Farmers working in wide, golden fields and trees at the apex of their autumnal hues aren’t all of the sights awaiting those who visit Roosevelt this weekend.
Francis Duckett, of Roosevelt, will have her plein air impressionist paintings on display during the Open Studio tour in Roosevelt this weekend. The natural fall beauty only complements the works of art that Roosevelt artists will have on display when they open their home studios to the public from 1-5 p.m. Nov. 10.
Beyond getting to see the 2-square mile town in rural Monmouth County – a national historic site for having been created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as an experimental agro-industrial cooperative – visitors will have an opportunity, through the studio tour, to visit some of the original Bauhaus-style homes and other well-known landmarks in the community.
The Roosevelt Arts Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering artistic talents in the borough, is presenting the studio tour in conjunction with the sixth annual Jacob Landau Studio Event. Landau, an internationally recognized artist who lived in Roosevelt and helped create RAP, built a geodesic dome studio in the town where he worked until his death in 2001. The dome now serves as a home base for the The Jacob Landau Institute and is opened annually for a showing of his and other works.
PHOTOS BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Roosevelt artist James Hayden, owner of the Eleanor Gallery, will have a full show of his work on display. When the town brimmed with renowned artists such as Landau, Ben and Bernarda Bryson Shahn, and Paul Prestopino, open studio tours were often held to inspire others, according to Naomi Brahinsky, a Roosevelt artist and RAP member. Although the borough has always boasted having a critical mass of artist residents, Brahinsky said few carried on the open studio tradition.
“Last year some residents decided to open their studios when the Jacob Landau studio held its annual opening,” she said.
RAP took note of how nicely one event complemented the other, and this year invited residents to reinvigorate the longstanding tradition of giving the public a peek at what it’s like living and working in a community historically known for its creativity.
“Roosevelt has a lot of very good, diverse artists,” Brahinsky said. “With the open-studio tour, it’s fun and interesting for people to see the range of work.”
Brahinsky will open her home studio at 1 Clarksburg Road, where she will have her high-fired functional stoneware and pitfired pottery on display.
Francis Duckett, – who resides at 10 Homestead Lane in one of the original Roosevelt residences known for being made out of concrete with a flat-roof and designed by architect Louis I. Kahn – will feature her impressionist oil and acrylic paintings.
Duckett, who lived in the community from 1969-1977 and then later moved back in 1992, has been painting since the age of 10 and sold her first painting at 14.
Those who visit Duckett this weekend can ask her about evolving from an artist who was paid in bologna into a plein air impressionist. Her paintings, created in the outdoors, offer more than just a usual rendition of landscapes, cityscapes and other subjects in that they play with ideas such as how light moves, the depth of shadows, and the mood of the wind.
Area residents who drop in will be able to recognize local scenes in her paintings such as the patch of woods located across the street from the Johnson residence in town, and the Herbert Farm off Herbert Road.
Lucretia Ellen McGuff-Silverman, of 10 N. Valley Road, will not only offer a glimpse into her studio, but also some of the social commentary quite often associated with Roosevelt artists such as Landau and renowned woodcut artist Bob Mueller, who still lives in town.
“I have always been interested in different media and have always expressed myself visually,” said McGuff- Silverman, who has a master of fine arts degree from American University in Washington, D.C., and works in oils, pastels, and ink.
Her drawings compile images that, without her tinkering, may not have ever been placed together. Her arrangements become greater than the sum of their parts and often display wry humor.
For instance, “Full Moon” depicts a lady so adamantly gazing at the moon that she doesn’t realize she’s sitting on the back of a turtle, or that a gigantic kitten face is licking up milk from a dish just beside her. McGuff-Silverman also has a piece showing the Queen of England taking advice from a fish and a baboon.
Another work showing off McGuff-Silverman’s whimsy is a large pastel of bubble-filled bathtubs and running showers enveloped in the tropics that depicts her take on one of the fantastical cities described in Italo Calvino’s book “Invisible Cities.”
Along with her other large pastel works, she will also display some of her “Postcard Series,” which she said was an experiment to see how small she could make a piece using pastels. The result of the challenge is a series comprised of postcard-size pastels that depict interiors and landscapes.
“They are all scenes of places I would like to be at – maybe on vacation,” she said.
For an even more surreal escape, visitors can enter the historic factory just up the road from McGuff-Silverman’s at the corner of North Valley Road and Oscar Drive. Not only will this part of the tour offer the opportunity for the public to see the factory that started out as the garment factory in the late 1930s as part of the community’s cooperative, but also a look at the Eleanor Gallery.
For the studio tour, the gallery, which is in its third season and usually hosts art exhibitions for Roosevelt and upcoming artists, will feature a full show of its owner’s works.
James Hayden, who owns the gallery and has a studio space next to it, will feature his acrylic paintings and multimedia pieces in the show. He has not shown his work collectively since 1998.
The exhibit is called “Made in Roosevelt,” and consists of pieces Hayden has created in the town for almost 10 years.
Like his Roosevelt predecessors, Hayden continues the tradition of pushing the envelope when it comes to art that provokes response from its viewers.
“It’s a strange grouping,” Hayden said, adding that the works range from surreal installments, to figural works, to abstractions of images in an impressionistic manner, to paintings that deal with social commentary and discourse in America.
“It’s a range of what I view as my connection to art and expression,” Hayden said. “It proves what effect Roosevelt has had on me and my creative aspect.”
Two of Hayden’s latest works, “Precious Vessel,” which shows off his sculpting skills, and “Religious Activity,” which drew inspiration from a 99-cent store find, will also be on display.
Of the latter, he said, “I found a Christian coloring and activity book for children that struck me as oddly curious. Let’s put it this way, the result isn’t exactly Davey and Goliath.”
He continued, “See for yourself, in the more personal setting of my studio and gallery before I show in New York.”
The fifth studio on the tour at 12 Pine Drive will feature the works of Barbara Atwoood, an art teacher at Roosevelt Public School who has a B.A. degree in Fine Art from Trenton State College.
The consensus among the artists with studios on the tour is that art is meant to be enjoyed and all should be given a chance to bask in the vibrancy that the Roosevelt community carries on.
RAP suggests a donation of $5 for the day of events, which includes the Landau studio opening at 30 Lake Drive. For more details call (609) 448-4616 or visit the Web site at www.music.columbia.edu/Roosevelt.