Trenton Arts at Princeton suspended for the 2026–2027 academic year

Trenton Arts at Princeton (TAP) will not continue for the 2026–2027 academic year, according to multiple sources affiliated with TAP. The University will be spending next year trying out new outreach programming, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill. 

TAP is a multidisciplinary group of dancers, artists, and musicians on campus, which aims to “build a community of young artists across Trenton and Princeton University through student leadership and volunteer opportunities, youth programming, community performances, and more,” according to its website.

In February, the department announced the elimination of the program coordinator position for TAP. This elimination came following the annual State of the University letter, which anticipated across-the-board fiscal tightening. 

The program’s cancellation, announced last week via email to the program by the Office of the Provost, will also include Saturday Morning Arts, which brings about 30 students in the Trenton area to Princeton. 

Morrill wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian that the decision is part of a broader effort to reassess community engagement programming in a time of “careful budgeting.” 

“We hope to use the next year to test out new ideas, experiment with new programming models, and develop new partnerships with the goal of creating sustainable programming moving forward,” Morrill wrote.

Nancy Agosto, the most recent program coordinator, shared that TAP members have been in discussions with the other staff and faculty in the Lewis Center for the Arts and the music department to discuss ways for the program to move forward without dedicated administrative support.

“It has been back and forth conversations with our partners in the Lewis Arts Complex and the music department of ‘Where do we proceed from here?’ And it’s kind of been that way for the past few months,” Agosto told the ‘Prince.’

Jenia Marquez ’25, the current director of Trenton Youth Orchestra, described how, “earlier this year, in around December, we’d been each told individually that the program was going to be significantly defunded, and that, looking forward to future years, the program would have to look significantly different.” 

Even before Agosto’s position was eliminated, TAP had already begun downsizing, according to multiple members of the program.  

Lou Chen ’19, previous director and founder of TAP, told the ‘Prince’ that TAP began downsizing a year ago. He said that he left TAP in 2024 and, instead of hiring a replacement, his role as program manager was cut in 2025. 

Marquez added that TAP used to be functionally larger, running multiple programs such as Saturday Morning Arts and the neighborhood music project. Saturday Morning Arts was canceled this year and, according to Chen, the neighborhood music project was cancelled in the 2024–2025 school year.   

“TAP has been kind of subjected to multiple levels of funding decreases over the years, so those had all been eliminated prior to this year,” Marquez said.

Chen noted that TAP’s “heyday” was the 2023–2024 year. 

“I would say 2024–2025 was also shaping up to be a pretty major year,” Chen said. “That year ended up being a slightly pared back version of our normal year. And then this year has been the most pared back version.”  

According to Agosto and Rachel Schwartz, director of Trenton Youth Dancers, TAP staff were asked not to inform Trenton students about the program’s suspension before an official University announcement planned for later this summer. However, staff chose to notify students at the final Saturday session on April 18.

Hannah Bonbright ’28, a student coach who worked with Saturday Morning Arts this semester, said that she learned of the decision alongside students during their weekly session last Saturday.

“It was really heartbreaking,” Bonbright said. “We sat with the kids while they were hearing the news, and hearing them talk about what TAP means to them and what they’ve learned really broke my heart.”

Schwartz stated that there was “a range of reactions” among students who had heard the news.  “We all went in a circle…those who [spoke] used words like ‘devastating.’”

Marquez shared that, “I have heard this program described to me as the most meaningful way that the University engages with Trenton, and I just think it’s a real shame that it’s being discarded so cavalierly.”

Schwartz said that the future of a Trenton-Princeton collaboration is not yet over.  She told the ‘Prince’ that the University “has said that they want to run pilot programs next year for different ways that a Trenton public school-Princeton arts collaboration could materialize,” but that she has no details on what it would entail. “They are soliciting proposals, although not very efficiently.”

Marquez added that the University “has indicated that they want to do some sort of programming … once a year, or bring students to come see a concert at Princeton, things like that.” 

Chen did not anticipate the suspension of TAP when he left Princeton, but he now has doubts about his decision to leave.

“A year [after leaving], TAP is being gutted along with similar initiatives, and my former colleagues are feeling deeply disillusioned. Was I naive? Or was I misled? Perhaps yes to both.”

Clara Docherty is the assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading faculty, graduate students, and alumni coverage. She is from Lafayette, N.J., and can be reached at clara.docherty[at]princeton.edu.

Meghana Veldhuis is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Bergen County, N.J., and typically covers graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and campus unions and labor. She can be reached at mv4991[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.