— Now through May 12, New Hope Arts is hosting its 11th annual Indoor Sculpture Exhibition 2012. On May 9, a special reception and review is co-sponsored by The New Hope Library and New Hope Arts as a part of its ongoing cultural outreach to the community.
Carol Cruickshanks, center director, will host the event and provide a commentary on the media and methods contemporary three-dimensional work. “These are not just traditional sculptures,” said Ms. Cruickshanks, an art historian who was on the faculty of The College of New Jersey until her retirement.
”We are showcasing a wide range of innovative, unique works in this exhibition. Contemporary sculpture runs the gamut of material from bronze to neon, free-standing to wall-mounted and suspended, contemplative to kinetic,” she said.
Ms. Cruickshanks will introduce some of the concepts and creations of contemporary work along with the history of sculpture in the community, supported by New Hope Arts since its beginning more than 10 years ago.
Approximately 80 artists submitted sculptures this year, and out of those artists, 38 were chosen to exhibit at this show. John Mathews and Mark Pettegrow, two regional artists with national recognition, served as the jurors of this year’s exhibition.
For more information, call 215-862-9606 or The New Hope Library, 215-862-2330.
— Awards were presented at the opening reception of the New Jersey State History Fair Art Exhibit at the Prallsville Mills Saw Mill Gallery on April 15. The 2012 New Jersey History Fair Art Exhibit “hopes to become an annual event helping to connect the arts with New Jersey’s beautiful historic sites.”
The 12 award-winners chosen will be exhibited in the Visitors Center Building at the New Jersey State History Fair at Washington Crossing State Park, Titusville, on May 12 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
The three exhibit jurors were Janet Hunt, Coryell gallery owner and Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage commissioner; Dan Saunders, administrator, NJ Historic Preservation Office; and Mel Leipzig, professor and New Jersey artist for more than 35 years.
The Awards were presented by the Exhibit Committee: Edith S. Sharp, executive director, Delaware River Mill Society; Beverly A. Weaver, supervisor, Office of Historic Sites; and Vicki Chirco, resource interpretive specialist, Historic Resources, D&R Canal State Park.
AWARDS:
Best of Show — Robert Sakson, Trenton, for a dramatic depiction of an historic bridge built in 1898 to cross the Delaware.
Overall second — Richard Hoffman, Voorhees, for his watercolor of the historic Benson Street in Camden. Capturing the important urban history of one of New Jersey’s early cities.
Overall third — Robert Lafond, Titusville, for his painting of Washington Crossing, the site of one of the most historic events in New Jersey’s and our nation’s history.
Best State-Owned Historic Properties — Roy Reinard, Lambertville, for his vibrant colors and unusual perspective of one of the most painted state-owned sites.
Best Non-State Owned Historic Property — J C Turner, Pipersville, Pennsylvania, for her beautiful painting of the home of New Jersey’s most famous immigrant, Albert Einstein.
Best Historic Landscape — Jas Szygiel, Chalfont, Pennsylvania, for his poetic evocation of the 19th century charm of the D&R Canal.
Best Architectural Detail — Li-Hsien Chung Price, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for her painting of subtle color and detail of the cupola and cornice detail of the historic Courthouse in Flemington, site of the Lindbergh trial.
Best Historic Artifact — Jack Quinn, Morris Plains, for his depiction of the factory building of Speedwell Village in Morristown. The historic artifact attached to the building makes the painting.
Best Interpretive Use — Ann-Mari Broman, Stanton, for her photograph of Dutch colonist re-enactors at Bouman-Stickney Farm, Readington.
Best Historic Monument/Sculpture — Stephen Schwab, Asbury, for his resin sculpture of St. Ann’s Church, an important architectural feature of Hampton.
Best Use of Materials —Kate Kane, Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania, for her mosaic depicting Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds,” Oct. 1938. NJ’s most important event that did not happen.
Most Innovative — Diane Lufrano, Lambertville, for her painting which combines different techniques of abstraction and realism with unusual perspective of solar panels on the historic Stevens Institute.
— Appraisal Day — Appraisal Day is returning to the Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio. People travel from near and far to this event, with paintings and frames in-tow, to get guidance on the value of their prized works of art and fine frames. Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio will offer a day of appraisals and conservation estimates on May 5, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. This year, “we are encouraging a donation of $20, which will directly benefit A Woman’s Place, Bucks County’s only domestic violence community benefit organization.
You can access information about AWP, domestic violence, and building a safe community at www.awomansplace.org.
Bring your grandmother’s portrait for a fair-market appraisal; find out what’s underneath that soot-darkened painting in your attic; bring your Bucks County art for a cleaning and repair estimate.”
The event will feature three fine art specialists: Paul Gratz, owner and head conservator at Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio; Cindy Charleston Rosenberg ISA CAPP, president and founder of The Art Appraisal Firm; and Lauren Bradley ISA AM, assistant gallery director of Gratz Gallery and an accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers. Due to the popularity of this annual event, patrons are requested to limit their inquiries to two pieces per family.
