Highland Park Artist Collective Exhibit at Library

The Highland Park Artist Collective meets every Sunday at Pino’s at 12:30 PM, and everyone is welcome. The artists have been meeting since 2008, and you can say that they support each other, lend each other tools and advice and they also hang together. From February 1 through March 31, 2020 they will be hanging together in an exhibit at the Highland Park Public Library. An Artist Reception for the exhibit will be held on Sunday, February 23 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Artists Bill Bonner, Tom Maughan, Mort Farrah, Ellen Rebarber, John Marron, Irene Rieger, Larry McCandlish, and Fred Cole have contributed paintings, photos, and three dimensional objects.

From Mort Farrah’s whimsical paintings of the Jersey Shore to Tom Maughan’s spotlight on little known places as Belmar’s pier, to John Marron’s look to the East and their philosophies, to the three dimensional collages that Ellen Rebarber creates, to the digitalized photos of Larry McCandlish, and Irene Reiger to Bill Bonners crystals and bubbles, the work hangs very well together.

Merry Go Round by Mort Farrah

Multi-Cultural Dolls at the Library

Pauline Perlman of Garwood has lent the Highland Park Public Library her faceless doll collection from February 1 through March 29, 2020. Her multicultural faceless dolls are featured in the main hall display case.

Pauline Perlman has been making the dolls, which are all made from recycled materials for five years. She is a member of a class taught by Thelma Heard at the Rahway Senior Center.

“I joined the class while visiting the Senior Center for another reason and heard all these people laughing,” Pauline said. ”I joined right away, all you needed was recycled materials and your imagination.”

A lost earring, old curtains, a menu from a restaurant, or a scrap of fabric have found their way in to Pauline’s dolls. Nothing is pasted on the dolls; everything is hand-sown.

If you ask Pauline about her life, she will tell you that she raised a family, worked in sales and always enjoyed sewing. But during World War II Pauline picked up a blow torch and worked on warheads at Western Electric in Jersey City. You can say that Pauline has always worked well with her hands!

“I hope you will enjoy my creations, and that you will look at all that you are about to discard with an idea of what it could become,” Pauline said.

international dolls by Pauline Perlman

Arts High and Arts Middle School Student Work on Exhibit

Paintings, drawings and photographs created by Middlesex County Arts High and Arts Middle School students will be on display at the Highland Park Public Library for the month of January 2020. The work is in the meeting room and the Main Hall Display Case.

The exhibit features work completed by gifted and talented students who participated in the Middlesex County Arts High or Arts Middle School. The programs, now in their 40th year, offer advanced art classes in creative writing, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, acting and visual arts to students from public, private, and home schools in Middlesex County. Students, admitted to the program through audition, are released from their schools one afternoon each week during the spring semester to participate in the various courses that are taught by professional artists.

For more information on the exhibit or the Middlesex County Arts High or Arts Middle School programs, or to obtain an application, contact the Arts & Education Center at 732-566-ARTS (2787), email info@artsandedcenter.org, or visit their website at www.artshigh.net.

This program has been made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowments for the Arts.

by Molly Wasielewsk - Middlesex student exhibit

by Edan Blank - Middlesex student exhibit

Moonbees: New Work by Anne Davis

Moonbees: New Work by Anne Davis will be in the main hall display case through December 31, 2019. The work of Anne Davis has been on display on the west and east coasts, and she has studied at the Whitney Museum, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Malibu, California and in Manhattan.

“My favorite place to paint is in Highland Park,” Davis said. “I’ve lived here the longest and paint full-time in my Highland Park studio.”

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.

Ann Davis paintings

Fractured Manhattan: Work by Irene Riegner

For photographer Irene Riegner, who travels the United States as well as nearby cities for her subject matter, the creation of each photo is also an adventure. Her exhibit, TFractured Manhattan: New Work by Irene Riegner, will be displayed at the Highland Park Public Library from December 2 until December 31, 2019. An art reception will be held on Sunday, December 19 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM in the meeting room.

