After Hunger, Art

Artists of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen have their first big show at Prallsville Mills in Stockton.

By: Susan Van Dongen

Artwork by the A-TEAM: "Love Makes Our World Go ‘Round" by Annabelle Rose.

   The luminescent eyes of the woman in the mixed media work "9/11" seem to look into your very soul when you walk into the cafeteria of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
   "9/11" is by Walter Roberts Jr., a TASK patron with a gift for portraiture. This is someone who has spent a lot of time looking at faces, especially eyes. They seem to shimmer in his drawings of a Native American woman, friends and family — as well as the mother comforting her child as a charcoal-black plane aims for the Twin Towers. The most striking set of eyes belongs to the face of a lion he painted on a queen-sized bedsheet, brilliant yellows and tans in its mane, against a background of royal purple.
   Mr. Roberts used a bedsheet because he felt compelled to paint but didn’t have any canvas handy. In fact, he usually can’t afford canvas at all because he lives just around the poverty level. That doesn’t stop him from making art, though.
   "Art was always there, since I was born," he writes in his artist’s statement. "I just molded it to what I wanted it to be."
   Mr. Roberts might have forgotten his love for drawing and painting if it hadn’t been for the A-TEAM Artists of the Trenton Soup Kitchen.
   This is a growing contingent of self-taught artists who have been meeting for about three years at TASK. Facilitated by Princeton-area psychologist and resident angel Susan Darley, the cooperative group currently includes about two-dozen members, with new artists joining all the time.

"The Sun Always Shines" by John Blake.

"Red" by Brook Beatty.

   "I didn’t come with a plan to do an arts program," says Ms. Darley, who joined TASK 12 years ago as a volunteer on the food-serving line. Whatever her intentions were, the A-TEAM — yes, they’re named after the TV show from the ’80s — has grown into a quite a phenomenon.
   The A-TEAM’s work is always on view at TASK, and the artists have shown their work in the area before, mostly in Trenton. However, the group will be holding its biggest public exhibition ever at Prallsville Mills in Stockton July 26 to 31. Titled Art Connects, the show features works in a variety of media — oil paintings, watercolors, charcoal, pencil and crayon drawings, collages, photography, found-object sculpture and handmade dolls. The artwork covers a wide range of styles, from naive to experimental, abstract and realistic. New Hope, Pa., sculptor Barry Snyder, an avid supporter of the A-TEAM, is curating the show.
   "I can’t wait to hang the show," he says. "It’ll be a joyful experience. Being a part of this really changes your perspective."
   In addition to Mr. Roberts, participants in Art Connects include Rosalind Anderson, Matthew Lee Ashburn, Brooke Beatty, John Blake, James Coleman, Ronald Davis, Lonnie Green, John Hayes, Dlaby Hodges-Woods, Antoinette Ingram, Jacqueline Journigan, Lorna Lorraine, Frankie Mack, Dennis Randall, Carla Robinson, Annabelle Rose, Herman "Shorty" Rose, Laura Sally, Macon Tanner and Kevin Waverly.
   Although a number of the artists enjoyed the special treat of physically being at the opening July 20 (many rarely leave their neighborhood in Trenton), Ms. Darley says some of the folks won’t be aware their art is hanging in an exhibit.
   "They have homes, but they don’t have phones," she says, chatting during the lull between lunch and dinner at TASK. "You have to reach them by word of mouth."
   Even so, some of the artists are starting to be known by people in the creative community, students of primitive art and collectors, who snap up the affordable and stylistic works of art.
   Ms. Beatty’s dolls are especially enchanting. She uses baby clothes, belts, socks, yarn and window accessories such as drapery tassels to craft her dolls. One carries a little surfboard under her arm, and another wears a jaunty straw hat. Undeterred by the lack of more formal materials, Ms. Beatty plumbs the boxes and bags Mr. Darley brings in from yard sales and "found-object collecting expeditions."
   As a sculptor who employs found objects in his work, Mr. Snyder is particularly drawn to work by Annabelle Rose, who makes constructions out of discarded pieces of wood, often decorated with toys she finds in the trash and her own cut-outs of animals and cartoon figures. Winnie the Pooh is a favorite.