Located at 68 S. Main St., Doylestown, the Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio specializes in 19th and 20th century American paintings, with a focus on painters from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sundays, noon-6 p.m., as well as by appointment. Call 215-348-2500 or visit the Gratz Gallery and Conservation Studio website at www.gratzgallery.com.
— The Opera Project’s spring concert series at the Prallsville Mills, May 12 at 8 p.m., celebrates the spring with the Old and New Concert, an evening of opera favorites- arias and duets by Puccini, Donizetti, Weill, and more- as well as new compositions by local composers.
Rick Tocce, of Lambertville, will present “Written in Naples,” a setting of the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson for baritone (Clayton Mathews), viola (Victoria Voronyansky) and piano (Richard McIntyre). Mr. Tocce’s song cycle “The Love Elegies of Sulpicia” made its world premiere in January at the Opera Project’s Annual Composers’ concert.
Dennis Hyams, whose opera, “The Golden Arrow,” also made its world premiere with the Opera Project, will offer “The Voice” and “The Ballad Singer” with words by Thomas Hardy, and “Tract,” a dramatic monologue for baritone (Don Sheasley) and piano (Richard McIntyre), with words by William Carlos Williams.
Richard McIntyre will present two songs, both translations of the Paul Celan poem “Irisch.” The English text (“Irisch”) is by Fred Lowe and the Gaelic text (“Gaelige”), is by Nuala ni Dhomhnaill. They will be sung by tenor Kevin Peters. A duet from Mr. McIntyre’s one act opera, “The Celebration,” will be performed by tenor Steven Snow and soprano Alejandra Garrido.
Tickets are $15 at the door, or advanced sales are $13 and are available at the The City Market, 74 N. Main St., or Sojourner, 26 Bridge St., Lambertville. For information go to www.theoperaproject.us or call 908-268-1264.
— The New Hope Art League offers a special opportunity for a plein air workshop with West Fraser, one of the leading American artists in the representational/plein air tradition. Mr. Fraser’s workshop is May 20-21, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in the New Hope area. Space is limited. Reserve a spot now. See more about the teacher at www.westfraserstudio.com and download the necessary forms at NewHopeArtLeague.com Workshop page.
— Call for artists — The New Hope Art League presents “Images of New Hope, “ a juried art competition open to artwork based on the New Hope-Solebury area to be displayed in the New Hope Winery, 6123 Lower York Road (Route 202), New Hope. See NewHopeArtLeague.com for a map of the area, prospectus and application. Up to $1,500. in awards. West Fraser is the juror. The exhibition will be open May 17-June 4, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Wednesdays. Reception with artist is May 19, 1-4 p.m.
— In the 1950s, Rosie the Riveter morphed into Betty Crocker, and Madison Avenue’s seductive images of happiness and contentment in the home governed women’s lives. Sylvia Getsler chose a different path. The Michener Art Museum is taking a close look at that path in “Have Gags Will Travel: The Life and Times of a New York Cartoonist,” on view through July 1 in the Pundit Gallery. This exhibit is sponsored by Mary Lou and Andrew Abruzzese, The Pineville Tavern.
From The New Yorker to Boys’ Life, from lurid detective magazines to church quarterlies, the “gag” has become such a staple of American life that we rarely notice the skills that go into making them. Ms. Getsler (1926-2009) was a rarity in the cartooning world—a highly successful female gag artist whose work was published in the Saturday Evening Post, Playboy, True Detective, McCall’s, and Ladies Home Journal.
”Every Wednesday, as a child, I went with her on her visits to the cartoon editors of various newspapers, magazines, and syndicates,” recounts her daughter, Mindy Treceno Cohen. “I watched as she offered her artwork, her humor, and her imagination, in an effort to help support our family.”
Born in Poland, Ms. Getsler emigrated to New York in 1933, and by her early 20s had begun what became a regular Wednesday ritual: traveling from her home in the Bronx to Manhattan with portfolio in hand, visiting the cartoon editors of various “syndicates” that controlled what got printed in magazines. As a free-lancer, she had to sell her gags to survive, and what often sold was a world in which every man was a skirt-chaser and an alcoholic, and every woman’s mission in life was to shop and get married.
”To make a living she sold gags that lay comfortably within the stereotypes of the day, but tempered these attitudes with a healthy dose of intellect and satire,” said Ms. Cohen. “These gags were her bread and butter, and were eagerly purchased by the many successful men’s magazines of the day.”
—“”Ms. Getsler spent the remaining years of her life, from 2000 to 2009, in Lambertville, with her husband, artist and writer Joseph Treceno.
The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. . Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For information on admission fees, etc., visit www.michenerartmuseum.org or call 215-340-9800.
