Artists-in-Education application available online

The NJ State Council on the Arts asks: “Passionate about the art you make? Interested in applying to become a residency artist in a NJ school?” They’re now seeking professional practicing artists in all disciplines whose work is of high artistic quality and who personally exhibit the commitment and ability to create a lively, substantial, and sequential (5 – 20 days) arts program in an educational setting. The Artists-in-Education (AIE) program helps to place highly qualified artists in classrooms throughout the state to lead arts residencies.

Guidelines, handbook and application for artists interested in being on the FY11 AIE Artist Roster are now available online at www.njaie.org or www.njartscouncil.org. Interested artists are also encouraged to attend one of the free technical assistance workshops listed below:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 6:00-8:00 PM
Perkins Center for the Arts. 30 Irvin Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108.

To register for this workshop, please call Karen Chigounis at (856) 235-6488, ext.201.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, 68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901 (Central NJ) To register, call (908) 558-2550

Technical assistance is also available by phone or e-mail. Please call the AIE Consortium office at 877-NJ-ARTS-ED or 609-633-1184, or e-mail Shelley Benaroya, Arts Education Administrator at sbenaroya@yanj.org.

NOTE: Acceptance onto the roster, while providing opportunity for further professional development, does not guarantee residency work.

Robin Larsen

Robin Larsen (right)

The regional art community suffered a tremendous loss earlier this month with the untimely death of Robin Larsen, founder and executive director of New Hope Arts. I'm posting an obituary, below, with information about a memorial service taking place this Sunday for Robin. Any of us who have had an opportunity to share her energy, enthusiasm, and passionate advocacy for the arts know that while Robin's death leaves a great rift in our cultural fabric -- her active, colorful, engaged presence among us for the past several decades has left a rich, art-filled legacy for all of us. Thank you, Robin!

November 5, 2009

Robin Larsen

Robin Larsen, a New Hope-based arts administrator and promoter, died Oct. 28 at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. She was 60.

Born in Ann Arbor, Mich., Robin was a graduate of Louisiana State University. She was a studio artist working in various media before moving to New Hope in 1980. The arts community in New Hope became Robin’s inspiration, and in turn, Robin inspired the community to new creative heights. She staged local events that featured the area’s many creative talents, and brought in artists, writers and performers from around the country to the New Hope area.

As the artistic director of the New Hope Festival of the Arts, she worked hand-in-hand with the late Jim Magill, New Hope’s mayor, and a dedicated group of board members and volunteers, to produce plays, cabaret, dance, gallery shows and classical music events. Among the various artists brought to New Hope under Robin’s guidance were actress Celeste Holm, comedienne Judy Gold, singer Margaret Whiting, actor and writer Jack Wrangler, playwright David Ives and the Shetland Island Youth Fiddle Orchestra.

Through the festival, Robin mentored many young playwrights and authors, offering them a first venue to see their works professionally produced. The play, “Six Story Building” by David Del Aquila, went from its New Hope premiere directly into a successful New York run.

Robin served as the director of the New Hope Outdoor Arts Show, an annual street fair featuring the crafts of many area artists. It was Robin’s vision that led to the town’s outdoor sculpture exhibits. Much of this statuary remains on permanent exhibit throughout the town.

Robin’s long held dream of a permanent home for the performing and visual arts was realized with the opening of the New Hope Arts Center on Stockton Street. Housed in the Gerenser building, the center stands as a monument to Robin’s dedication and energy.

In addition to her artistic endeavors, Robin was generous in lending her organizational skills to fund-raisers for many other community organizations such as the local libraries and the Lambertville Education Foundation. Robin brought hundreds of people along for the ride, as board members, contributors, artists, performers, volunteers and audience members. Her welcoming spirit, ready smile and gentle wit fostered artistic careers, new audiences for the arts, civic pride and new friendships that would last a lifetime.

Robin is survived by her beloved husband, John; their children, Sean Lee Power and his wife, Sheila, of Solebury; Liz Larsen and her husband, Sal Viviano, of New York City; and Karen Larsen of Boston; their grandchildren, Ian Power, Meredith Power, Andy Viviano and Joey Viviano; her mother Jeanne Wilchar and her sister Sharon Wilchar, both of California. Robin will be remembered at the kind of event she loved best – a big gathering of family and friends at the Eagle Firehouse, Sugan Road at Route 202, New Hope, at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. All are invited. Memorial donations may be made to the New Hope Arts Center, 2 Stockton St., New Hope 18938.
Van Horn-McDonough Funeral Home, Lambertville, N.J.

Artisan Fever!

box by Annelies van Dommelen

It’s that time, again: fine crafts shows popping just when you need them. But, trust me, make your plans to check them out now, because these shows are like winter flowers: beautiful, unique -- and gone almost as soon as they appear! Keep in mind that many, if not most, of these artisan-based shows accept only cash and checks -- Here’s your chance to keep the holidays CitiBank- and AmEx-free!

The 36th annual Transformations show is at the Hopewell Train Station (Railroad Place and Greenwood Avenue) this weekend, Sat. 14 (10am-5pm) and Sun 15 (11am-5pm).

Featured artists/artisans include:

Connie Bracci McIndoe pottery and jewelry

Jo Freud fabric art on annealed wire

Bob Greenblatt turned wood

Carol Krickus elegant balsam pillows

Ken McIndoe ceramic tiles

Mar tha Mulford Dreswick baskets

Susan Nadelson hand spun and dyed wool

Christine Rist contemporar y jackets

Sally Stang jewelry and pressed flowers

Piroska Toth felting

Gail Trautz felting

Annelies van Dommelen heirloom archival boxes

Pat White & Isa Vogel weaving

Ellie Wyeth floor cloths, placemats, notecards

The End of the Road artist and craft show, at 25 Rock Road (off of Quarry Road) - a historic farm house in Lambertville, NJ - takes place Saturday and Sunday next weekend, Nov. 21 and 22, from 10am - 5 pm each day.