"Annapolis" by Macon Tanner.

"Native American Woman" by Walter Roberts Jr.

  "Born Free" is a new piece that pays homage to wild and endangered creatures. Ms. Rose is an artist with many skills, adept at found-object constructions as well as drawing, painting, photography and writing poetry.
   Her body may be subdued by her ongoing struggle with cancer, but her spirit is strong and generous. Ms. Rose is in the spotlight at TASK, showing a guest the numerous works of art which adorn the walls. Her paintings and drawings are filled with children dancing, mothers holding their babies and African ancestors poised in reflection.
   She recently finished another construction as a gift for her nephew’s birthday, as well as an oversized birthday card, which she passes around for guests to sign. As usual, the card and the construction are populated by Pooh and other cartoon animals.
   "I love animals and children," she says.
   Her brother, Herman "Shorty" Rose, complements his sister’s work with his complex frames woven from discarded paper. Ms. Darley says Mr. Rose will make anything out of everything and jumps on the treasures she brings from her scavenging. Many of Ms. Beatty’s dolls "live" in boxes custom made by Mr. Rose.
   Mr. Snyder also praises Mr. Coleman’s naive drawings and paintings.
   "His faces look like something Matisse would do," he says.
   One aptly named piece is "Quite Astonishing Isn’t It?" by Mr. Blake. It’s comprised of neatly arranged figures made from pieces of pine cones, green twist ties and yellow fabric with a radiant red-ribbon sun shining above them, all sewn into a cloth background. The frame is made of a piece of fake fur from the hood of a parka, which another patron at TASK gave to the artist.
   The A-TEAM was formed in January 2001 by a small group of committed adult artists who regularly attended TASK’s Arts and Ideas program, originally launched by Ms. Darley. The goals were to work together to promote their artwork, encourage other TASK patrons to participate in creative activities, network with artists in the Trenton area and develop organizational skills and self-sufficiency. The A-TEAM also takes pride in representing TASK to the broader community.
   Thanks to the support of several Trenton-based churches and two area museums, the A-TEAM has toured the Whitney Museum in New York City and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The A-TEAM also has visited the studios and shows of several local artists, and has had various artists from Central Jersey — a potter, a sculptor and an origami master — visit TASK.
   The A-TEAM artists meet every other Tuesday at the soup kitchen to display and discuss their recent work as well as plan future projects and trips.
   "They’re so enthusiastic," Ms. Darley says. "The room is open on Tuesdays when I’m here, but now I’ve made arrangements so that every day from 11 to 1 o’clock any of the artists can use the room. It’s just exploding."
   The group makes good use of the materials Ms. Darley brings in. However, they also have a wish list that includes picture frames with glass or Plexiglas, matboard, miscellaneous craft items, liquid poster paints and acrylic paint, stretched canvases, 24-exposure color film and any camera equipment. Perhaps the A-TEAM’s greatest desire is to find exhibit space for its members’ art.
   Ms. Darley, whose nickname at TASK is "Picture Lady," has taken on the task of matting and framing the works of art, utilizing materials she finds at yard sales or items that have been discarded by art supply stores.
   Trained as an experimental social psychologist, Ms. Darley has a clinical practice in the Princeton area. She was a lecturer in the pyschology department at Princeton University from 1969 to 1999.
   "However, all my life I’ve also loved art," Ms. Darley says. "The director (at TASK) must have caught on that I liked art because when I worked on the food line I would decorate my paper hat. She also had me make signs for the services here. I started making these signs, and at first the children came up wanting to help. Then the adults asked if they could join me. I said ‘Sure.’ Pretty soon we were all making art together."
   "Everything I’ve done here has been totally from the grass roots. It’s all come from the patrons. I see what they want and then I see if I have the resources to make it happen."
Art Connects, a group show featuring work by the A-TEAM Artists of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, is on view at Prallsville Mills, Route 29, Stockton, July 26-31. Gallery hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. For information, call (609) 397-3586. For information about TASK, call (609) 695-5456. On the Web: www.trentonsoupkitchen.org