On December 8, 2011 SMI members enjoyed a lively Holiday Party at the Van Vleck House and Gardens. Food, drinks and entertainment were sponsored by the SMI Board. Thank you to all who worked hard to make this party so much fun! Special thanks to Bartlett Greenhouses and Florist . The Holiday Party  was a lot of fun for all who attended. It was wonderful to see so many members at this event in the beautifully decorated building. We enjoyed music by SMI member Michael Gabriele and Matt Wilson, a slide show of work by SMI members, and exciting news from Eileen Sheehan and Merwin Kinkade, SMI’s Co-Presidents, and Bob Ambrosi, CEO of ARC Properties, Inc., and owner of Lackawanna Plaza. Mr. Ambrosi has generously offered SMI 2,500 square feet of space to be used to create the Studio Montclair Art Gallery at the Lackawanna Station Shopping Center, as part of his proposed plan to revitalize the property. SMI is thrilled about this opportunity and we will provide more information to SMI members as it becomes available.

Alison Golder, OchreWall, Encaustic, 18x18

SMI Member’s Exhibit
1/20 – 4/11, 2012

Opening Reception:
Friday, Jan 20, 6–8pm

SMI Gallery @ Academy Square &
SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery
33 Plymouth Street (2nd Floor)
Montclair, NJ 07042

HOURS:
Monday-Friday

7am-7pm

973-744-1818
studiomontclair@aol.com

Studio Montclair announces “State of the Art 2012,” an exhibit on view from January 20 to April 11, 2012, featuring the most recent work of SMI members. The exhibit will take place in Studio Montclair’s galleries at Academy Square, 33 Plymouth Street in Montclair. All are invited to the opening reception on Friday, January 20, from 6 to 8 pm. The galleries are open to the public 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday.

This year we are pleased to have as curator Robert Koenig, Director of The African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers in Tenafly, N.J., and former Director of the Montclair Art Museum. In a related program, Koenig will give a curator’s talk Thursday, March 8, from 6 to 9 pm at the main branch of the Montclair Public Library, 50 South Fullerton Avenue in Montclair. This promises to be a lively and enlightening evening, offering a glimpse into the mind of the curator and his process. There will be time for Q and A and discussion afterward. A reception will follow.

The artists featured in this exhibit are:

Owen T. Ambrose, Catherine Meier Asher, Susanna Baker, Michal Barkai, Amy Becker, Marcia Miele Branca, Ron Brown, Jeanne V. Campbell, Rita Marie Cimini, Pam Cooper, Marcie Cooperman, Marilyn Deitchman, Maryann Didriksen, William Dunnell, Marilyn Dupre, Fran Eber, Buel Ecker, Noel Farese, Donald M Felber, Leslie A. Ford, Michael C. Gabriele, Ritika Gandhi, Danielo Garcia, Andrea Geller, Madeline Giotta, Alison Golder, Joan M. Goldsmith, Orna Greenberg, Betty Guernsey, Joyce S. Hollander, Charles Hunter, Katherine Y. Jennings, David M. Johnston, Ilona Kennedy, Anne Kerr, Catherine Kinkade, Rita Klachkin, Karen Kruger, Lissanne Lake, Milton Landman, Carole Lane, Lauren Lehman, Eric Levin, Yvette Lucas, Maria Lupo, Valerie Lewis Mankoff, Fernando Mariscal, Clarence Mather, Roberta Millman-Ide, Edith M. Munro, Karen Nielsen-Fried, Nancy Ori, Maria Papale, Arthur Paxton, Sharon Pitts, Isabella Pizzano, Mary Reach, Ruby Reichardt, Connie Legakis Robinson, George Saj, Ellen Sawicki, Judith Shneyer, Stefanie Silverman, Linda Streicher, Brian Stymest, Heidi Sussman, Theodosia A. G. Tamborlane, Del Turgelsky, Claudia Waters, Debbie Weber, Diane Whitebay, Jodi Csaszar Zielinski.

David Johnston, Pale Yellow, Acrylic, 24x24

Submissions Due: December 2, 2011

Exhibition Dates: January 20 – April 11, 2012

SMI Galleries @ Academy Square

33 Plymouth Street, Montclair, NJ 07042

Juror: Robert Koenig

DOWNLOAD PROSPECTUS
studiomontclair@aol.com

Calling all SMI members! Submit your work to be included the next SMI Member Exhibition at SMI Gallery @ Academy Square and the SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery. We have a lot more space to fill and hope that most of our members will participate.  Every member who enters work will have at least one piece
in the show.

This year we are pleased to have as curator Robert Koening, Director of The African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers in Tenafly, NJ., and former Director of the Montclair Art Museum.

Please be sure to fill out form in
Acrobat Reader only. If you don’t have
it you can download it free here.