Piroska, Sally and Anneliies will be at this show, too, along with:

Judy Tobie paper vessels

Deborah Cyr fabric collage

Jeanne Walton elegant clothing

Chris Darway wearable sculpture

Martha Mulford Dreswick basket maker

Hanneke deNeve children's clothing, knits

Amy Whitney maiolica pots, wool duvets, roving

There will also be demonstrations of basketmaking, spinning, knitting, cider and donuts, and homemade soup. For information on End of the Road, you can email yates28@verizon.net

And the Covered Bridge Artisans are inviting visitors into their home studios November 27, 28 & 29th (10 am - 5 pm) for their Fifteenth Annual Holiday Studio Tour. The studios are located in and around scenic Stockton, NJ. For directions and a link to a self-guided map, click here.

In addition to the fine art paintings, stained glass, metal sculpture, and ceramics featured in the artist studios (The Art Colony studio (Prallsville Mill), Long Lane Farm, Sunflower Glass Studio, Swan Street Studio, and Moorland Studios), you’ll also find hand made jewelry, leather goods, ceramics, sculpture, yarn and other items offered by invited guests who will be set up in The Locktown Stone Church.

Whichever (or all!) of these 3 shows you visit, whether in Hopewell, Lambertville or Stockton, in addition to meeting some terrific artists and having the opportunity to purchase some wonderful one-of-a-kind gifts (yes, it can still be a gift if you buy it for yourself!) you’re also getting the chance to spend time in a beautiful part of NJ and possibly visit some lovely, historic buildings - all at the same time.

Art Venues Rise

Viridian Gallery, Pennington

Earth Normal by L. Simeonov at Alfa Art Gallery

Jack Koeppel, who - with his family - owned the Queenstown Gallery on South Main Street in Pennington from 1965 - 2005, is reopening a new gallery in the same location. You're invited to join him on Saturday afternoon, December 5, from noon - 4 pm for warm cider and other seasonal treats; or that evening from 6 - 8 pm for a wine & cheese reception to celebrate the grand opening of Viridian Gallery!

And while we're talking about "phoenix" (new from old) art venues, thanks to Will Ostergaard (newly annointed as the King of New Venues for this blog!) for sharing information about the Alfa Art Gallery at 108 Church Street in New Brunswick. They have an art exhibition, Transfigured, opening next Friday, November 20 @ 7:30-10:30pm that has some interesting artists for fans of figurative and expressionistic work (including Lidia Simeonov, recently named the 2010 Artist of the Year by Pittsburgh's Boxheart Gallery.)

It may be of particular interest to regional artists to note that Alfa Art has recently received its tax exempt status, and welcomes submissions both locally and from all over the world in the fields of contemporary fine art, sculpture and photography. As always, check out any gallery carefully before agreeing to be exhibited there. If you're not familiar with the gallery, make a point to visit. Talk with artists who have exhibited with the Gallery in the past. Research Gallery owners and staff. Be responsible about discussing terms, fees, responsibilities.

Sound Views

"Point de Vue" oil on panel, 24" x 30"

At Morpeth Contemporary Gallery

Hopewell, NJ

Opening Reception: this Saturday, November 7, 6 - 8 pm

Marc-Antoine Goulard

Gallerist Ruth Morpeth opens a one-man exhibit by French artist/musician Marc-Antoine Goulard this weekend, and the preview images are compelling (although I have to ask: has this man studied with Pat Martin, too???!!!) Goulard, an abstract painter, was schooled as a classical musician, studying the flute at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris as well as saxophone and jazz composition at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, but says, "...it is in painting that I found my voice."

Goulard has had shows in commercial galleries in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, and in shows at the United Nations, the French Institute, and Columbia University in New York. In 2006, he was an artist in residence at the Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation in New Haven.

Stop Correcting Me

Wilbo Wright (l.) and Eric Haltmeier (r.) of Stop Correcting Me in concert this Thursday, November 5 at The Gallery, Mercer County Community College --

7:30 - 8:30 PM FREE!!!

For more information, see post below. For directions, click here.

A Truly Capital Party This Weekend!

This Saturday, November 7, please join the I Am Trenton Community Foundation and other members of the Trenton 1784 Committee (visit their newly constructed website - still under construction - for more information) at a kick-off event to celebrate the 54 days in 1784 that Trenton was the Capital of the new nation. The party takes place from 6pm to 10pm at the NJ State Museum, 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ.

Tickets $10 per person or $15 per couple, with children under 12 admitted free of charge.

You may purchase tickets at the door or online at www.IAmTrenton.org

Connecting the Dots with SOUND!

Thursday, November 5

7:30 pm

Can musicians make shapes out of sound? Is it possible for sounds to "feel" the same way as a specific artwork "feels"? Can composed, improvised music relate to contemporary visual art pieces? Stop by Thursday evening for an enjoyable event and some possible answers:

Free Concert by Stop Correcting Me - the Haltmeier/Wright duo

Performing original score composed in relationship to the

CONNECT

exhibition on display at The Gallery at Mercer County Community College

For information about the exhibit, click here.

For directions to the College, click here.

The Gallery is located on MCCC's West Windsor campus (1200 Old Trenton Road/Rt. 535) on the 2nd Floor of the Communications Building.