Belmar Stories On Display

Tonight was the opening reception for the new Belmar Stories exhibition at the Boatworks. Several dozen people showed up to see the artwork- paintings, prints, photos, sculptures, collages, and more- all on the topic of people's memories and stories about Belmar, NJ. After people had time to check out all the artwork in the front gallery, everyone assembled in the back room for the debut of the new Belmar Stories film. Our own Gypsy Davey Taylor, videographer and editor, introduced the film, which featured interviews with a variety of past and present Belmar residents, intercut with photos of buildings and people from Belmar's history.

The exhibition will remain on display at the Boatworks during regular gallery hours through August 28th. For more information, go the the BAC website.

City on the Moon...in Belmar

Today was the culmination of the Belmar Arts Council's City on the Moon project. Several local kids worked together to imagine a city constructed on the moon, considering the technological and societal needs of the city's residents. Then they spent a week building a scale model of their city, with the help of some adults from the BAC- project coordinator Tim McCorry and Wendy Green, Kevin Maypother, Bob Mataranglo, and John Hutchinson. Dozens of people showed up today for the unveiling of the completed city and to enjoy refreshments.

Above are a couple of views of the completed project. Photos of the whole process of planning and constructing the city will be posted soon.

Critique Group On The Move

Tonight was the most recent meeting of Belmar's Critique Group. The group is a great opportunity to get useful feedback on your artwork from other experienced artists. Bring something that you just finished or something in progress, and when you leave you'll have a better understanding of your work, and maybe an idea or two for the next one.

Starting in August, the Belmar Critique Group will change its meeting time to the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7:30 pm until about 9:00 pm at the Boatworks. Participation is free.

New BAC Website

The new Belmar Arts Council website is up and running, created by our own Lynn Collins. In addition to having a spiffy new look, the website provides more information and includes some new features, such as a gallery to post member artwork, and blog where members can post information about arts events. And best of all, it's the same address as our old website, so if you already had it bookmarked, you're halfway there. Or go check it out right now by clicking here.

Summer Movie Nights

Three Tuesdays every month the BAC shows free movies at the Boatworks. The 2nd Tuesday of every month is films about artists, the 3rd Tuesday are film classics, and the 4th Tuesday are vintage science fiction films. All start at 7pm

Next up on July 14th is Art School Confidential, directed by Terry Zwigoff, and based on the comic book story of the same name by Dan Clowes. A new freshman at a big city art school discovers that the art world is not what he expected. Rated R for adult language, nudity, and general art student behavior.

The rest of the summer:
July 21 Take Me Out to the Ball Game
July 28 When Worlds Collide

August 11 Frida
August 18 The Mark of Zorro
August 25 Killer Clowns from Outer Space

Metaphors Exhibition

Today was the opening reception for the Belmar Arts Council's first ever exhibition devoted to abstract art. The exhibition, called Metaphors, also benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Shrewsbury, which receives a percentage of all entry fees and sales. A check for the first installment of that was presented to Willow Caffrey. Well over 150 people came to the reception, which included plenty of refreshments and live music. As part of the afternoon, those in attendance could vote for favorite pieces among the 39 works on display. Those awards went to (from top to bottom) Alison Bowie (for her sculpture Fireball), Doris Lenz (for her collage Imagination), and Ana P. Rodriguez (for her photo I'm Dreaming). The exhibition remains up through July 31st.

Jammin' at Jake's

Tonight the BAC Jam Band went on location, to the boardwalk just outside Jake's Crab Shack at the Taylor Pavilion. A nice crowd enjoyed the beautiful weather and music from the group, which included Tom, Tim, Mike, Bart, Chard, and Dave. Most appearances of the BAC Jam Band are at the Boatworks, the 2nd and 4th Friday nights of each month, from 7 to 9 pm. Admission is free.

Digital Painting Demo

Tonight was our regular monthly meeting (normally 1st Thursday, but moved to this week because of the holiday). After the business part we were treated to a demonstration of Corel Painter by photographer/watercolorist Keith Mills. The crowd was very interested to see some of the possibilities of this computer program and some of its applications for photo based art.

Earlier this week Keith Mills hosted the BAC Photo Group in his Spring Lake studio, demonstrating some digital photo techniques. The Photo Group is relatively new, but it's already pretty popular. It usually meets at the Boatworks on the first Tuesday of every month.

