Education, Our Community

Noted Artist Judy Taylor to Appear at Hudson County Community College Foundation’s Artist Talk Series

Appearance scheduled for Thursday evening, November 10th will be the artist’s only speaking engagement in the New York-New Jersey area this fall

                                                                                  

October 14, 2011, Jersey City, NJ – The Hudson County Community College Foundation will host another segment in its Artist Talk Series on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. That evening, portrait and classical figurative artist Judy Taylor will talk about the 36-foot murals she painted portraying the labor history of Maine. The event will be held in the College’s Culinary Arts Institute/Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City, just two blocks from the Journal Square PATH Station.

 Born in Nebraska and raised in the Midwest, Ms. Taylor moved to New York City in 1985 and studied at the New York Academy of Figurative Art, where she earned a Master’s Certificate in Advanced Studies. She further pursued these studies in New York under masters such as Harvey Dinnerstein at the National Academy of Design, and then went on to study in Europe. In 1995 Ms. Taylor moved to Mount Desert Island in Maine and established the studio and gallery in Seal Cove that she still operates.

 Ms. Taylor’s work may be found in several public and private collections, and thanks to the generosity of the Estate of Dr. Arnold Rose, M.D., one of her works is included in the Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection.

 In 2008, Ms. Taylor was awarded a commission to paint murals depicting the history of Maine labor for that state’s Department of Labor. Controversy about the work arose last spring when Maine Gov. Paul LePage had the murals removed on the grounds that the work was too one-sided. This was after the Governor reportedly received an anonymous letter saying the work was reminiscent of communist North Korea where “they use these murals to brainwash the masses.” The eleven-panel work depicts historical scenes such as shoe-making apprentices in Colonial times, Maine lumberjacks, a “Rosie the Riveter” figure at the Bath Iron Works in World War II, and a 1986 paper mill strike. Ms. Taylor has said, “It [the mural] belongs to the people of Maine and needs to be accessible to them.”

 Further information on Judy Taylor’s appearance and tickets may be obtained by contacting Andrea Siegel at (201) 360-4007 or by emailing [email protected].

 

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