Art Exhibitions | Princeton Magazine

Morven Museum’s Festival of Trees Opens Nov. 17

Image Source: www.morven.org

Morven Museum’s Festival of Trees will be on view Wednesdays through Sundays from November 17 to January 10, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This holiday tradition will celebrate its 16th year with a juried collection of themed trees and mantels displayed throughout the museum’s galleries, all decorated by members of garden clubs and organizations.

This year’s decorators include American Spaniel Club, Contemporary Garden Club, Mount Laurel Garden Club, New Jersey Audubon Society, Nottingham Garden Club, Princeton Public Library, Stony Brook Garden Club, The Garden Club of Princeton, The Present Day Club, and West Trenton Garden Club. more

“Slice of Life” Quilt Art Celebrates 300 Years of Hightstown History

Ever wonder what your day-to-day life would be like if you lived 100 years ago? 200 years ago? How about 300 years ago? The Hightstown Woman’s Club thought just that same thing and created a “Slice of Life” Art Quilt to commemorate 300 years of living in Hightstown, New Jersey. On Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m., they will be presenting this work of living history and art to the Borough officials at the historic Fire House event room, 140 North Main Street. more

Special Screening and Discussion of “The Third Man”

THE THIRD MAN, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, 1949

Princeton Garden Theatre will hold a special screening of The Third Man on Thursday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Carol Reed and starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli, The Third Man was voted the No. 1 British Film of the Century by the British Film Institute. The post-screening, virtual discussion of the film will take place on Sunday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m. The dialogue will be led by Hannah Jack of Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Register for the virtual discussion and in-person film screening, here: https://princetongardentheatre.org/films/third-man. more

Faux Bois Workshop by Ricky of Luna Parc

Image Sources: https://www.thetileworks.org

Join The Tileworks of Bucks County on Friday, October 29 and Saturday, October 30 for a Faux Bois Workshop led by Ricky of Luna Parc.

Faux Bois is the technique of creating the illusion of wood using cement. This technique was developed in France in the mid 1800s. With Ricky’s masterful teaching skills and creative insight, each attendee will leave with a cement Faux Bois planter. The height of the planters will be approximately 24 inches. Participants will be given a basic armature made of galvanized mesh. These armatures will be manipulated and covered with cement the first day. Day two is when the magic happens, and the technique of the wood simulation will be done. All materials will be provided. Students should bring their own pair of heavy leather gloves. The two-day workshop will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Purchase tickets here: https://www.thetileworks.org/events. more

“Secret History of American River People” with Artist/Director Wes Modes

Join Morven Museum for a virtual evening with Wes Modes to reveal “A Secret History of American River People” on Thursday, October 28 beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets range from $10-15 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/3ETY44D.

The painter and ornithologist Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh lived and painted in a rustic houseboat along the shores of the Scow Ditch in Bay Head, New Jersey. For more than a century, shantyboat communities sprung up in industrial towns and out-of-the-way rural areas on rivers and lakes all over the continent. more

“The War of the Worlds”

The Battle at Grovers Mill, by Princeton Art Impressions artist Robert Hummel, is on display at the Grovers Mill Coffee House. www.ArtistRobertHummel.com | www.BattleAtGroversMill.com

A Made-Up Martian Invasion That Continues to Fascinate

By Anne Levin

Decades before the term “fake news” became familiar, there was “The War of the Worlds.” The infamous 1938 radio broadcast, inspired by the H.G. Wells novel of the same name, announced to fans of the CBS Radio drama series Mercury Theatre on the Air that Martians had crash-landed in a farmer’s field in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, and were invading the earth.

It was the golden age of radio, and Sunday night was prime time. October 30, 1938 also happened to be mischief night. Led by 23-year-old Orson Welles, the theater company decided to take things a bit further than usual and give listeners a jolt. Just how much of a jolt they intended remains in question.

An announcer who claimed to be at the crash site just a few miles from Princeton breathlessly described a slimy Martian slithering its way out of a metallic cylinder.

