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Mayor Steven M. Fulop joins the Office of Cultural Affairs and Art Fair 14C Executive Director Robinson Holloway to announce the premier of Jersey City Art Week – a new partnership between Jersey Cityâ€s largest visual arts events.

The Jersey City Art and Studio Tour (JCAST) and Art Fair 14C are joining forces to host concurrent events in October, creating a super-sized visual arts experience that will showcase Jersey Cityâ€s vibrant arts and culture scene.  Jersey City Art Week will attract local, national, and international artists to Jersey City alongside fine art exhibitors.

The post Fulop Administration Further Elevates Arts & Culture in Jersey City with Powerhouse Partnership to Create NJ’s Largest Visual Arts Event first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

More than 800 artists will exhibit their work in the upcoming 25^th annual Jersey City Art & Studio Tour happening Sat & Sun, Oct 3 & 4, from noon to 6 pm.  More than a hundred studios, galleries, businesses, public spaces and art pop-ups will be exhibiting paintings, sculpture, mixed-media, and art installations..

The Jersey City Art & Studio Tour (formerly known as the Artists†Studio Tour) began 25 years ago when a local newspaper joined forces with several Jersey City artists. What started as a tour of 50 or so studios and public art exhibitions with opening night parties of Blimpie sandwiches and jugs of Gallo – has become a huge city-wide event sponsored by the city of Jersey City.

“This yearâ€s tour has grown to include 220 stops throughout Jersey City at galleries, exhibition spaces, and murals, showcasing the vibrant cultural landscape that is Jersey City,” Mayor Steven M. Fulop states on the official JCAST Tour Map. “Jersey Cityâ€s cultural scene continues to expand and diversify. Support our local artists by visiting their exhibits and purchasing their work, and engage with your neighbors during one of the biggest annual art events in the region.”

This year, the Jersey City Art & Studio Tour kicks off Fri, Oct. 2^nd at 6 pm with an opening reception at the Lackawanna Center on 16^th Street near the Holland Tunnel entrance in Jersey City. The Lackawanna Center will also be the site for two group shows: HISTORIC JERSEY CITY curated by Trix Rosen; and THREE SOULS IN THE CITY featuring works by artists Peter S. Bill, Gregory Stone and Fermin Mendoza. There are several other group shows on the tour including one at 150 Bay Street in Jersey City.

If youâ€re considering driving to Jersey City and parking your car, you might want to reconsider and take public transportation. City Hall in Jersey City has been designated the official take-off for free shuttle buses that will drive tour-goers on three separate routes throughout the city.

A bike tour to view the 50 murals in the Jersey City Mural project will also be leaving from City Hall. Visit the Studio Tourâ€s website for more information and to download a map of the Studio Tour.

 ARTISTS UNITE

HISTORIC JERSEY CITY, a group show will be on view at the Lackawanna Center curated by fine art photographer Trix Rosen, who also works as a historic preservation architectural photographer.

The exhibition features paintings, drawings, watercolors, photographs, historic maps, antique documents, mixed media collage and sculpture by artists Beth Bentley, Peter Delman, Ed Fausty, Sasha Greco & Garry Taylor, E. Jan Kounitz, Beatrice Mady, Andrea Rafael, Trix Rosen, Richard La Rovere, Steve Singer, Julie Sloane, Charlie Steiner and Leona Strassberg Steiner.

“As seen through the eyes of renowned local artists, the exhibition ‘HISTORIC JERSEY CITY†will feature historic sites, artifacts and relics that exist or have existed in Jersey City,” Rosen says. “Included are a selection of large photographic prints by Ed Fausty from ‘A Fragile Utopia: Studios and Spaces at 111 First Street†and watercolors by Steve Singer that address issues of gentrification, economic development and artists†housing.”

Photographs by local teenagers, Brandon Ambrossi, Nathan Balcos, Paloma Edgar and Nilay Vora, who documented the historic Jersey City Reservoir #3 for a digital storytelling workshop taught by Rosen in 2013 will also be on view.

“I put together this exhibition for the JC Art & Studio Tour to show my respect for the folks who cared enough to document and create art about the significance of where they live,” Rosen says. “I also want to reflect on endangered historic sites, the legacy of our builders and our cultural heritage,”

 (Photo of Brennan Court House Rotunda by Beatrice Mady in the Historic Jersey City group show)

BIKE TO THE ART

 (Mural at Ocean & Oak St. by Fermin Mendoza can be seen on the bike tour)

Ride your bike to see highlights of the Jersey City Art & Studio Tour on free bike tours by community bike advocacy group Bike JC. All tours will include fly-by viewings of many of Jersey Cityâ€s growing collection of street-art murals by artists including Paws, Sue One, Joe Waks and Fermin Mendoza.

