Tag Archives: 000 artists live in Jersey City

25th Cathedral Arts Festival to be held Apr. 18th in Downtown Jersey City

River View Observer Cathedreal Arts Festival
2013 Cathedral Arts Festival, Grace Van Vort Church by Steve A. Mack

Grace Church Van Vorst celebrates Art and Community

 By Sally Deering

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Bronze Sculpture by
Seth Alexander

Back in the late 1980s and early 90s, many considered downtown Jersey City a tough and gritty place for off-the-grid artists and blue-collar workers. It was during that time Grace Church Van Vorst, an Episcopalian parish in downtown Jersey City opened its big red doors on Erie Street, and welcomed local residents, many of them artists, to participate in the Cathedral Arts Festival.

On Sat, April 18, Grace Church’s big red

Painting for 2015 Cathedral Arts Festival
By Kathyrn Mecca

doors will open once again, this time for the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral Arts Festival beckoning local residents and friends to once again enjoy a gala of art, entertainment, food and drink. Under the leadership of Reverend Laurie Jean Wurm and congregants Bayla Kallstrom as chairwoman, Amy Elise as head art curator and other dedicated artists and residents, the Cathedral Arts Festival will once again bridge art and community in this neighborhood parish.

Continue reading 25th Cathedral Arts Festival to be held Apr. 18th in Downtown Jersey City

WALL ART-INTERNATIONAL STREET ARTISTS TURN JERSEY CITY BLIGHT INTO PRICELESS ART

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Hudson County Art Supply building on Newark Avenue and Coles Street, has this mural on it's wall painted by Ron English, Big Foot and Jason Maloney creating  a whimsical mural depicting a wide-eyed child in shorts and T-shirt emblazoned with an upside-down peace sign.

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By Sally Deering

 International street artists like “Big Foot,” “Kid Zoom,” Jason Maloney and Ron English travel the globe creating art on the urban landscape. The artists – all world renown – paint murals on big concrete canvases like bridges, embankment walls and building facades that draw tourists, bring ka-ching to a city’s coffers and transform dilapidated structures into works of art. And because they’re painted on concrete walls, the artists’ works can’t be bought or sold or compete with the gallery sales of their paintings, so they do it all for free.

 

A rare glimpse of world known street artist "Kid Zoom" painting the the 139 Wall in Jersey City.Photo by The Jersey City Street Art Initiative
A rare glimpse of world known street artist "Kid Zoom" painting one of  the 139 Wall in Jersey City.Photo by The Jersey City Street Art Initiative

The Jersey City Street Art Initiative is like many public art happenings taking place in cities around the world. English, a Jersey City resident, worked with several street artists on a “Separation Wall” in Palestine and just returned from Miami, Florida where he was invited by real estate mogul Tony Goldwyn to create murals in a neighborhood of broken-down buildings to help transform it into a hip and happening hub of homes and restaurants. (Back in the day, Goldwyn initiated the transformation of Soho in New York City from a neighborhood of abandoned warehouses into a hip and thriving upscale arts district.) Continue reading WALL ART-INTERNATIONAL STREET ARTISTS TURN JERSEY CITY BLIGHT INTO PRICELESS ART