Art in the Atrium’s 31st Black Art Exhibit/Sale, “Black Art in the Sun,” Launches Juneteenth Celebrations

Morris Arts is thrilled to see Art in the Atrium return to all four floors of the Atrium Gallery with its 31st annual exhibit and sale, Black Art in the Sun. Featuring Artist Ron E. A. Powell (aka REAP), the exhibit will include also works of 55 established and emerging Black artists drawn from throughout the entire country. Launching a weekend of Juneteenth celebrations throughout Morris County,  the free, Public Reception will take place on June 15, 2023 from 6:30-9pm at the Gallery, floors 2-5 in the Morris County Administration Building, 10 Court Street, Morristown, NJ  07960. There will also be a VIP (patrons, press) reception at the same location from 5:30-6:30pm.

REAP’s Wings of Osiris

Featured Artist Ron E. A. Powell, aka REAP, with his works

Art in the Atrium’s annual exhibit is the largest of its kind in the state.  In a testament to its prominence, it drew unsolicited artist submissions from as far away as Seattle and Atlanta. The result is a veritable visual feast, showcasing 222 works filled with color, energy, and intriguing, unique forms, demonstrating the depth and compass of contemporary Black fine art.

In addition to the Featured Artist, Ron E. A. Powell (aka REAP), the exhibit includes works by 54 other outstanding artists: Gwendolyn Barrington-Jackson, Sid Blaize, Anthony Boone, Joseph Boss, Tasha Branham, Leroy Campbell, Patricia Coleman-Cobb, Brian Collier, Harold Davis, Eddie Debos, Brandie Dickens, Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Stephen B. Ellis, Maria Estrela, Jay Golding,B. Curtis Grayson III, Serron Green, David A. Hollowell, Tenjon Ikeda, Bailey Li, Cathleen McCoy Bristol, Courtney Minor, Mansa K. Mussa, Jamarr Neyland, Rosalind Nzinga Nichol, Sage Ofray, Samad Onque, Suliman Onque, Yvonne Onque, Anu Oro, Cynthia Northington Purdie, Cheryl Riley, Gina Rivas-Velasquez, Red Red, Alicia Robinson, Philip Robinson, Amira Rogers, Akil Roper, Theda Sandiford, Fausto Savila, Serron, Fin’es Scott, Jonte Silver, Timothy Simmons, Glendora Simonson, Veronica Spruill, Bleriot Thompson, Dawn Tighe, William Tolliver, Denise Toney, Cynthia Vaughn, Bisa Washington, Lydia Watson, and Heather Williams.

L-R: Sid Blaize’s The Boss; Anu Ono’s Radius; Glendora Simonson’s Brotherly Love; Mansa K. Mussa’s Ancestors & Icons; Fin’es Scott’s Motion

Clerestory Fine Art (https://www.clerestoryfineart.com/artists/ron-powell) provides a glimpse into the fascinating background of this year’s Featured Artist, Ron E. A. Powell, also known as REAP:

Artist Ron E.A. Powell’s parents gave him his four-letter initials as a reminder “to reap what you sow.” As farmers in Jamaica, his parents were deeply in touch with the cycles of life, and today, he strives to explore in his art a similar holistic balance. Powell is an exceptional Hand Engraving craftsman at Tiffany & Co. Having completed his apprenticeship under many of the current master engravers, Powell dedicates his time developing his talents toward the craft. He has designed and created many portraits, landscapes and various artworks for the clientele. Through his discipline and expertise, he was selected to be an ambassador of Hand Engraving events across the country and abroad. These demonstrations allow for educating and providing a special personal touch to Tiffany merchandise. Ron has studied Fine Arts and Illustration at New Jersey City University and The Arts Students League of NY. He displays his artistry in various galleries across the country, Canada, and China, amassing awards and publications from numerous institutions.

L-R: Cynthia Vaughn’s The Storyteller; Anthony Boone’s Vertical Freedom; Veronica Spruill’s Grow Where Planted and Bloom With Grace; Philip Robinson’s The Awakening; Sid Blaize’s Soul Violin.