On Sat, Oct. 3, there will be one long tour hitting the biggest group shows, and two shorter tours covering the southern and northern halves of the tour. Bike JCâ€s focus will be on venues that are less accessible to casual strollers and better by bike. Tours will be led by experienced bike marshals. And if you donâ€t own a bike, Citi Bike JC has bike stations throughout Jersey City which can be rented by the day.

To join the bike tours, just show up on the plaza outside Grove Street PATH station at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour you want to ride: Long Route: 12 noon-5 pm; North Short Route: 1–3:30 pm. South Short Route: 3–5:30 pm. First come, first served—each tour will be capped at 30 riders! All tours will return riders to Grove PATH (or you can break away anywhere along the way). You must bring and wear a helmet.

DOWNLOAD THE MAP AND HAVE FUN

Get your official Jersey City Art & Studio Tour map in the City Hall vestibule at 280 Grove Street or stop by any of the participating venues for a free copy. You can also download a map at www.thejcast.com.

The Jersey City Art & Studio tour has become a beloved citywide tradition and a great way for local residents and visitors to support Hudsonâ€s art community

For more info

Sat & Sun, Oct. 3 & 4, 12 noon – 6 pm

Jersey City Art & Studio Tour

City of Jersey City

Office of Cultural Affairs

280 Grove Street, JC

www.thejcast.com

Email: jcast@jcnj.org

The post ART IN THE CITY-Jersey City Art & Studio Tour (JCAST) opens Doors Hundreds of Artists to present their Works first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Photo By Steve A. Mack

 Relatively unknown before he took office as the Mayor of Jersey City on July 1, 2013, Steven M. Fulop now has his own page on Wikipedia. Gaining in popularity, a local paper put him 4^th on a list of Hudsonâ€s 50 most influential people.

 Mayor Fulop, 36, seems to have a vision for Jersey Cityâ€s cultural scene with plans to bring the city to greater heights that reflect its stature as the second largest city in New Jersey. By raising the standards of the arts scene, Fulop envisions Jersey City as an arts mecca similar to New York City that will attract visitors in huge numbers and big name acts to its performance venues while providing public spaces for resident artists, filmmakers, dancers, actors and musicians.

 Moving forward, in the short time heâ€s been in office, Mayor Fulop has already been in meetings with Cordish Companies of Baltimore, the prospective developers of the Powerhouse building in downtown Jersey City. He has supported legislation to reinstate the tax credits to filmmakers who want to shoot on location in Jersey City; and, he has approved projects by mural artists to paint designated buildings in Jersey City. Mayor Fulop also has plans to turn the old movie palace, the Loewâ€s Jersey City in Journal Square into a performing arts center like NJPAC.

 On a recent November morning, Mayor Fulop took time out of his busy schedule to speak with Riverview Observer about some of his plans and projects for Jersey Cityâ€s cultural scene.

 RVO: Mayor Fulop do you have any personal association with the arts – did you play the trumpet in high school, that sort of thing?

MSF: I have a great appreciation for music and I have friends in the arts community, thus Iâ€ve been engaged in it. I took piano lessons during my childhood and up until last year. I play classical music and I started studying Jazz. Classical is straight-forward, youâ€re reading notes and I could do that very well, but I couldnâ€t improvise. Itâ€s a totally different skillset. My piano teacher moved, though, and now Iâ€m looking for a new one, so if you know anybody,..

 RVO: Do you have any interest in a specific area of the arts in Jersey City?

MSF: Iâ€ve realized in order to make Jersey City really shine it needs a thriving arts community. Thatâ€s what attracts people here. Transportation wonâ€t just do it, you need culture and art.  Weâ€re working with Senator (Steve) Lesniak to reinstate the film tax credit; legislation will be introduced next week. Weâ€re looking to see how to put more money into the Loewâ€s and bring in professional management. Youâ€ll see that on the Council agenda coming forward. Thatâ€s a big step. From a city standpoint, I canâ€t put $10-$15 million dollars into something that has the “potential” for success. The Loewâ€s is the size of NJPAC and across from the Journal Square PATH. You could get big names, and people coming from all over for art, music, restaurants.  The Loewâ€s is really a key component of what weâ€re trying to do.

  

RVO: Over the years, funding for Jersey City Cultural Affairs has dropped from $700,000 to $100,000. Will this be turned around during your administration?

