...

They're exposed to more, I think, in Atlantic City than they are in other places, and I think they grow up quicker.

Sykes: There are some days where we have first- and second-graders, but most days, third- to eighth-graders, and then some teens for special workshops or fellowships.

[ Indistinct shouting ] Sykes: My beard's gone!

Sykes: Around 3 o' clock, we get a rush of 15, 20, 25, 30.

[ Chatter, laughter ] Rizzo: First, we get attacked with a ball of energy and we get lots of hugs.

[ Indistinct conversations ] And the littles go outside, because the littles are like puppies that have been in a cage all day.

They need to run, right?

So we let them run.

Woman: Come on!

One more time!

Rizzo: The bigs, I wrestle with their phones for a little bit, make sure they put them away, and then we have a catch-up, and then we get right into it, pull out laptops.

We did a project two writing samples ago that was "create your own superhero."

And is there an antihero?

We paired that with AI and we created the actual visual of this superhero.

A lot of the older kids chose to be antiheroes, which was very interesting.

Castro: I've been coming here almost three years now.

It gives a lot of kids a lot of creativity, especially me.

I've written a lot about the music that I create, a lot about my feelings towards everything.

Just, I love to write in general.

I feel like the kids here, when I come here, they make me forget about, like, everything that's going on outside and I just live in the moment, kind of.

There's not a lot of places that can really do that for me, and here with them is really one of them.

Narrator: At Mighty Writers, they understand that creative writing leads to creative thinking.

From after-school homework help to writing workshops, food distribution, and more, the program provides creative solutions for Atlantic City's future.

Rizzo: Number one, this program keeps kids off the street.

Number two, we teach them to respect writing, respect each other, and respect literacy.

Number three, these kids are not going hungry as long as they are under this roof.

Sykes: Atlantic City is a tough town.

We are a resort town, and people come here for work.

The den mother in her own way, Ms. Kiki!

[ All cheering ] Sykes: Mighty Writers is not just, you know, about writing.

It's more of an empowerment center and a place for them to find their voice.

So we're getting to them earlier, before the world does, and we're proud of that.

There's a famous poet, Stephen Dunn, who was a resident at Stockton.

He could have been anywhere and was asked in an interview once, "Why aren't you at Oxford?

Why aren't you in Cambridge?

Why aren't you at Stanford?

Why are you in Stockton in southern New Jersey?"

You know, a small little college tucked away outside of Atlantic City.

And he says, because those places have already arrived at what they are.

Atlantic City is finally becoming.

And it's nice to be a place -- part of a place that's becoming.

[ Singing ] Meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Oh, meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

[ Music plays ] [ Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing ] Narrator: That's it for this episode of "State of the Arts."

Find all of our stories and sign up for our newsletter at StateoftheArtsNJ.com.

Thanks for watching.

[ Singing continues ] Soloist: [ Singing ] I seek salvation.

Oh, I seek salvation.

[ Group singing in native language ] Soloist: [ Singing ] I seek salvation.

Oh, I seek salvation.

[ Group singing in native language ] Soloist: [ Singing ] I seek salvation.

[ Group singing in native language ] [ Singing continues ] [ Singing continues ] [ Singing fades ] [ Music plays ]