“Good heavens, something’s wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake,” he began. “Now here’s another and another one and another one! They look like tentacles to me. I can see the thing’s body now. It’s large, large as a bear. It glistens like wet leather…. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it, it’s so awful! The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is kind of V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate.”

It was all a spectacular hoax, of course. But to some listeners across the country, the sophisticated sound effects and supposedly terrified announcers reporting Martians firing “heat-ray“ weapons created chaos. Newspaper reports at the time said people claimed they saw things that didn’t exist, and crowded the roadways in an effort to escape the invasion. Local legend has it that in Grovers Mill, an inebriated farmer shot at the wooden water tower because he thought it was an alien (never proven, but people who grew up in the West Windsor town have recalled seeing bullet holes in the tower). more

Fall Open House at Arts Council of Princeton

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) invites the community to a Fall Open House on Saturday, September 18 from 1-3 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the Fall Open House will feature the inaugural ACP Pottery Throwdown where attendees can watch ceramic artists in friendly competition while competing in various challenges on the potter’s wheel. In addition, each studio will be filled with opportunities to watch artists at work and discover the variety of classes and workshops the Arts Council has to offer, including painting and drawing, dance, textile art, clay, and more. more

Jasper Johns: “Mind/Mirror” Joint Exhibition

Flag, 1954–55, by Jasper Johns (American, born 1930) (The Museum of Modern Art, New York: Gift of Philip Johnson in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr., 106.1973) © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

From September 29 through February 13, 2022, patrons and art lovers will have the opportunity to see, in-person, a 65-year survey of the artist Jasper Johns’ works of contemporary art at both the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. more

WheatonArts Festival of Fine Craft

The 22nd annual Festival of Fine Craft at WheatonArts offers two days of an art and shopping experience for the entire family with more than 125 juried artists and craftspeople displaying and selling their works. Visitors will also partake in special artist demonstrations, hands-on family art activities, a Beer and Wine Garden, Glass Pumpkin Fundraiser, live music, and more.

This year’s event will be held on October 2 and 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. WheatonArts is located on 45 wooded acres at 1000 Village Drive in Millville, New Jersey (GPS address). This historic organization is home to the Museum of American Glass, the Creative Glass Fellowship Program, New Jersey’s largest Folklife Program, Artist Studios (hot glass, pottery, and flameworking), Museum Stores, and nature trails. Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors (62+), and $7 for students. Members and children under age 5 are free. more

14th Annual Hopewell Tour Des Arts

The annual Hopewell Tour des Arts returns this fall on Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For 14 years, this event has showcased the heart and soul of Hopewell’s artist community. With the opportunity to showcase their live work, the event allows patrons to step inside artists’ studios and study them and their craft. From painting to drawing, sculpture and photography, the tour delivers a wide range of artistic skill and techniques. A self-guided tour map can be accessed at https://www.hopewelltourdesarts.com/map-2021. The tour begins at Hopewell Train Station, 2 Railroad Place in Hopewell. more

“It’s Personal: The Art of Robert Beck” Exhibition at the Michener Art Museum

Robert Beck (b. 1950), Sunday Morning, 1996. Oil on panel. 24 x 18 inches. James A. Michener Art Museum.

The Michener Art Museum presents “It’s Personal: The Art of Robert Beck,” opening July 30. The exhibition focuses on Robert Beck’s place in the storied world of the New Hope-Lambertville arts community. Beck has played an important role in advancing and expanding the region’s traditions of Impressionism and Urban Realism, with distinctive oil paintings of the people, places, and occupations of our time. He is well known for documentary paintings, as he refers to his paintings done on site in one go. Whether single works or multi-image “visual essays,” these distinct paintings record his world much like the Pennsylvania Impressionists recorded theirs in their time. Unlike those images, Beck describes a world that contemporary audiences recognize as their own. Viewers respond to his keen perspective on the storefronts, street corners, bars, restaurants, carnivals, basketball games, funeral homes, and parades, of their here and now. While New York, Bucks County, and the villages along the upper coast of Maine, present subjects and contrast for his examinations, the exhibit includes work from series he created in the American West, Europe, and Africa. It is a remarkable story of a contemporary artist establishing a voice, becoming part of a community, and creating a body of work that will resonate in Bucks County and well beyond for many years. more

Calling For All Bell Lab Stories

First TSPS Operators in US, Morristown, NJ, 1969. Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center.