MSF: Weâ€re working with Cultural Affairs to revisit how it functions in the city. A cultural affairs group that is just hanging art work or doing flag-raising is not how I envision Cultural Affairs. Weâ€re looking for things that are going to have thousands of people there. We had 2000 people at our Halloween fair. There was a petting zoo, rides; it was a safe and festive place. Cultural Affairs needs to be thinking like that.  Twenty people for a flag-raising; I donâ€t need seven employees administering flag-raising – telling people ‘go here to get permitsâ€. What are you doing for 2014 and where are the new plans for things that are going to be substantially large? To me, itâ€s more than just an art show in a rotunda for a few artists. Cultural Affairs has to be good branding for Jersey City. We havenâ€t increased (the budget) until we have a plan.

 

RVO: According to the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority, proposals by the Cordish Companies of Baltimore will transform the Powerhouse building into an “art and entertainment mixed use center with multi-floor retail and commercial space.”Can you elaborate?

MSF: Weâ€d like to see progress here. The developer submitted two proposals: one was more elaborate; one less elaborate. Both proposals are from a cultural perspective. One has a type of performance space; one is more marketing-retail oriented. They are both different and both have different costs with some public and private partnership. I feel comfortable with either of them.

 

RVO:  You mentioned the art gallery Mana Contemporary on Newark Avenue in Jersey City as a good representation of how the arts can attract people. Can you elaborate?

MSF: If you go to their art openings, there are 10,000 people from all over New Jersey. They have some of the worldâ€s best artists from the performing arts, visual arts. There are paintings by Andy Warhol. Mana is going to be the major arts institution for Jersey City.

 

RVO: Can you tell our readers if and when the Jersey City Museum will re-open?

MSF: Itâ€s still a problem. We donâ€t have clarity around the inventory. In fairness to (former mayor) Jerry Healy, he inherited a very tough situation on the museum. Where they built that museum, thereâ€s no parking, itâ€s a tough location to attract visitors and attract global artists on a large scale. To compete with the New York City market you have to have something special. There are a lot of things special about this place. We should be thinking big. If itâ€s not big, itâ€s not interesting to me. 

 

RVO: The arts in Jersey City seem to exist despite a lack of space. A good example is the Grassroots Community Art Space on Newark Ave, a public art space run by artists. In the future, will the city provide more venues for artists?

MSF: The market dictates that. Some things happen organically. We have a black-box theater, a 400-seat theater opening up on Bay Street. Itâ€s going to be given to the city and will be a city asset. (But) itâ€s hard to have government in that role. Government is not good at owning assets. Itâ€s not our skillset. What we do is create a cultural environment.  Itâ€s about creating a brand in Jersey City that goes beyond Jersey City.

 

To learn more about Jersey Cityâ€s

cultural arts scene, go to: www.cityofjerseycity.com.

The post Jersey City’s New Mayor Steven M. Fulop Envisions the City’s Cultural Future first appeared on River View Observer.

 Like a femme fatale in a “dime novel” Jersey City has had its share of bumpy roads, raw deals and men that done her wrong. But the past is the past and take a look at her now, bustling with new construction and waterfront with a skyline of skyscrapers that have given the old girl a much-needed facelift and a shot at the brass ring.  

At the 4^th annual Book Fair hosted by Jersey City’s Free Public Library on Sat, Sept. 10^th in Jersey City’s beautiful Van Vorst Park, twenty local and no-so-local writers will exhibit their newly published books – all with some connection to Jersey City.  Many of these writers have taken their experiences and/or fascination with Jersey City’s past and placed them on the pages of their new books, not just as a backdrop to the action, but as one of the characters that grabs your attention like a cold-blooded blonde with a pearl-handled Derringer.

The event is free and run by Jersey City’s hard-working library staff hip to fostering new and established writers.

When you stroll over to the park that day, you’ll meet Eunie Guyre, author of  “Happy Victory: Celebrating a Jersey City Childhood,” (publisher: Xlibris, 2011) the story of a little girl who revisits the Polish household she shared with her father, grandmother and aunt in Jersey City when her mother was hospitalized in a sanitarium. And although it seems like a sad story, Guyre emphasizes that hers was a happy childhood nurtured by a loving Jersey City family.

