The traditional Champagne Gala will officially open the visual art gallery on Saturday, November 14th and will remain open throughout the fall holiday season. The vibrant and stunning visual art gallery, housed in the sanctuary of Jersey City’s beloved and historic Grace Church Van Vorst, remains the heart and soul of this great cultural celebration.

For the 20th Anniversary of the Cathedral Arts Festival, artwork in all media and encompassing all subject matter was considered, including painting, drawing, textiles, sculpture and photography – all to help showcase two decades of creative excellence. “Over 327 artwork submissions from over 69 artists arrived after the call to art was sent out”, according to Mark Guerette who leads the artwork submission and selection process.

“Gifts of the spirit have long been celebrated at Grace Church Van Vorst, and creativity has always been a hallmark of our faith community. Many professional artists call our church their spiritual home. Our jury each year is uniquely and intentionally collaborative. We draw upon the expertise of the creative talent within our walls, and we seek out professionals of note from the art world outside our doors, in an effort to bring together a team that is both qualified and committed to assembling an inspiring and salable exhibition of great quality” says Guerette.

All artwork is for sale with a percentage of each sale going to Grace Church Van Vorst. Proceeds from the sale support the operational and outreach activities of Grace Church Van Vorst. These activities include, but are not limited to, religious services and adult education, Grace Van Vorst Community Services (our non-profit, 501c3) and the Grace Senior Center for Healthy Living, which provides various services to the elderly. And, Grace’s Breakfast Plus Program provides hot meals on Saturday and Sunday for the hungry and homeless of Jersey City.

According to Grace parishioner Bayla Kallstrom, one of the founders of the Cathedral Arts Festival, “Twenty years ago, Grace Church had just completed a renovation which opened up the sanctuary so that it could be used for–among other things–performance, banqueting, dancing, and gallering art. As soon as we recognized the possibilities, we soon discovered that Jersey City was a cornucopia of talent.”

“Originally, the Festival was called the Cathedral Arts Market. It was based on the concept that once upon a time, cathedral spaces belonged to the entire community and served it in many ways–places of worship, socializing, commerce, etc. We wanted to create something that reflected our congregation’s theme of “Community, Diversity and Creativity.”

“All was capped by an elegant black tie gala in our new sanctuary–quite an accomplishment in pre-gentrification J.C.– which had great food, champagne, music, and a list of attendees that truly reflected the eclectic, exuberant and varied nature of our community. (One wag referred to our festival as the “jewel in the middle of the swamp”.)”

As per The Reverend Nick Lannon, Curate of Grace Church Van Vorst, “The Cathedral Arts Festival is one of the best ways that we, as a church, can give back to the community. We open our glorious sanctuary to the talent of Jersey City and beyond. Come, appreciate the wonderful art, and help us, as we raise funds, give back to the community in other ways: helping those less fortunate than ourselves, both spiritually and materially.”

Mr. Chi Modu, professional photographer and one of the Wardens of Grace Van Vorst says, “It’s not often that a church, which is primarily known as a place of spiritual guidance and worship in the community is also looked to as a place of artistic expression and creativity. This is only possible due to the uniqueness of the Jersey City community. We are honored to be able to be a source of creative inspiration to the local community and a legitimate venue for both new and established artists to show their work. We look forward to another twenty years of art at Grace Van Vorst in Jersey City.”

Not only does the Cathedral Arts Festival receive participation from local artists, just about everybody from the congregation volunteers in some capacity or another, so it’s truly a great community building event where lifelong friendships are made. Also, local Jersey City businesses have been very supportive of the Cathedral Arts Festival. Major sponsors in the recent past have included Panepinto Properties, Pershing, The LeFrak Organization, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, and The Provident Bank Foundation among others. Also, a beautiful program guide is put together allowing smaller businesses in the community to advertise in support of the festival as well. Support from the city of Jersey City and Hudson County has been received in the past as well as from local politicians.

The community at Grace Church Van Vorst mirrors the great diversity of Jersey City; performing and visual artists; professionals and trades people; straight and gay; Asian, Black, Latino, Indian, Filipino, and white all worship together in a progressive, inclusive, urban congregation. Creativity permeates all aspects of church life-from innovative multi-media worship to the use of our landmark building as a center for education and performance. Community, Diversity and Creativity are the hallmarks of parish life at Grace Church Van Vorst. Regular services with Holy Communion are held every Sunday at 9:15 and 11:00 AM. All are welcome to attend. The festival will end with the closing of the gallery on Friday, December 4th. It will be a fall extravaganza this year not to be missed.