“I have always taken photographs, Riegner said. “My first camera was a Kodak Duafle, but recently I decided to do photography more skillfully and creatively. The turning point was my cross-country journey in 2017 from Highland Park, NJ, to Seattle, WA which provided the opportunity for an intensive eleven weeks of uninterrupted photography.”

The Highland Park photographer has also exhibited at the Metuchen Public Library, the Hamilton Street Gallery in Bound Brook and has participated in other art exhibits in Highland Park, Metuchen and in the Middlesex County Senior Art Competition where she won a prize in 2019.

“Through the actual act of photography and digital processing, I realized that for me the photograph was only the beginning of the creative act, the raw material which could be manipulated into something striking and extraordinary”. “My photos are not at that point yet, but I’m working on it”.

Irene Riegner photo

Strangeness: Acrylic Paintings by Jessica Wu

Strangeness: Acrylic Paintings by Jessica Wu will be on exhibit in the meeting room at the Highland Park Public Library from November 1 through November 29, 2019. The exhibit is a collection of acrylic pieces on canvas frames.

“The paintings depict many strange images I have in my head, hence the title,” Jessica Wu, a Highland Park High School student said. “The inspiration mostly comes from visuals in my everyday life, like dumplings and tree stumps, but in my dreams and in my imagination, there is always a story behind it. There is always a different perspective we can see objects with. And I like showing that through painting. There are surprises and depth in even the most mundane of objects.”

Her artwork has been displayed in exhibitions such as Sharron’s Art Center’s group exhibitions in 2017-2018 and the 11th annual Highland Park Open Studios exhibition. She has also worked on public art projects such as “No Human Beings are Illegal” and “Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s rights”, which are indoor murals in the HP middle school and high school buildings. She also participated in “The Language Project” hosted by Metuchen Downtown Alliance Public Art and designed an Adirondack chair to display outdoors.

Currently, Wu is in the process of designing an outdoor mural at All Colors Inc., to be painted at the entrance of town in celebration of Highland Park’s cultural diversity.

Jessica Wu - paintings

Stalking the Wild Photo II

Stalking the Wild Photo II will be exhibited at the Highland Park Public Library in the meeting room and main hall display case from October 1 to October 31, 2019. Photographers Mary and Kenn Krasner will have an art reception on Sunday, October 6 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

For the last thirty years or so, Mary and Kenn Krasner have amassed literally thousands of tranquil landscapes, nature scenes and panoramas they have taken while walking, hiking, and snowshoeing in local, state and national parks, wildlife areas & refuges, and in and around the highways and by-ways of New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and New York. In every season, and in all kinds of weather.

“We consider ourselves to be serendipitous photographers – a fancy way of saying that we don’t really pre-plan our photography outings”, Mary Krasner said. “We shoot what we see with the camera(s) we have with us at the time. For us, nature’s beauty is everywhere, so we’re always finding things that catch our eye, speak to us, or completely captivate us – and hopefully, we bring something of ourselves, something new or fresh to the subject, whether it’s a small beautiful detail or a different and unique point of view.”

The husband and wife photographers have had many exhibits at the Highland Park Public library and throughout the region.

There have also been many times, without any indication or portent, when we’ve stumbled upon scenes of incredible beauty, both great and small” Kenn Krasner said. “We used to call that dumb luck, but now consider them to be gifts from the universe.”

Stalking the Wild Photography II

To Life: Illustrations By William Giacalone And Photographs By Bill Bonner And Larry McCandlish

To Life:Illustrations by William Giacalone and Photos by Larry McCandlish and Bill Bonner will be on exhibit at the Highland Park Public Library in the meeting room and Main Hall display case from September 3 to September 30, 2019. An art reception will be held in their honor on Sunday, September 8 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. All three are long time residents of Highland Park.

