Posters of photography available at Gourgaud Gallery
By: Lacey Korevec
During a winter walk home from the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in 2004, Annabelle Rose found a broken, discarded camera lying on sidewalk trash pile.
After a friend jiggled some parts around and fixed it, Ms. Rose, who died of cancer in February, decided her friends from TASK should use the camera, along with donated rolls of film, to capture scenes from Trenton the way they viewed the city in their everyday lives.
The group snapped pictures throughout the rest of the winter and into the spring. and The photos were used to make posters that will be available for sale at the Gourgaud Gallery through the month of February.
One poster is made up of a picture of a pair of old brown boots sitting on a cement stoop beneath tangled plant vines, an image of geese near a dirt road and shots of Trenton buildings at different times of day.
The walls in the cafeteria at TASK make the room its own art gallery, featuring all kinds of creations by Ms. Rose and others who use TASK. An orange pastel tiger, tropical birds, green, blue and purple landscapes, and painted portraits border the room, hanging above crowded tables and an endless line of patrons, some laughing and chatting, as they wait for a hot meal.
Droves of people enter the building every day for all kinds of reasons: to eat, to learn, to volunteer, to work, or to get out of the cold and warm up for a bit. But some also go there to feed the artists in themselves and others, to critique friends’ paintings and drawings and to share their latest poems.
Ms. Rose, along with her brother, Shorty Rose, and sister, Willie Mae Carroll, founded the A-TEAM, an art cooperative based at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen whose art will be on display in Cranbury throughout February in an exhibit titled "Art From the Heart."
The group grew out of TASK’s Arts and Ideas Program in 2001 but is now an independent group that exhibits work throughout the state and encourages TASK patrons to explore and create visual art.
"We had a lot of names, but we had to come up with a good one," said Mr. Rose, who prefers to be called Shorty. "We got the A-TEAM off of TV. The A-TEAM helped innocent people do things, and that’s what we do, so we call ourselves the A-TEAM."
ShortyMr. Rose first became interested in art when he was serving time at Rahway Prison, in Woodbridge, where a fellow inmate showed him how to make picture frames and crosses out of cigarette boxes.
"Dude taught me and I learned so quick," he said, showing off one of his recent works, a small, double sided picture frame he made out of pieces of comic book pages woven together and laminated with clear tape.
After he got out of prison, ShortyMr. Rose started scouring dollar stores for colored pictures and different supplies he could use for his art. But he mostly uses items he finds on the street through a technique called "found art," he said.
"If I’m walking, I look on the ground all the time," he said. "The things I find on the street, I can use. I find it, take it home, clean it off and make a frame for it. You find a lot of good things out on the street."
Mr. Rose’s wife, Brook Beatty, is another A-TEAM artist whose work will be featured in the exhibit. Ms. Beatty makes dolls using shoestrings, belts, socks, markers and baby clothes. Mr. Rose said the couple often work together and he uses paper, tape and sometimes string to make gift boxes that match each of his wife’s dolls.
"We do everything at home," he said, adding that they work at their craft full time, but that he spends a few hours each day at school at TASK’s Adult Tutoring Program. "We got more space at home."
In fact, most of the A-TEAM artists do their work at home and only meet in the art room at TASK on Tuesdays to show each other what they’re working on. The room they meet in is small, about the size of a large storage closet, and also serves as a tutoring room and a multipurpose activity room. The walls are plastered with drawings, paintings, photographs and poems and the ceiling is covered in a rainbow bouquet of fake flowers, with little to no ceiling space peaking through.
When A-TEAM artist Raven Feather, of Trenton, enters the room each week, she usually brings 40 to 50 new pieces with her, which she paints at home and upside down.
"I paint upside down a lot," she said, as she flipped one of her unframed paintings 180 degrees and held it against her left arm running an imaginary paintbrush over it while she spoke. "I never feel comfortable with an easel or anything. Sometimes I turn it sideways, but the majority of times it’s upside down."
There are about 20 artists in the A-TEAM, but only eight or nine meet weekly in the art room, Ms. Feather said. One of them is Trenton resident Tex Mentis, whose drawings will be on display at the exhibit.
Mr. Mentis specializes in drawing landscapes and animals with colored pencils.
"I draw pictures all day long, whatever comes out of my head," he said, recalling how he got involved with the group. "And people were telling me about A-TEAM and they directed me here. I found out a lot of people were artists and they like my drawings."
Within the group, Mr. Mentis is famous for coming up with the perfect title for each of his works. One that’s especially endearing to the A-TEAM is "Teddy Bear," which is a colorful landscape drawing with a small red house on the left side of the page. In one of the house’s windows, there’s a tiny mark, which Mr. Mentis said is a teddy bear that only can be made out with the help of a magnifying glass.
Artist Lorna Lorraine Samuels, who used to live in Trenton but is now a resident of Warminster, Pa., mostly brings poetry and short stories with her on Tuesdays. She too works at home but shows up each week for friendship and support, as well as to show other group members what she’s been writing.
Ms. Samuels said she self-publishes her own poetry books and is always thrilled when they sell.
"If it weren’t for the A-TEAM, I wouldn’t even think of selling my art," she said. "Some of the pieces that sell, they aren’t my favorite, but the people who buy them love them and that makes me feel great."
Proceeds from items sold at the "Art From the Heart" exhibit will go to the artists, but 20 percent of each sale will benefit the A-TEAM to help the group pay for supplies.
Throughout the month, community members can stop by the gallery to donate art supplies for the A-TEAM, as well as nonperishable food items and winter clothes that will be delivered to TASK at the end of February.
The First Friday Reception for "Art From the Heart" will be held Feb. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Gourgaud Gallery in Town Hall on Main Street in Cranbury. A-TEAM artists will be there to share stories and talk with community members about their works. Food will also be provided.
"Art From the Heart" will be on display through Feb. 26.