Traditionally observed on June 19, Juneteenth commemorates Black liberation from slavery at the end of the Civil War when President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became the law in all states. As the Morris Museum’s Juneteenth publicity states: “The day also highlights the resilience, solidarity, and culture of the Black Community. June 19, 1865 was the day word reached the enslaved in Galveston, Texas, though this emancipation actually ended slavery on paper two years earlier on January 1, 1863. ” This Atrium exhibit launches a weekend of Juneteenth events and activities – from art openings to an outdoor festival on the Green –  presented by a partnership of local nonprofit organizations.

Art in the Atrium, Inc. (ATA) is a non-profit, Black-led cultural institution founded in Morristown, New Jersey in 1991. As a culture keeper, it is committed to celebrating and advancing Black culture through visual arts. It supports and invests in Black fine art and artists by giving them visibility and a creative space to breathe. For more information, visit www.artintheatrium.org.

This exhibition is made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Atrium Art Gallery is free and open to the public during business hours, 8:30am-4:30pm, Monday through Friday and until 7:30pm on Thursdays. The exhibit remains in place until August 18, 2023.

After a five-year hiatus, Morris Arts is thrilled to announce the return of the Blackwell Street Juried Student Exhibit – its 31^st – to the Atrium Gallery!! Over 500 people attended the Opening Reception which  took place on  Thursday, March 30, 2023, from 6-8pm,  at the Atrium Gallery, located on Floors 2-5 of the Morris County Administration and Records Building, 10 Court Street in Morristown. Kudos to the Blackwell Street original artists/organizers, David Gruol and Peggy Dressel, for undertaking the massive effort to revive this exceptional (and much beloved) show, after the death of founding artist, Elaine Provost, and the ensuing pandemic.

L-R: Vedant Patel’s Tranquility (Randolph HS); Marco Maselli’s Cruisin’ (Delbarton); Matias Martin’s Robot Man (Morris Hills); Selina Huang’s Crazed  (Chatham).

Despite the many obstacles, 550 artworks from 17 high schools throughout Morris County were submitted for consideration, demonstrating the resilience of this special community.  Embracing a wide variety of media (sculpture, oil, acrylic, collage, multimedia, etching, charcoal, pen and ink, graphite, digital, photography, etc.), these artworks are a stunning tribute to the creativity, skill, and passion of these young talents.

L-R: Best in Show winner, Sam Gibbon’s Aloof (Delbarton); Caroline Mazurek’s Self Portrait (Montville Township);  Rob Alexy’s Cacophony of Verticals (Delbarton); Charlie Henne’s Repeated Downfall (Chatham).

A panel of professional artists from the Blackwell Street Center for the Arts selected approximately 225 wall-hung works and 50 sculptures/ceramic works from among the 550 submissions, evaluating and installing the works on all four floors of the gallery. There are multiple ribbon categories, with Best in Show and the 1^st Place winners receiving monetary prizes. The opening reception featured a student violin trio  from Randolph High School, an awards presentation (in the 5^th floor County Commissioners Meeting Room) and the opportunity to meet these talented young artists in person.

Evolving from a 1988 exhibit that featured approximately 40 pieces of art, the present-day Blackwell Street Juried Student Exhibit is unique in its democratic approach: there are no restrictions on the number of pieces a school can submit and submissions are open to public, private, parochial and home-schooled high school student artists from throughout Morris County.  In past years, hundreds of students, parents, teachers, and friends attend in support of these exceptional young artists.

