In September 2001 a group of people, under the aegis of the East Brunswick Arts Commission, met to discuss the possibility of hosting a visual arts event in the township.
Since that first meeting, our group of volunteers, now known as the East Brunswick Visual Arts Celebration Committee, has grown to include local and nonlocal residents from all walks of life, all of them with an active love for the arts. Our initial aim was to create a venue for New Jersey artists and local students to display their artwork. Anyone involved in the arts knows that funding is tight and such opportunities few.
It was, therefore, with some amusement, that I read a paragraph in the "Your Turn" guest column ("Resident Questions Extra Expenses in Hard Times") written by Ed Kowalski in the Feb. 13 issue of the Sentinel. The program is not a "cultural diversity" program. It is designed to offer artists in the visual arts the opportunity to display their work, selected by a juried committee, with the opportunity for them to sell any of their work, if desired. This also gives residents the opportunity to spend some time at the pond with their children, to observe artists at work, to learn more about the arts, or to buy artwork at reasonable prices.
Each artist pays an entry fee, which helps to underwrite the cost of ribbons and the small cash prizes which we will be awarding. Further expenses are covered by an ad journal subscribed to by local businesses and benefactors of the arts. Local businesses and professionals have also donated prizes. We are now receiving entries from out-of-state artists and also recently received an unsolicited donation with the words "Bless you all and thanks to all those who are making this possible" enclosed. So we know we are making a difference.
Yes, the township has offered the pond area for our venue and the Department of Recreation has been more than helpful, but this in no way approaches the "millions of dollars" mentioned in the guest column.
Volunteers have put this together, and volunteers will be running the show. If Mr. Kowalski has any doubts about that matter, I invite him to join me and the other volunteers at 7 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, as we welcome our artists. The public is invited from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., but Mr. Kowalski may stay until the last volunteer has left. I hope that he will then see for himself what a group of dedicated volunteers can accomplish, and I hope that he will, perhaps, enjoy the artwork and the fellowship of his neighbors.
Joan Kupchynsky
East Brunswick