“The book is a tribute to my father,” Guyre says from her New Hampshire home. “I was 14 months-old when my mother went into a sanitarium for tuberculosis and she died there when I was 7. The book is a collection of short stories from birth to eighth grade. We lived on 3^rd Street in Jersey City, that was our first house, and then we moved to Greenville. I attended Sacred Heart and the book has a lot of funny Catholic and Polish stories. My Polish grandmother would read the obits. If the dead person had a Polish name, off we went to the funeral parlor.”

Fascinated by Heavyweight Champion Jack Demsey, a colorful boxing figure and World Heavyweight Champ from 1919-1926, writer Jim Waltzer’s book “The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of the Modern Promotion” (Praeger Publishing) tells the story of the infamous bout that took place in Jersey City on Montgomery and Cornelison Streets and promoter Tex Rickard, described as one of the best fight promoters of the 20^th century. Rickard erected a special stadium for the heavyweight champ and his opponent, Georges Carpentier, and 90,000 spectators came to Jersey City to see them fight.  

“The focus of the book is how the promotion came to be in the first place,” Waltzer says. “It was promotion that went beyond sports and entertainment. This was the one that set the standard for those that followed in the 20^th century. This was the first event in a big way to bring together celebrities, prominent people from all different fields – bankers, Hollywood stars, roughnecks, you name it. They were at ringside. This took the whole promotional arts to another level for a single event.”

Waltzer, a Philadelphia resident, has written more than 600+ features, mostly for regional magazines. In 2001, Rutgers University Press published his nonfiction book “Tales of South Jersey,” and in 2007, Five Star Mysteries published his first novel, “Sound of Mind.” He’s now working on a new book, a crime novel based in Atlantic City.

Maureen K. Wlodarczyk, who lived in Jersey City until she was five and whose family has been a part of Jersey City’s fabric since the 1840s will be at the fair promoting her second book, “Young & Wicked: The Death of a Wayward Girl (Publisher: Ultra Media Publications, 2011) The story is about the doomed relationship between two petty criminals, William Flannelly and Polly Sexton. They were criminals in love, who lived in the fast lane of the 1890s in Lower Manhattan.

 Wlodarczyk was researching her Irish ancestors when she came upon her distant relative, Flannelly, and accounts of his relationship with Sexton who lived like “Bonnie and Clyde” outlaws.

“A few months later, down in the Bowery, they had a falling out and she wound up dead by his hands,” Wlodarczyk says. “He goes to trial on the Lower East Side for murder. He’s sitting in the Tombs and crosses paths with people who are famous and infamous of the 1890s, the Tammany Hall people like William Devery who was to become New York City’s Chief of Police. I wondered how a little punk from Jersey City jailed in the Tombs could cross paths with Devery and top Tammany Hall commissioners.”

Also at the Book Fair, photographer and writer Alina Oswald of Jersey City will present her three books: “Vampire Fantasies”  a collection of vampire-inspired photographs; Journeys Through Darkness (a biography of  a blind photographer), and “Infinite Lights: A Decade of 9/11 Tribute Lights,” which is a collection of 9/11-related photography.

“Although I wasn’t in New York on 9/11, I made it a point when I moved here in 2003 to photograph all the ceremonies, the lights in the night,” Oswald says. “I made it a point to take pictures.”

The Book Fair will also feature Thomas Belton and his book, “Protecting New Jersey’s Environment: From Cancer Alley to the New Garden State,” Cherese Bracey and her mystery “The Case of the Withering Books,” Elijah M. Brown and his book, “Missing Pages, Out of My Life,” “Taco” by John E. DeJesus, “Those Sweet Nothings” by Cynthia Fabian, Jacqueline Hallenbeck’s “Poem-atic,” Sandra Guzmán’s “The New Latina’s Bible: The Modern Latina’s Guide to Love, Spirituality, Family, and La Vida,” Judith Natelli McLaughlin’s “Poems on Fruits & Odes to Veggies,” Clarence Matthews’ “Jacob’s Rite of Passage & Teen Jacob,” Valerie A. Mitchell’s “Emotional Rollercoaster: A Depicted Mind,” Peter O’Reilly’s “Oh Really, O’Reilly,” Jane Pedler’s “Wisteria Rose,” Alyssa Pierce’s “Caroline & Rebecca’s Day at the Beach,”  Keith Smith’s “Men in My Town,” JoAnne Williams “Escaping from the Victim or Volunteer Role in Your Relationship,” and Edna C. Zalenski’s “Los Cuentos de mi Abuelito,” (“Stories of My Grandfather”.)

Many of the fair’s featured writers praise the Jersey City Library, especially the New Jersey Room and the help they received during their research. “They allowed me to use images from their collection,” Wlodarczyk says. “They’re wonderful people and a valuable resource.”