Here are some scenes from the opening reception:

Morris Arts manages the Atrium Art Gallery, selecting artists and scheduling exhibits on behalf of the Morris County Board of County Commissioners.  The Atrium Gallery is free and open to the public during business hours, from 8:30am – 4:30pm, Monday-Friday and on Thursday evenings until 7:30pm. The exhibit will run from March 30, 2023 through April 27, 2023. For additional information about the show, contact Dr. Lynn L. Siebert, Director of Galleries for Morris Arts, (973) 285-5115, ext. 10 or Lsiebert@morrisarts.org 

Opened on February 2, 2023, our current exhibit and sale at the Atrium Gallery, A SENSE OF PLACE, is open through March 14 during local business hours and on Thursday evenings until 7:30pm. The Gallery is free to the public and is located on floors 2-5 of the Morris County Administration and Records Building, 10 Court Street, Morristown.

At a time when climate catastrophes, war and other dangers have displaced so many people throughout the world, this exhibit explores the elemental human need for “a sense of place” through the unique artistic imagery of  186 artworks by eight talented New Jersey artists: Laurie Harden (Boonton), Todd Doney (Gillette), David Clair (Bernardsville), Kevin Burkitt (Neptune City), Mark de Mos (Morristown), Allan Gorman (West Orange), Lisa Lackey (Maplewood) and Marge Miccio (Trenton).

L-R: Laurie Harden’s oil, Tending the Cattle;  Todd Doney’s oil on linen, Trees, March 2, 5:25pm;  David Clair’s mixed media, A Dying Breed;  Kevin Burkitt’s photo, #1 from 91 Days, Countless Nights series

 Is “place” a real location, the evocation of a mood, a familiar landmark, a sight to see in a foreign country, the familiarity of one’s own backyard,  the shifting light in wooded wetlands or the gritty realism of urban streetscapes? Each artist offers a unique definition of his/her “sense of place” and invites the viewers to contemplate their own interpretations.

In the fifth floor Atrium, Laurie Harden’s oils offer a veritable travelogue – from western plains to Guatemala – capturing local flavors and moods with careful attention to animating details: the falling snow, a quiet task, a journey home or the splash of colors and patterns in marketplaces or at the rising dawn.

 In the fifth floor Elevator Lobby, Todd Doney’s luminous, impressionistic oils transport viewers to mysterious places of woods and water. The play of light, the fleeting moment, the stillness of snow, the filtering of shadows on water or trees – all create unique “places” amidst the timelessness and beauty of Nature.

On the fourth floor Atrium area, David Clair’s acrylics and mixed media works take the viewer to real and fictional locations, from castles and iconic houses to imagined spaces. Inventively combining paper and paint, Clair creates dramatic, scenic vistas and, in some works, depicts critical themes: disappearing beaches and forests, melting icecaps, extreme storms – all seen through intricate geometric prisms.

In the adjacent fourth floor hallway, Marge Miccio shares her sense of place with imaginative renderings of scenes from New Jersey to Maine. Each painting focuses on a very specific place – a building, a section of coastline, a pier, a streetscape – to the exclusion of other distracting sights. Whether in bright daylight or utilizing distinctive night settings (lit by streetlamps), Miccio’s scenes draw in the viewer and encourage contemplation of the mood and flavor of each scene. 

L-R: Mark de Mos’ oil, Crossing South Street; Marge Miccio’s oil, Anthony’s;  Allan Gorman’s oil,  The Shops at Hudson Yards; Lisa Lackey’s cording, thread and fabric on canvas, It’s Complicated

 By contrast, in the third floor’s Atrium area, Mark de Mos conveys a gentler “sense of place” using watercolors, oils and pastels to depict cozy interiors, lovely gardens, peaceful winter farmscapes, active cityscapes, serene parks and landmarks of our own Morristown area.  His subtle use of color, line and nuanced composition invite the viewer into these places, conveyed with warmth, sensitivity and clear affection.

Filling the adjacent third floor Hallway, Kevin Burkitt’s stark black and white photography revisits, in graphic detail, the devastating impact of Superstorm Sandy on its 10^th anniversary. Photographed at night, these dramatic images reveal a destroyed “sense of place”: broken buildings filled with storm debris, skeletal structures with missing windows, collapsed walls and absent roofs. Powerfully evocative, these photos remind us that any sense of place is vulnerable to the destructive forces of Nature.  

