Jacqueline Baker paints to honor her mother, Patricia Viola Baker, her closest friends and singers who have inspired her. She paints from life and she paints with an inner eye to capture the spirit of her subjects. Baker, a Highland Park artist and teacher will exhibit Our Spirit Rises: New Works by Jacqueline Baker from September 6 through September 30, 2018 at the Highland Park Public Library, 31 North Fifth Avenue. . An art reception will be held on Sunday, September 9 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the meeting room. Her sculptures and photographs will be featured in the Main Hall display case through September 30.

Baker, who is also a home health care nurse, has been honored for her art and commitment to teaching art by the City of Pert Amboy and the New Brunswick Public Library. She has exhibited her work throughout Middlesex and Somerset Counties.

She is dedicating her new art show to her mother’s memory. Many paintings honor her mother’s involvement in life and her ability to touch many lives even outside of her large immediate family of eight children. Jacqueline Baker painted Standing Strong, at the age of 33. It was the first piece she ever painted. “The painting portrays a black woman who refuses to give up her faith and dreams despite undergoing hardship,” she said. “Strength through adversity and challenge is a consistent theme running through Jacqueline’s work and is often interwoven with direct examples from black history.”

Three Painting Friends: New Works by Yumi Yang, Leona Cheung, and Sisi Ho will be exhibited at the Highland Park Public Library from August 2 through August 31. An art reception will be held by the artists on Sunday, August 5 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

For Yumi, pastel has been her favorite medium since 2005. Included in the show are her still lifes, landscapes, graceful interiors, and striking scenery, which have won awards.

Leona explores all kinds of painting media such as oil and pastel. Her artworks cover a variety of subject matters: landscapes, still lifes, animals, and people. She has won numerous awards in the past – the result of countless nights burning the midnight oil pursuing a perfect piece of art.

Sisi’s artworks consist of still lifes and portraits using charcoal pencils, oil, oil pastel, and IPad.

Shelley Phillips, the founder of the art program at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva will have a solo show at the Highland Park Public Library through April 2018. An art reception will be held on Sunday, April 8 from 1:30 – 4:30 PM.

“I’m an observer of the world around me and often see things in terms of ‘This might make a great painting,’” Phillips said. “I often use my own photos as inspiration — candid people shots and vacation photos and close-ups of flowers.”

Originally from Philadelphia, Shelley attended Tyler School of Fine Arts of Temple University for her BFA. She moved to Massachusetts where she taught art in the Newton Public Schools for many years. After moving to New Jersey about 21 years ago, she started an art program and taught at the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, retiring seven years ago.

Shelley has won Honorable Mention two times for her paintings in the Middlesex County Senior Art Exhibits. She has had her work displayed at Fiddleheads Restaurant in Jamesburg recently. Other exhibits include Edison Art Society at City Hall, the East Brunswick Library with Suburban Artist’s Guild exhibit, of which she is a member and The Grounds for Sculpture Member’s Exhibit. She also belongs to and has exhibited with the Center of Contemporary Art and the Visual Arts Center of NJ, where she currently takes classes. She has exhibited multiple times at the Highland Park Public Library.

Eight artists from The Unitarian Society (TUS) Art Exploratory Group are exhibiting From Sea to Shining Sea: Paintings, in the meeting room of the Highland Park Public Library from March 1 to March 31, 2018.

According to Joyce Browning, one of the founding members of the group, the artists began painting together 10 years ago.

“We started because we all had an interest in art and what was very interesting is that we came from all over the globe and from different walks of life,” Joyce said. “It began with me teaching the class and grew to us all sharing tips and techniques.”

The artist include Jennifer Kahn, Peter Kahn,, Christine DeMuro, Tatiniana Rodionoba, Galina Malinsky, Dan Strombom, and Joyce Browning. This is the group’s second exhibit.