ReImagine Opening Reception

The ReIMAGINE exhibition has been up on the walls for a week or so, and this evening the Boatworks hosted the official reception.  The weather had been threatening all day, making this less of a beach day and more of a look at art indoors kind of day.

Not surprisingly, the crowd quickly built- we're estimating over 200 people came though over the course of the two hour event.  The main attraction was the ReIMAGINE show, with over 40 artworks made from recycled and reused materials.  The artists found many ways to make use of the shapes, colors, and textures of found objects in the creation of new art.

We did have some entertainment for the reception, music provided by Ida Cullen.

Besides the main show, tonight we had an added attraction, Sven and Lizzi's Student Salon.  Our side gallery included 28 works from students in the art classes that Sven and Lizzi teach every week, which includes Drawing and Beyond, Portfolio Prep, and Watercolors.  The mediums include drawing, painting, and mixed media.

This exhibition included a People's Choice Award, voted on by visitors to the exhibition between the opening and July 17th.  The following pieces were chosen for prizes:

Best-In-Show

Enlightenment Lamp

Ali Bowie

Honorable Mention

Horse Power

Bonnie Smith

Honorable Mention

A Seahorse of a Different Color

Sheila Kramer

The ReIMAGINE exhibition is sponsored by JV Engineering and Maser Consulting, and remains open through July 24, 2015.  Sven and Lizzi's Student Salon is open through July 12, 2015.  Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday 1 to 5 pm, with extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays until 7 pm.  Admission is always free.

Alan Has Returned

This week has seen the return of one of the most popular members of the Belmar Arts Council.  Alan, the name this huge yellow robot goes by, spent a good bit of last year guarding the front of our building and posing for photos with many passers-by.  That was followed by appearances in other parts of town, and during the off-season, some exciting new upgrades.  Now Alan 2.0 is back.  He'll be there if you stop by the ReImagine reception this weekend, or any other time you might wander by, and you can see what he can do now.

ReImagine Is Open

The latest art exhibition at the Boatworks is up on the walls and ready for the public.  It's called ReImagine: ReInvent, RePurpose, ReCycle, ReThink ART!  A few weeks ago we saw photos of show organizers Nicole Vincenti, Lisa Bagwell, and Sally Behler and like minded volunteers working on the above piece, which at first glance looks a lot like a colorful postcard celebrating Belmar's beach, except that it's about 4 feet long, and mostly made of used and discarded plastic materials.

Michelangelo and Bernini (and many others through history) carved beautiful detailed figures from huge pieces of marble.  Large scale bronze figures started as many smaller chunks of metal bearing ore, but the combination of metallurgic knowledge and the artistic vision and skills of, say, Donatello or Rodin, have resulted in equally impressive artworks.  However, if you don't have a large quarry or copper mine in your neighborhood, you can still create artworks from old packaging materials, used up products, and stuff that's been thrown away as garbage, as in the example below.

This exhibition encouraged people to take stuff that would just be littering the streets or going to a landfill and turn it into art. And we ended up with over 40 pieces being submitted.  There will be a reception on Saturday, June 27, 2015 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm,  but all the art can be seen now through July 24th during all regular gallery hours.  Admission is free.

In the spirit of this exhibition, BelmarArts will be collecting for recycling old cell phones and ink jet cartridges.  If you have any you no longer need, just bring them by the Boatworks and we will make sure they are properly and safely recycled.