In the second floor Atrium, the viewer experiences the extraordinary, tangible textures of Allan Gorman’s  urban scenes. With exacting precision, his oils convey the gritty feel of rusting steel girders, the glossy distortions of layered glass reflections, and the geometrically exacting play of planes/angles/shadows among steel, brick and glass structures of his streetscapes.  Gorman defines his spaces with brutal directness, graphic precision and startling accuracy. A master of line, draftsmanship, light and shadow, he captures the fascinating interplay of patterns, differentiating the many textures of urban spaces through his uncanny and superb photorealistic oils.

And, in the adjacent, second floor Hallway, Lisa Lackey offers her unique fabric and paper collages that memorialize glimpses of time and the hidden delights of ordinary places.  Approaching her subjects from unusual angles, her works reveal the beauties found in daily life: the shadows cast by a white picket fence, the webbing on a patio chair, the colors and shapes forming patterns on a grocery aisle, the lines on a highway at night. In a sense, she is teaching the viewer to see anew – and to appreciate the unique places that surround us all.

Most of the artworks are available for sale, with details and pricing provided in the free catalogues available in the elevator lobby areas on floors 2-5. The exhibit catalogue is also posted online at www.morrisarts.org, as well. The Atrium Art Gallery is free and open to the public during business hours, 8:30am-4:30pm and now has extended viewing hours on Thursday evenings until 7:30pm. The exhibit remains in place until March 14, 2023.

The public is invited to join Morris Arts, Art in the Atrium, Matheny Arts Access and Shoshana Kertesz for the free opening reception on June 16, 2022 (Juneteenth weekend) from 7-9pm for the exhibit, REEMERGENCE AND RENEWAL, at the Atrium Gallery, located on floors 2-5 of the Morris County Administration and Records Building, 10 Court Street, Morristown.  This reception will also mark the dedication of a plaque honoring the late Viki Craig, co-founder of Art in the Atrium (ATA), the African American art organization celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year. 

L-R: Armisey Smith’s alcohol ink, acrylic on paper, Busted Bouquet; Anthony Zaccaria’s Disney World with Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh; Onnie Strother’s mono print, Pretty Bill; Shoshana Kertesz’s oil on canvas, Puzzled; 

Marking our collective reemergence from the years of pandemic disruption, the 138 artworks by 46 talented artists in this exhibit offer a sense of renewal through their vibrant imagery, vivid colors, compelling designs and their underlying sense of humanity. 

Celebrating 30 years of African American art, the fourth and fifth floors present 70 works by 24 African American artists selected by Art in the Atrium (ATA) entitled Black Revival!, encompassing a wide range of styles and media – utilizing acrylic, multimedia assemblages, textiles, and photos  in abstract and figurative compositions.  The art showcases the richness and diversity of African American artistic languages, provoking careful thought and deep emotional connections with viewers. ATA will also announce its Black Art Resilience Grantees at the reception.

With a solo show on the third floor, Hungarian-born Shoshana Kertesz offers 40 artworks ranging from intense, dramatic oil portraits – often of famous cultural figures – to poetic, evocative fine art photography and pencil drawings on subjects from the grandeur / serenity of nature to intriguing urban streetscapes.

On the second floor, 28 works by artists with disabilities from the Matheny Arts Access program virtually explode with energy and color in distinctive geometrics, fluid abstract designs and sheer energy. The are truly imagination made visible.

L-R:; Chet Cheesman’s acrylic on canvas board, Home; Shoshana Kertesz’ photograph, Roots; Mikel Elam’s mixed media on wood panel, Misperception; Maria Estrela’s mixed media, African prints on canvas, Unenslave Yourself. 

By offering viewers the richness of expression from artistic voices less commonly heard, this unique exhibit offers new perspectives and inspires a sense of reemergence and renewal in those fortunate enough to see it.