Collage Workshop

Tonight the Boatworks hosted a workshop led by Michelle Bernard, on the topic of making freeform collages with personal mementos. Among the processes explored tonight were rubber stamps, embossing, painting, collage, paper punches, and more. Participants brought materials from home (copies of photos, personal ephemera, etc) and combined them with all the materials provided by Michelle to produce mixed media collages. The occasion for having the workshop is for those who would like to submit a collage about their memories of Belmar to our upcoming Belmar Stories exhibition, but this approach can be used to make two and three dimensional art of all kinds.

Memories of Belmar

This coming August, the Boatworks will be hosting an exhibition called Belmar Stories: A Show of Visual and Performing Arts. The exhibition will invite artists to submit art in any medium that is inspired by their memories of Belmar.

The first phase of the process began this evening, at an event hosted at Taylor Pavilion by the Belmar Historical Preservation Council. A few dozen people attended Seaside Memories, where the longtime Belmar residents had the opportunity to reminisce about Belmar's past through discussions and Belmar trivia going back over a century. Several BAC members were on hand to participate, including videotaping some of the participants talking about their Belmar memories. The resulting video is intended to be part of our August show.

The next related event is a special collage workshop hosted by Ranger Industries artist and designer Michelle Bernard. She will show people how to create a finished piece of art from their own collection of photos, mementos, ephemera, and souvenirs. It's a great opportunity for those who would like to be part of our August celebration of Belmar but who are not quite sure what to submit. The workshop will be July 7, from 7 to 9pm, and is recommended to people age 17 and up. The fee will be $10 for BAC members, $15 for non-members. Space is limited, so participants are asked to register by contacting Brenda at the BAC by July 1st.

The Belmar Stories exhibition itself will open August 8 and remain on display through August 28, 2009. Intake for the show will be August 1, from 10 am to 1 pm. More details will be posted here as we closer to the event.

BAC Jam Band

One of the new regular events this summer is the BAC Jam Band. Above photos show Mike, Bart, Tim, Dave, and Tom performing recently on the Boatworks stage. The group meets at 7:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of summer months. New musicians are welcome to sit in. In addition, there will be open mic spots available during Jam Band breaks to interested musicians, singers, poets, comedians, jugglers, etc. Admission is free for all, in case you just want to come enjoy the music.

Brave New Works Opening

Today was the official opening reception for the Brave New Works show currently on display at the Boatworks. About 50 people came by to see the art, which remains on display Wed-Sun, 1 to 5 pm, through June 27th. As part of today's event, Bunny Poland of the Belmar Food Pantry was presented with a very timely check for $321 by exhibition chair Scott Hawxhurst, money derived from entry fees, donations, and sales of art in the show. Any further sales of art from this exhibition will also benefit the Food Pantry, so consider coming by the gallery and acquiring one of the many daring new works in the show.

Battle of the Bands '09

This past May the Belmar Arts Council organized the 4th Annual Battle of the Bands, held at the Belmar Elementary School Auditorium. The competition is open to bands with members age 15 and under. The event was hosted by the BAC's own Tom Brennan (top photo), who sent us these photos. Also shown:

Photos #2-4 Vapor Child (Competition Winner), including Bill Schneider, Chad Morales, Greg Ruberis, and Michael Delgado.

Photos #5-6 Energy Level, including Michael Vecchio and Alexandra Vecchio.

Photo #7 Beach Music Rock Band, including Andrew Peterson and Robert Capone.

Photos #8-9 Point of Entry, including David Abraham, Jamon Lyons, and Jason Fahim.

Photo #10 Anything But That, including Jenna Angelidas and Liam Donnelly.

Brave New Salon

Tonight we had our usual monthly member meeting (1st Thursday of every month at 7:30 pm at the Boatworks, all are welcome), but when it was done we held one of our Salon events. On these occasions, artists who have work hanging in the current show are invited to speak about their work and answer questions from those in attendance. Earlier this week the Brave New Works exhibition was hung. It will officially open this coming Saturday June 6, with a reception from 3 to 5 pm, but those in attendance tonight got a little preview. Several of the exhibiting artists were on hand to talk about their pieces on display.