This Cathedral Arts Festival Champagne Gala Opening takes place on Saturday, November 14th at 7:30 pm at Grace Church Van Vorst – located at 39 Erie Street and 2nd Street in downtown Jersey City, NJ. Admission to the Gala Champagne event on Saturday November 14 is $40 in advance via www.gracevanvorst.org. Tickets at the door the night of the event will be $50.

The post Grace Church Van Vorst celebrates its 20th Annual Cathedral Arts Festival first appeared on River View Observer.

On Saturday, April 14th, hundreds of caring citizens and employees of companies in Hudson County and elsewhere will volunteer their time to do much needed repairs on other homes in Jersey City. Rebuilding Together Jersey City is part of a national program, Rebuilding Together, the nationâ€s largest volunteer-based provider of home-repair services. For over a decade their mission has been to rehabilitate the homes of low-income, elderly or disabled persons, or families with children, at no cost to them, so they may live in safety, warmth and independence. This year itâ€s marking the rehabilitation of its 100,000th house with a six-month-plus celebration that highlights rebuilding events in cities and communities throughout America.

The “100,000th House Celebration,” which involves the participation of affiliates across the nation, was launched Oct. 14, 2006, the celebration will culminate with media events across the country on National Rebuilding Day, April 28, 2007. The goal is to focus attention on the work done by more than 3 million volunteers and the delivery of approximately $1 billion in home rehabilitation services since the creation of Rebuilding Together 18 years ago.

Joan Kowalski, the co-president of Rebuilding Together Jersey City, has been involved with the program for eleven years, along with her husband. This year, Ms. Kowalski expects at least five hundred or more volunteers, which has been the average for the past five years. “We get the local unions, businesses, law firms, developers, banks, and financial firms. And of course we get individual volunteers from around the area. We are very grateful for the support from companies and individuals.” The staging area where volunteers meet is St. Patrickâ€s School on Bramhall Avenue in Jersey City. “They allow us to store our supplies there as well as allow us to use the school as a staging area for our volunteers. And, we actually do work on the school as well,” Ms. Kowalski said.

When it comes to why people and companies do volunteer work like this in their own community Ms. Kowalski believes itâ€s just being good neighbors. “Itâ€s great team building. Itâ€s a way to see no matter what kind of projects you are working on that you need to come together as a team to complete the project and itâ€s truly helping your neighbor. I think people really learn to take stock and appreciate what they have when they go into the homes they are working on and see how some people are living.”

There is a pre-screening application each year available to Jersey City homeowners who are interested in being considered for the program. “We look at the financials and make sure they fit our mission and then we go to the house and create a wish list. As people age we really like to keep them in their homes so we try to fix their houses for both comfort and safety,” Ms. Kowalski explained. This year Rebuilding Together Jersey City received thirty-four applications. They expect to repair eleven homes and three or four not-for profits.

Rebuilding Together Jersey City would not be possible without the financial help of a number of local and national businesses and organizations like the Jerramiah T. Healy Charitable Foundation for a Better Jersey City. The foundation is a non-profit with the mission to help needy individuals and causes within the city limits. True to that mission, the foundation recently gave Rebuilding Together Jersey City, a generous grant.

Provident Bank, a responsible business neighbor in Hudson County for years has also been a sponsor in supporting Rebuilding Together Jersey City for about ten years. Mike Parcell, a vice president at Provident Bank in Jersey City has been involved in the program with other Provident employees. “Each year Provident donates money to Rebuilding Together Jersey City. We also have employees of Provident who give their time and work on renovating one of the homes. Itâ€s a great cause, and it just makes people feel good.”

One of the most generous grants (30,000 dollars) came from the Jersey City Division of Community Development. Ms. Darice Toon-Bell, its director, believes that Rebuilding Together Jersey City is a very worthwhile program. “This program helps low income families, disabled people and senior citizens to make critical repairs to their homes and without this assistance these homeowners would probably not be able to bring their properties up to code.” JC Division of Community Development which handles both federal and state entitlement grants has been helping this program for a number of years. “We give them money to help purchase supplies for repairs, and the wonderful thing about this is that we get a lot of bang for the buck. We give them what I would consider a small amount of money but they are able to leverage this money with sweat equity, which is the bottom line. Itâ€s a perfect marriage.”

Some of the other local institutions that volunteer their time and donate money are United Water, Morgan Stanley, Pershing, Honeywell and others.

If you are interested in volunteering your time or donating money for Rebuilding Together Jersey City please call 201-222-2636 for more information

The post Rebuilding Together Jersey City first appeared on River View Observer.