Pair merges artwork for local library exhibit

Images of Old Bridge
husband-and-wife team
on display in E. Brunswick

By dick metzgar
Staff Writer

Pair merges artwork
for local library exhibit
Images of Old Bridge
husband-and-wife team
on display in E. Brunswick
By dick metzgar
Staff Writer


photos by Jerry Wolkowitz Above, Ken Rappoport of Old Bridge, a former photographer for The Associated Press, shot many of his prized photos during the last days of the Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. His works, along with the artwork of his wife, Bernice, pictured below, are on display at the East Brunswick Library.photos by Jerry Wolkowitz Above, Ken Rappoport of Old Bridge, a former photographer for The Associated Press, shot many of his prized photos during the last days of the Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. His works, along with the artwork of his wife, Bernice, pictured below, are on display at the East Brunswick Library.

Art and photography have been a labor of love for Old Bridge residents Bernice and Ken Rappoport for more than 40 years.

Bernice is a prize-winning artist who has appeared in several juried shows, most recently at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn.

Her husband, Ken, was a wire service photographer, who retired from The Associated Press in 2000. Some of his prized photos were shot during the last days of Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia in 1969.

Samples of their best works are on display in the exhibit "Double Play — Visions of Sports Photography and Art" at the East Brunswick Library, Ryders Lane, through Nov. 30.


A feature of the exhibit is the preview of a just completed mural that will be mounted in a visible spot along a major roadway in East Brunswick before the end of the year.

Works on display by the Rappoports include oils and watercolors by Bernice, 65, and photos of National League stars from the 1969 Major League baseball season taken by her husband, who is 67.

Bernice Rappoport, who was born in Philadelphia and currently teaches business at the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School in East Brunswick, said she is still fond of painting. She also uses ink, pastels, charcoal and acrylics.

"Each medium offers a different challenge and opens a window to the viewer in a different way," she said.

Her works have been displayed at the Arts Students League in New York, the Milltown Municipal Building, Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, the Barron Arts Center in Woodbridge, and elsewhere.

She recalled that she has been involved in painting since she was a small girl growing up in Southwest Philadelphia.

"I picked up a pencil and began copying pictures when I was 8 years old," she said. "When I was in high school, I would draw pictures of my teachers."

Bernice said she enjoys doing portraits, although she has done a variety of landscapes, which mostly feature locations in South Jersey, including Cape May.

Some of her paintings feature members of her family.

"I have done a number of paintings of my grandchildren," she said, noting that she has some portraits of her grandchildren, Adina and Shayna Lowenstein, ages 6 and 4, respectively.

"When Adina was 5, I painted her wearing a baseball cap and holding a baseball glove, entitled Between Innings. I did one of Shayna when she was 3 on a bike," she said.

Her collection also includes one of her husband.

"I did one of him over the past summer reading a book," she said.

Ken Rappoport’s collection includes photos of some of the National League’s all-time stars and journeymen players who appeared at Connie Mack Stadium in North Philadelphia in 1969, not long before it was torn down. With its demolition, the Phillies moved to Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia.

His photos include shots of Phillies’ stars Dick Allen, Johnny Callison and Mike Ryan, and Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, along with Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ken, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., was a general assignment photographer for The Associated Press in Philadelphia from 1963-69, and then worked another 30 years out of the wire services office in New York before retiring.

"I have always enjoyed sports," said Ken, who now writes children’s and adult sports books. "Actually, these sports shots were taken over a three-day period in 1969. I got a photo pass from the Phillies for three of their games against the Giants, Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I got several photos of Clemente, one of him sitting in the dugout and another of him in the on-deck circle waiting for his turn at bat. I met him a couple of years later, not long before he was killed in an airplane crash. He was a wonderful person."

He said one of his prized photos is one of former Giants star Bobby Bonds, father of current National League Most Valuable Player Barry Bonds, also of the Giants, sliding home, while Ryan, the Phillies’ catcher, waits for the ball, and the umpire prepares to make the call.

Another photo shows the broad back of Allen, one of the Phillies’ most feared hitters, featuring his number 15 and cutoff sleeves, displaying his powerful biceps.

The exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.