Sunday, August 26, 2012

Still Standing


It's been just about a year since we took the protective awning off of our freestanding cob wall, our mural of mud.  Considering what it's made of, it's held up remarkably well.  If you compare the above photo to what it looked like a year ago, you see that from a distance it still looks a lot like it did then.  The letters are still readable, and the bamboo stalk design on the sides are still intact.




Up close the effects of time and weather are more apparent.  The top edge has begun to disintegrate.  The straw that was attached to the frame has emerged in many parts of the wall as the clay mixture has gradually washed away.  The surface has cracked, though so far no chunks have fallen out.  There is less of the green "paint" we used to highlight the sculptural elements, but some remains.  You can't tell from these photos, but the center of the wall seems to be leaning back a little bit.


With hurricane season approaching, it would be interesting to see how the wall would hold up through another year of storms, but it looks like we won't get the chance.  The town of Belmar plans to go ahead with their long planned project of repaving the blocks that surround the Boatworks.  It seems that will include some of our parking area, and that means that the mural will eventually have to come down.  We don't have a specific schedule yet for the construction plans, but efforts are expected to start shortly after Labor Day. So if you'd like to see our mud mural one last time before it comes down, plan to come to the Boatworks as soon as you can.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Unite Collaborative Exhibition Reception


Tonight the Boatworks hosted the opening reception for the new Unite exhibition, which features artwork that is the result of the efforts of two or more artists working together.  All artworks involved visual artists, but in many cases a writer was part of the team.  The show includes 39 works, demonstrating such mediums as photography, painting, drawing, sculpture (using such materials as clay, glass, concrete, wire, wood, motors, bronze, and sugar), printmaking, and any mixed combination you can think of.





 It didn't take long for a big crowd to fill the Boatworks.  Double the number of artists for each piece and you potentially double the number of people who attend the reception.  We easily had more than 100 people in attendance over the course of the afternoon.


Keeping the crowd in the back entertained was live music from some old friends of ours, the Belmar Beach Bums Acoustic Collaboration.


As part of the reception we invited people to vote for their favorite works.  The votes were collected in a box and counted at the end of the day. The following piece were chosen:


1st Place
Joan Myers & Marilyn Baldi
Sol Search
Photography



2nd Place
Alberto Franco & Megan Finkelson
Void
Oil, Photography, Poetry



3rd Place (tie)
Dana Cohoon & Geraldine Vergona
Sweet Mountain View
Photography with Sugar Sculpture


3rd Place (tie)
Donna D'Amico & Stella Mrowicki
After the Storm
Mixed Media

The Unite exhibition will remain on display at the Boatworks during regular gallery hours (Wed to Sat, 1 to 5 pm) through September 19, 2012.  Admission is free.

Cat Cosentino at the Boatworks


Last night Cat Cosentino and friends performed at the Boatworks.  The local singer-songwriter brought her music and poetry to an appreciative crowd.  The songs were preceded by poetry readings (see below), actually the songs that were about to be performed by Cat.   She was also accompanied at times by Jerzy Jung, who will be back performing at the Boatworks in October.


photos courtesy of Pat Hutchinson

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Steel Rail Blues Tries Again


A few weeks back we welcomed Steel Rail Blues to town to perform a free show at Pyanoe Plaza.  It started off great, but a giant not-so-welcome thunderstorm also came to town about 15 minutes into the show and that was the end of that.  Luckily we were able to reschedule the band to return to Belmar this past Saturday.  The full stage wasn't set up this time, but it looks like all the instruments were there and that's what counts.  That, and having some nice summer weather, which is what we got this time around.

Summer is almost over, but there's still more live music yet to come.  This Friday, August 24th at 8:00 pm the Boatworks will be hosting CAT Cosentino.  Only $8 at the door.  And next Friday, August 31st, the Boatworks will be welcoming back our good friends Thomas Wesley Stern.

photo courtesy of Chris Krebs

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Opening Up Facebook


Tonight was the August monthly member meeting at the Belmar Arts Council, back at the Boatworks this month.  After we covered some upcoming business- art shows, classes, groups, music performances- we turned the meeting over to our guest presenter, Connie Gutierrez.  Connie is a Belmar resident and BAC member and was invited to share some of her experience with using Facebook.  With a computer plugged into our projection system, she demonstrated the basics of many processes involved with using Facebook.  She covered how to create an account, showed how users could set permissions on who could view what, how to label and tag photos, and the various types of things that friends can post on your wall.  She also provided some general advice related to security and common pitfalls, and the differences between personal and business accounts.  Handouts were provided for those who were ready to try it at home.


Next month's meeting will also be at the Boatworks on Thursday, September 6th and will feature a presentation from Rob Rielly regarding how to add color to black and white photos.  Meetings are free and open to the public.