Lightning Before the Storm

They say there's a big storm heading this way, but tonight it was still business as usual for the Belmar Arts Council.  The Boatworks hosted Lightning Jar, an Asbury Park based folk rock band known for interesting instrumental arrangements and beautiful vocal harmonies.  Pat Hutchinson sent us this photo during the show.  Looks like it was a fun time.  Information about future musical performances at the Boatworks can be found on our main website.

The Mud Mural is Really Finished

Some rain slowed down the plan a few days, but as scheduled, the mud mural was finally taken down last week.  If not for the bulldozers, there's a good chance it would be mostly down by now anyway; just a few pieces of twine were keeping it up on one side.  With all the other points of reference gone now, it's hard to say exactly where it was, but between these two photos, we're seeing the empty ground where our wall of straw, sticks, and mud once stood for well over a year.  (We did better than the straw and stick houses built by the first two little pigs, but not as well as the third house of bricks.  Perhaps if we had baked the mud first...)

It was fun while it lasted.  It involved dozens of people from the BAC and the community, and we got to experience an obscure but interesting process.  We're not likely to build another one at the Boatworks.  We'll have less unpaved ground when this construction is done, and project leader Kat Heitman has moved away to pursue graduate studies (though she has plans for more mud projects out there already).  However, if anyone does want to try a cob building project, the whole process is documented on this blog.  Just click on the words "MUD MURAL" at the bottom of this post to bring up the whole set.

Still Standing...Barely

Anyone who has been by the Boatworks in the past few weeks has noticed big changes to the area.  First, the town of Belmar trimmed, then removed the trunks of all the trees that had marked the northern edge of our parking area, the first step in the plan to repave this little corner of our town.  Meanwhile, our mud mural was still standing, looking pretty much as it did in August.  

But then about a week ago we had the first major change to the wall, it started to break away from the bundled bamboo stalks that form the main vertical support on the left side.  However, despite that the weight of the whole wall is now being supported only on one end, the wall is still intact.  No big chunks have fallen out, and while some bigger cracks have formed, all the 3D elements are still where we put them.  Pretty amazing for a bunch of mud and sticks.  We knew from the beginning that this would not be a permanent addition to our site, and documenting nature's reclaiming of the materials was always part of the project, but it has lasted a lot longer than we had expected.

We would love to see how this plays our over the next few weeks, but it looks like we won't have the opportunity.  We've got word that this coming Monday whatever is left standing by then will be bulldozed to the ground.  So if you want to make one last visit to see our cob wall, better get there soon.

Art of Autism Reception

This evening the Boatworks hosted the opening reception for our new Art of Autism exhibition.  The show features art made by individuals with autism, and will benefit future such programs.

The front room includes over 80 artworks, created from many artistic mediums.  The majority of the work was created by children participating in the Beach Bash, a two day event run by Surfers Healing, a non-profit dedicated to teaching autistic children to surf.  Earlier this month 300 children were part of the event on Belmar's beach, where they got to enjoy the waves with the help of experienced surfers.

Jane Magovern was a big help in organizing artistic activities at the Beach Bash, getting more than four dozen people involved.  For the occasion, many of the resulting artworks are surfboard shaped.

In addition to the art show in the front room, there was a different show in the back room.  Musician Cliff Bloodgood sang and played for the crowd, while a continuous slide show of scenes from the Beach Bash played on the screen on the back wall.  Plus we had our typical assortment of refreshments.   Donations from local businesses Taylor Hardware, Klein's Waterside Cafe, and the 9th Avenue Pier helped make the reception possible.  Several dozen were in attendance during the reception, with most hanging around until the end.

Almost all the work is for sale, the vast majority priced at only $10.  To help with the fundraising, the reception also included a 50/50 and a silent auction of work donated by BAC members.  Ten of the donated works sold during the reception.  The other 19 pieces, a mix of paintings, sculptures, photos, etc, will remain in our side gallery for the duration of the show, so future visitors can bid on them.

The Art of Autism exhibition remains on display at the Boatworks through November 2, 2012.  Regular gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 1 to 5 pm.  Admission is free.

Artists United at the Boatworks

This morning the Boatworks hosted an unusual event related to the current Unite Collaborative Exhibition.  The show, which opened three weeks ago, invited submissions from artists working in groups of two or more to create the artwork.  The combinations could include pairs of visual artists, but in many cases the works are the result of pairings of writers and visual artists.  Today the show's participants, and anyone else who might be interested, were invited to be part of a discussion of the collaboration process- for these specific works and in general.  The discussion was led by Rachel Zantarski (above) and Sandy Cook (below), who were both part of the Noble Prose writers group that also encouraged collaborations between writers and visual artists.