The annual book fair is co-sponsored by the City of Jersey City’s Cultural Affairs Division, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Municipal Council. Chairwoman of the Book Fair is Assistant Library Director Sonia Araujo.

“We are so happy it’s the fourth annual,” Araujo says. “When we see all the people who come to the book festivals, we know we’re on the right path.” 

 A Tale of Our City

Jersey City Free Public Library’s

4^th annual Book Festival

Sat, Sept. 10, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Van Vorst Park

Opposite Main Library

472 Jersey Avenue

(Corner of Montgomery Street)

Jersey City

For more info: (201) 547-4500

 

 

 

 

 

The post TALES OF OUR CITY: Jersey City becomes the Main Character at Upcoming Book Fair first appeared on River View Observer.

“A Tale of Our City” book festival offers authors, new and established, of all genres and ages, a venue where they can showcase their works and  bring to the reading and buying public in a neutral inspiring setting.- Sonia Araujo/ Chair  “A Tale of Our City.”

 On a beautiful Saturday, September 18th the Jersey City’s 3rd Annual Book Festival was  held in Van Vorst Park. The first author we met was 

 Al Sullivan who works for the Hudson County Reporter papers-Bayonne CommunityNews. Al is a Senior Saff Writer, who reports the news and exhorts about Hudson County  politics in his weekly column.

Al was at the Book Festival to promote and read from his first book “ Everyday People: Profiles of the Garden State- published by Rutgers Press, 2001.  As Mr. Sullivan will tell you about his book “That every life has a story ripe for the telling.”

 

Mr. Sullivan  book features profiles about librarians, tax assessors, hot dog vendors, poets, politicians and everyday people who make not just New Jersey, but anytown, America special. Like his profile on Felix Addeo, who takes time out of his busy schedule to teach middle school kids what its like to be an accountant. Or Biomedical Engineer Lis Ross, who twice a year leads a group of volunteers to clean up a local pond. Through richly detailed stories- a kind  of writing that has all but disappeard form our local newspapers- about small -town people in extrordinary situations, Sullivan depicts the characters that enliven life in the Garden State.”- Rutgers University Press

Priscilla Gardner Library Director at the 3rd Annual Book Festival The Book Festival presented many different Authors with various styles of writing from Biographies like the one on Former Govenor Huges by John B. Wefing who wrote The Life and Times of Richard J. Huges-The Politics of Civility Published by Rutgers University Press, 2009 to poetry which featured Jacqueline Hallenbeck in her book Poem-atic which she self -published in 2009.

The Authors  featured at the Book Festival were:

Jemmine Adams– Running with Fred -self published, 2010

Shobhan Bantwal – The Unexpected Son- Kenisngton Publishing Corp, 2010

Morning Dew– The Sea Flower, During the age of the Winged Warrior-self published by Seaburn Publishing Group, 2009

Hisani DuBose– Do I have to be a Starving Artist in the 21st Century -self published by Createspace, 2010

Cynthia Fabin– Second Hand Art- self published by Strategic Publishing Group, 2010

Kenny Hall-Billy & Me Kenny’s gonna ruin my redneck image- self published by AuthorHouse, 2008

Cythia T. Harris, MLS-Co-Authored with documentary photographer Leon Yost Changing Jersey City : A history in Photographs -published by Schiffer Publishing, 2009/ Available online.

Bob Leach-Young Frank Hague and the Lucky Horeshoe-Published by the Jersey City Free Public Library, Ltd Ed, 2009 Available through, JC Historical Project and online.

Gioya Mc Rae-Life Sentence: 356 Prompts, Challenges & Wild Persuassions for Write -brained People- Self published by Mocha Mind Communications, 2010

Adeyinka Makinde– Jersey Boy: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula -Self Published by iUniverse, 2010 (side note I knew Frankie DePaula-this book names, names and you can’t put it down, once you begin reading it).

also featured: Jane Pedler, Derek and Gina Roce, Sonia Roman,Keith Smith, Patricia Squires and Michael Walters.

For any authors interested in showcasing their work next year, the book festival will be held on September 10, 2010 please call 201-547-4549

The post Visiting Jersey City’s 3rd Annual Book Festival first appeared on River View Observer.

â¦ART HOUSE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

•Art•Performance •Music•Film/Video

jcfridays Events Calendar

 

Pictured the art of Habib Ayat

Acrylic Sculpture by Grigory Gurevich

The post JC-FRIDAYS -September 11th first appeared on River View Observer.