Most of the artworks are available for sale, with details and pricing provided in the free catalogues available in the elevator lobby areas on floors 2-5. The catalogue is also posted online at www.morrisarts.org. The Atrium Art Gallery is free and open to the public during business hours, 8:30am-4:30pm and from 5-9pm on the last Thursdays of June, July and August as part of Meet Me In Morristown, the Morristown street fair sponsored by Morris Arts and the Morristown Partnership. The exhibit remains in place until September 2, 2022.

Morris Arts and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation are proud to present the twenty-fourth exhibit, SHIFTING GROUND, in the Gallery at 14 Maple. Guest curator, Jeanne Brasile (Director of the Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University) selected works by six outstanding artists (painting, mixed media, fabric art, and sculpture) for display at the Gallery, a distinctive space located on the 3rd floor of the LEED certified “green” building at 14 Maple Ave., Morristown.

The diverse and distinguished group of New Jersey artists, including Anonda Bell (Montclair), Martin Calvino (Highland Park), Hao Feng (Summit), Valerie Huhn (Summit), Troy Jones (Jersey City), and Danielle Scott (Plainfield), addresses the theme of the show, SHIFTING  GROUND  – using their unique artistic voices to examine elements of the strange and difficult times in which we live.   

L-R: Danielle Scott’s The Floods of Fear; Hao Feng’s Laughter In the Dark 1; Anonda Bell’s The Suburbs at 4am, #B

Guest Curator Jeanne Brasile shares her insights about the approach of each artist in her Curator’s Essay on the exhibit:

Hao Feng created a series of mixed media works that reflect directly on people’s experiences of the pandemic, particularly isolation and its effects.  In his series of weavings, Martin Calvino also addresses lived experience during the pandemic by literally writing crowd-sourced personal narratives onto slips of paper then weaving them into the weft of each piece. The Black Lives Matter movement gained urgency as a rash of racially motivated crimes and killings catalyzed protests throughout the country.  Danielle Scott traces current events to the brutal legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its impact on present-day America.  Her work explores its multifarious effects through the layering of text, image and three-dimensional objects that dissect colonialism’s harsh legacy. Troy Jones paints portraits of Black resilience.   His subjects wear West African masks while unapologetically meeting the gaze of the viewer, emphasizing Black power and beauty.  Feminist themes occupy Anonda Bell’s prints which explore difficult truths about women in contemporary society… Invoking the past to speak about the present, Bell uses metaphorical objects; lace, framework, idealized female bodies, medical instruments and flies to investigate sexist tropes… Dreary, surreal and often disturbing, we get glimpses of women, domestic settings and quotidian objects residing in indeterminate spaces.

And, in response to concerns about the manipulation of personal data, Valerie Huhn’s works – made from her obsessive applications of her own fingerprints in brightly colored paints arranged in elaborate patterns simultaneously reveal and obscure the sinister content of contemporary surveillance society. 

L-R: Troy Jones’ Keep on Fighting #3; Valerie Huhn’s Migrations 1; Martin Calvino’s Interlaced Objects No. 1.

The art in this exhibit presents multiple perspectives while confronting some of the urgent narratives of life in our tense and worrisome times. The works examine the impacts of an international pandemic, as well as larger societal questions of equality, selfhood, and justice, with which we all are dealing.  The exhibit captures the uncertainties and “shifting ground” of modern life. When will life feel more settled and stabile? As Jeanne Brasile so aptly concludes in her essay, “Perhaps it is wise to recall ‘the only constant in life is change.’”

Here’s a glimpse of the exhibit being installed, with comments by Curator Jeanne Brasile:

Morris Arts gratefully acknowledges support for this exhibit from:
 

Free visitation to the gallery exhibit is by appointment only. The exhibit will remain on display until August 22, 2022. The Gallery at 14 Maple is a barrier-free facility. Individuals needing special accommodations should contact Jenna Castano, ADA Coordinator at (973) 285-5115, x 12 or jcastano@morrisarts.org.