About a dozen artists (and one very happy little dog) were part of the discussion.  We started by talking about the different approaches the various participants took to get to their artworks- how collaborators were picked, how ideas were developed, how communication occurred through the process, and reactions to the resulting work.  It turns out that there were as many strategies as there were artists, but it demonstrated that there are potentially many paths to creativity.

In the second half of the event, we turned on the lights, got out of the chairs, and walked around so that the artists could talk about some of their specific works and give details about their role in the creative process.

The discussion was vary lively and informative, and left the group excited about the possibility of another collaborative exhibition in the future.  Meanwhile, the current Unite show is up through September 21st, so if you haven't seen it yet, make a point to get to the Boatworks soon.

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.

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

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

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.

Learn Woodblock Printing in Belmar

Since last fall, the Belmar Arts Council has been offering classes in Woodblock Printing.  The course is taught by longtime BAC member Paul Bonelli, whose award winning woodcut prints have been seen many times on the walls of the Boatworks.  The artist brings his years of teaching experience and decades of woodcutting experience to the class, which covers the basics of relief printmaking.  It's an ancient process that requires only a table and a few simple cutting and printing tools to produce boldly graphic art.

 After an introductory discussion of the many possibilities offered by the medium of woodcut, the participants are given wood and tools and start working on cutting designs into the block.

Once cutting is finished, the blocks are ready to be printed.  The class provides instruction in preparing the relief ink and using brayers to apply it to the wood block.

While woodcuts can be printed on a press, we do it the old fashioned way- hand printing with wooden spoons and other inexpensive easy-to-find implements.

 Below are some prints from the participants, all first time woodcutters, of the class session that just finished last week.

The class had such a good time learning about woodcutting and making prints that they want to continue, so we have scheduled a new four week session to begin in early August.  Beginners are welcome to join the group.  The class will meet on Tuesday nights from 7 to 9 pm, on August 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th.  The price is $120 for members, $150 for non-members, and includes wood, basic print paper, water based ink in a variety of colors, and use of cutting and printing tools during class.  Participants will learn safe and effective use of tools and basic printing techniques.  Advice will be provided as to the best way to convert individual artistic vision into a woodcut print, but as seen above, each artist bring his or her own subject and visual style to the resulting print.  No specific assignments- everyone works at their own pace.  Everyone who has taken the class has finished at least one print in the four weeks, and most have done more.

For more information about the class, to sign up, or to contact the instructor with any questions, go to the Woodblock Printing page in the Classes/Workshops section of the BAC main website.  Can't be part of it this time?  Keep an eye on the website for information about an autumn session.

Animal Spirits Opening Reception

Today the Boatworks hosted the opening reception for the Belmar Arts Council's new Animal Spirits exhibition, sponsored by the generosity of Carol Stillwell and Maryann Larkin.  Besides the art show, this is also a benefit for the Associated Humane Society of Tinton Falls, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the show.

 When people first arrived, many were drawn to the tent canopy set up outside by the Humane Society.  They had brought a variety of adoptable animals with them, along with information about the organization.

Above, a crate full of cats for potential owners to pick up and meet.  Below, some of the many dogs who were brought to Belmar for the occasion.  At least one application for adoption was turned in during the reception.

The other attraction, the artwork, filled all three rooms inside, all of it inspired by animals.  We ended up with 72 pieces submitted, a typical mix of paintings, drawings, photos, prints, sculptures, and ceramics.

As always, the back room becomes a popular spot for people to hang out during the reception, which was very well attended.

For this occasion, Hutch brought out his money grabbing machine, which took in cash donations for the Humane Society.

Another part of the reception was a raffle and people's choice vote for best artwork.  The door prize was an original framed artwork by our own Bonnie Smith, which is reproduced on our sign at the top of this post.  (reproductions were also available for sale)  People could vote for their favorite three works, and the top 5 received awards.

1st Prize

Blue Grass

Pat Griffin

2nd Prize

Casey

Terry Grewen

3rd Prize

Pick Me

Jean Malizia

Honorable Mention

Two Cats on a Rug

Carolyn Tisher Bartlett

Honorable Mention

Champ

Jeanine Nagrod

The Animal Spirits exhibition remains on display through August 17, 2012.  Gallery hours are Wed to Sat, 1 to 5 pm.  Admission is free.