Tonight at 7:00, the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center on Springfield Avenue opens to anyone with five minutes of material and the nerve to try it. Sign-ups for MAC Mic happen online, performers get one slot each, and the show runs until 8:30. The venue closes at 9:00. The rules are short. No alcohol, no recording during sets, all ages welcome, and everyone is asked to arrive on time and stay to support the other comics.
It happens every Thursday. For a building that spent most of its life as a place to see a show, a weekly fixture is new. The reason it exists says something about how the Springfield Avenue end of town fills its evenings this year.
Who Wrote the Calendar
The Maplewood Arts & Culture site says the 1978 Arts Center has been a visual-arts space "for almost two decades." It is run by the Division of Arts & Culture inside the township's Department of Administration. Over those years it has hosted classes, workshops, art shows, film programs and live performances under township supervision.
This year the township asked residents to fill the room. The Division of Arts & Culture issued a Request for Proposals for the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center and opened it on January 20, 2026. Programs would run from April 2026 through December 2027. The call was addressed to the people who already live here:
"the Maplewood Division of Arts & Culture invites Maplewood-based artists, artist collectives, and small community organizations, to help shape how this space is used and envision how it could be used."
It asked for exhibitions, events, workshops, gatherings and recurring sessions. It singled out proposals that highlight local stories and invite participation, and it said first-time applicants were "strongly encouraged." Selected programs could receive space, help with installation and events, promotion, staff coordination and possibly limited stipends.
The phrase "recurring sessions" changed how the building works. Exhibitions come and go, and a recurring session gives the Center a regular night. MAC Mic is described as one of the first programs to come out of the call.
What a Resident-Run Week Looks Like
Read the fall calendar as a schedule and a pattern shows. Nearly every program is led by a Maplewood artist or a regional practitioner, and most ask the audience to take part.
| Program | Led by | When | What you do there |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAC Mic: Weekly Comedy Open Mic | Maribeth Theroux, Shannon Moffett and Sibo, with NORK Comedy and The SOMA Network | Thursdays, 7:00 to 8:30 PM | Watch, or sign up for a five-minute set |
| Acoustic Jam Sessions | Amy Beshara | Sunday, November 22, 5:00 to 7:00 PM | Bring an acoustic instrument, hand percussion or your voice |
| Deep Mapping | Alex Steinberg | Wednesdays, October 7 to November 11 | Six-week workshop building a shared map of Maplewood |
| Proof of Existence | Katey Darago of Oakland Road Art Club | October 30 and 31 | Two-day show closing a month-long found-materials residency |
| The Criminal (In)justice System | Lisa Orloff | Opens Saturday, December 12, 2:00 to 5:00 PM | Abstract acrylic paintings, on view through December |
The acoustic jam is open to all ages and skill levels. Its leader, Amy Beshara, is a music educator and touring musician with more than 25 years of teaching violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar and songwriting, and her background includes Irish and Scottish fiddle traditions. Katey Darago founded Oakland Road Art Club, a process-based maker studio in Maplewood built around upcycled, donated and secondhand materials. Her residency brought that studio's approach into the township's own building for a month.
Lisa Orloff's December show draws on more than three decades of work as a forensic social worker. Ten percent of proceeds go to Books Through Bars, a volunteer-run group that sends donated books to incarcerated people.
The Center isn't the only room hosting this work. The October 29 MAC Mic was listed at The Woodland Parlor, so the program can move to another Maplewood venue when needed. Last weekend's Studio Tour SOMA, which TAPinto SOMA reported would bring about 100 artists across both towns, listed the 1978 Arts Studio as a Maplewood stop alongside the De Hart Community Center, the Maplewood Senior Center and The Woodland.
The Workshop That Maps the Town Back to Itself
Deep Mapping fits the RFP's request for "local stories" more literally than anything else this fall. Alex Steinberg's workshop opens with the question "What makes a space into a place?" It treats Maplewood as the subject. Participants combine maps and databases with photography, writing, painting, archival materials and interviews.
The six weekly sessions ended yesterday, November 11. They were open to anyone from 13 to 113, with no art, mapping or research experience needed. The work is set to become a gallery exhibition in early December.
A similar idea is happening a few blocks into the Village. In September, The Village Green reported that four local artists, Natalie Crandall, Sumana Ghosh-Witherspoon, Ken Stanek and Magie McGowan, were launching The Art Generators Gallery, or TAGG, as a pop-up at 14 Newark Way. They announced Thursday through Sunday hours from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. A follow-up in The Village Green described a "Delightfully Strange" exhibition planned with Artie's for October. In both cases, artists who live in town are running the programs themselves.
Between Now and December
MAC Mic is listed on Thursdays through the rest of the month, November 12 and 19, and moves to Wednesday, November 25, for Thanksgiving week. The acoustic jam is on Sunday, November 22, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, and sign-up is through a form on the event listing. The comedy mic is also scheduled for December 10 and December 17.
December 12 Puts the Whole Avenue on One Schedule
Saturday, December 12 is when the new calendar lines up with the township's holiday traditions. The 1978 Arts Center and the Springfield Avenue Gazebo are on the same avenue, and their events overlap on purpose or by luck:
- 2:00 PM, 1978 Maplewood Arts Center, 1978 Springfield Avenue. The opening reception for Lisa Orloff's exhibition starts, with light refreshments, and runs until 5:00.
- 4:00 PM, Springfield Avenue Gazebo, 1688 Springfield Avenue. The Maplewood Holiday Tree Lighting starts, with snacks, songs and cocoa. The Seth Boyden 4th and 5th Grade Chorus and the Tuscan 5th Grade Chorus perform. The Maplewood Department of Community Services sponsors it, and the tree is lit at sundown.
- Same day, Ricalton Square. Dickens Village opens its miniature houses on the first three Saturdays of December, which this year are December 5, 12 and 19. Santa visits and DJ Jimmy plays music. Local business owners sponsor the Maplewood Village Alliance tradition, community volunteers organize it, and the setup is weather dependent.
- Sunday, December 13, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road. Handmade Holiday fills two floors with 60 artisan vendors. Admission is free, and it is indoors rain or shine.
The Arts Center reception and the tree lighting share an hour, from 4:00 to 5:00. That means a gallery stop on Springfield Avenue can lead straight into the lighting at the gazebo. If the Deep Mapping exhibition opens in early December as planned, the same walls may show a map of the town that residents made this fall.
At the Michelle Pais Group, we think about presentation the way these artists do. We look for the story a home already tells and stage it so the right people see it. If you're thinking about selling in Maplewood and want your home marketed with a gallery-level eye, Michelle Pais Group can help. Sell My Home.