Did you or someone you know work for the Bell System in New Jersey?

In March 2022, Morven Museum & Garden will open an exhibition, “Ma Bell: The Mother of Invention in NJ,” that will explore the ways in which the company pioneered innovations that transformed all aspects of modern-day life. more

Roebling Museum Selected by Smithsonian to Create Exhibit on American Workers

Image Source: https://www.roeblingmuseum.org

The Smithsonian Institution announced that it has chosen Roebling Museum to develop an exhibit about work in a steel-making company town founded in 1905. Roebling Museum, which documents the history of a company town built by suspension bridge engineers John A. Roebling’s Sons Co., is one of five museums nationwide to participate in Smithsonian’s Museums on Main Street program. more

Solo Art Exhibition by Carole Jury, May 4-9

A resident of Princeton for seven years, artist Carole Jury will showcase her art from May 4 through May 9 at 19 Hulfish Street in Palmer Square. A portion of the proceeds will go to support Share My Meals, a non-profit that fights food insecurity and food waste in the Princeton area. more

Virtual Art Making with the Princeton University Art Museum

Greek, Tarentine, statuette of Nike, mid-3^rd century B.C. Terracotta. Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, gift of friends and colleagues in honor of Frances Follin Jones.

“Drawing from the Collections: Rendering Clothing and Drapery”

On Thursday, March 4 at 8 p.m., Princeton University Art Museum, in partnership with the Arts Council of Princeton, presents “Drawing from the Collections: Rendering Clothing and Drapery.” more

Frick Madison to Open March 18, 2021

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) “Officer and Laughing Girl,” ca. 1675. Oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New York.

The Frick Collection announces days/hours and timed ticketing for its temporary new home on Madison Avenue.

Advance tickets available for purchase beginning February 19.

The Frick Collection announced today that it will open the doors to Frick Madison, its temporary new home, on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Located at the Breuer-designed building at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, former site of the Met Breuer and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Frick Madison will welcome visitors Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Timed entry tickets will need to be purchased in advance, with online sales beginning February 19. The Frick Collection will operate Frick Madison for approximately two years while its historic buildings on East 70th Street undergo renovation. This temporary relocation enables the Frick to provide public access to its celebrated collections during a time when the museum and library would otherwise be closed. Details about member previews and a virtual press preview will be shared in the coming weeks. more

Honor Titus: “For Heaven’s Sake” at Timothy Taylor Gallery in New York

All artwork by Honor Titus

Timothy Taylor Gallery now presents “For Heaven’s Sake,” the first solo New York exhibition of paintings by self-taught American artist Honor Titus (b. 1989). This exhibition will be on view through March 27, 2021. more

Meet the Makers Behind Source and Tradition

Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay in the former Applegate’s Hardware Store in Bay Head, New Jersey, Alexandra Vaga and Shayne Boyle operate an inspired and unique ceramics studio and gallery. Lightly renovated to preserve the integrity and stories occupied by the original Jersey Shore business, the space is currently filled with all manner of coastal inspired ceramic objects. more

In Nature’s Realm: The Art of Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh

Image Credit: Grouse, 1885. Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh (1856-1915), oil on canvas. Private Collection.

Opening February 19, 2021

In line with its mission of celebrating the art of New Jersey, Morven Museum & Garden will present the first exhibition examining the work of Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh (1856-1915). more

The Frick Celebrates its 85th Anniversary

Image Source: The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection now marks the 85^th anniversary of its opening with a range of free content across its digital platforms. On December 16, 1935, the museum opened its doors to the public, sharing with New York City and the world, Henry Clay Frick’s extraordinary art collection and the Fifth Avenue Gilded Age mansion that houses it. more