During the 1960s William Giacalone (Bill) illustrated a number of story books and Hebrew school books for young children. Three Stories by Sholom Aleichem, The Pitzel Holiday Book , The Shlimeels of Chelm by Sol Scharfstein, Draydel, Draydel, Draydel, Debbie In Dreamland-Her Holiday Adventures, and one of his favorites, The Schnitzel Book.

Giacalone, who has lived and painted in Highland Park for more than 50 years, is also a retired commercial art designer and was art director for the Remco Toy Corporation and other firms. He was a three-time winner of the Technicraft Corporation Competition. The lifelong area artist, who grew up on a chicken farm in Piscataway, received his art education at Cooper Union and the Art Students League, both in New York. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and has been in exhibits with artist George Segal at the B’nai Brith Klutznick Museum in Washington, DC.

Bill Bonner is a freelance photographer who enjoys manipulating images with graphics software. His website, http://www.raritancanalphotos.org is related to his D& R Canal photojournalism project that he started in 2001. Larry McCandlish will also be exhibiting digitalized photos.

Green Reflection by Larry McClandish
Green Reflection by Larry McClandish
William Giacalone (Bill)
Painting by William Giacalone (Bill)

Hanging in There: Art Show by a Daughter and Her Father

A very unique father and daughter art show will be exhibited at the Highland Park Public Library from August 3 until August 31, 2019. Hanging in There: Drawings & Paintings by Joyce Mo, daughter and Poetry & Calligraphy by Z. Mo, Father, will be displayed in the meeting room.

The opening reception for the daughter and father art show and Mo’s poetry reading will be held on Saturday, August 3 at 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM in the meeting room. Joyce Mo (莫乔希) is a student at Highland Park High School entering 12th grade. Her interest in art piqued during the free-draw activities in her kindergarten class.

“For me, the process of creating was and remains the most enticing aspect, “ Joyce said. She has studied art at the Academy of Art of Highland Park since 2010. She now works as a teaching assistant at the Academy. She has exhibited at the Water is Life Gallery, Museum of Radiant Peace, and published in the Celebrating Art Artists Book. In addition to exploring the world of calligraphy from her father, Joyce primarily uses watercolors, charcoal, oil paint, and colored pencils.

Joyce’s father, Zeqian Mo (莫泽乾,Mo Lao Mo莫老莫, Shiquan Mo莫石泉), is a biologist, Chinese calligrapher and poet. He has been practicing Chinese calligraphy & seal carving (zhuanke篆刻) for many years under Master Yuxiang Zhang (张羽翔), Hong Huang (黄泓) and others. He has had calligraphy and seal carving work exhibited at Guangxi Museum and won prizes in China.

“I have started pondering about life, humanity and nature since I was a kid” Mo said. “I put thoughts into words through poetry that are also visual art.”

barometer, cat, hanging in there

What Lies Beneath: New Painting by Cathy Reddy

What Lies Beneath: New Painting by Cathy Reddy will be displayed From May 30 to June 30, 2019 at the Highland Park Public Library, 31 North Fifth Avenue, in the meeting room.

Cathy Reddy had been a software engineer for 35 years when her children gave her a 92 piece wood painting box set as a Mother’s Day gift. She has not stopped painting since that memorable occasion.

“In order not to waste the money, I took online classes on water color and acrylic painting so that I could make use of all those tubes of color and brushes,” Reddy said. “I am still taking classes on the Internet!”

Reddy paints voraciously and is displaying more than 30 acrylic paintings depicting the Great Wall of China, Mount Saint-Michael in France, Taj Mahal, Petra from Jordan, the City of Jerusalem and Legzira Beach in Morocco. She also paints subjects as close as local New Jersey parks.

“I paint because it gives me a sense of accomplishment, encourages creative thinking, encourages brain connectivity and plasticity and increases my empathy,” Reddy said.

Cathy Reddy painting