No entry fee

Become a Member!

Marcie Cooperman

November 3 – 28, 2011

Opening Reception:
Thursday, November 3, 2011 6–8 pm

Montclair Public Library
50 South Fullerton Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042

HOURS:
Mon.: 10 am – 6 pm, Tues., Wed., and Thurs.:
10 am – 8 pm, Fri.: 10 am – 6 pm, and Sat. & Sun.: 1 – 5 pm

973-744-1818
studiomontclair@aol.com

Studio Montclair Inc. (SMI) announces “The Value of Trees,” featuring the work of Marcie Cooperman, that is part of SMI’s annual “Meet the Artist” exhibition and program. The exhibit opens on November 3 and runs until November 28, 2011, at the Montclair Public Library, 50 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair, NJ. An opening reception will be held on November 3, 2011 from 6 to 8 pm. Ms. Cooperman will give a presentation on color theory at 7 pm.

Believing that line, texture, and color have the power to reveal an artist’s inner state, Cooperman visually combines these elements to tell a story about particular places and times. In the paintings in the exhibition, she depicts landscapes imbued with personal emotion. Presenting eerie lines with withdrawn colors or complicated palettes with soothing textures, Cooperman utilizes contrasts and juxtapositions to paint the landscape of her physical and emotional life.

For Cooperman, every day feels different, and line, texture and color are able to illustrate these nuances. They are also capable of answering questions. Sometimes, Cooperman just stands in the doorway and wonders, “what are the colors of this particular day?” Once she answers this question, she is ready to create.

Watercolor is Cooperman’s medium of choice. Its lightness allows her to create washes of color or build up dense layers of pigment. With the addition of other elements, such as salt and oil, she is able to create texture. But, most importantly, with watercolor she is able to mix any hue on the spectrum from just red, yellow, and blue, letting her dictate the palette of her emotions.

Marcie Cooperman has been exhibiting her art for many years, and she is also owner and senior artist of Fresh Interiors, which specializes in murals and tromp l’oeil for commercial and residential projects. She is an adjunct professor at Parsons, The New School for Design, and leads seminars on color theory and marketing for L’Oreal and other corporations, independent business owners, and other groups. She has taught color theory at Pratt in the Industrial Design department and the Graduate Communications Design department. She also teaches at the Newark Museum. She has a B.S. in Fashion Design from Drexel University and an M.B.A. in Marketing and International Business from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Her textbook “Color and How to Use It,” about color theory and its applications, will be published this spring by Pearson Prentice Hall.

In conjunction with this exhibit, Studio Montclair will offer two workshops on color theory taught by Cooperman and held at @The Art Studio, 211 Glenridge Avenue, Montclair, NJ. In the first workshop, to be held on November 10 from 7 to 9 pm, students will gain an overview of color theory and color relationships. In the second workshop, to be held on November 12 and 13 from 2:30 to 4:30 pm each day, students will obtain deeper insight into the workings of color theory, learning through hands-on exercises. Registration information can be found at www.studiomontclair.org.

Michel Modell, "War Cry", Watercolor

SMI’s 15th Annual Exhibition

Submissions Due: November 18th, 2011

Exhibition Dates: March 26–April 20, 2012

Ben Shahn South & East Galleries
at William Paterson University
300 Pompton Road, Wayne, NJ 07470-2103

Juror: Alexandra Schwartz

CASH AWARDS

DOWNLOAD PROSPECTUS
studiomontclair@aol.com

It’s submission time again for Studio Montclair’s 15th annual juried exhibition. Download the prospectus to apply to this prestigious exhibit in the Ben Shahn South & East Galleries at William Paterson University.

This year we are pleased to have Alexandra Schwartz as our juror. Ms. Schwartz is the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Montclair Art Museum where she is currently organizing a series of solo exhibitions of contemporary artists, beginning with “Marina Zurkow: Friends, Enemies and Others” and a major traveling exhibition, New Order: Art and Politics in the 1990s (Fall 2013). She was previously the coordinator of The Museum of Modern Art’s Modern Women’s Project and curator of Mind and Matter: Alternative Abstractions, 1940 to Now at MoMA PS1. Ms. Schwartz is the author of Ed Ruscha’s Los Angeles (MIT Press, 2010) and has contributed to various journals, anthologies and exhibition catalogues. She has taught at Columbia University and in the Education Departments at MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Harvard University.

9/16 – 12/21, 2011

Opening Reception:
Friday, Sept 16, 6–9pm

SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery
33 Plymouth Street (2nd Floor)
Montclair, NJ 07042

HOURS:
Monday-Friday
9am-5pm or by appointment

973-744-1818
studiomontclair@aol.com

This exhibit delves into the sensual realm of color and the power that color has to touch the soul and evoke emotional response. The curators have chosen thirty works from twenty-two artists who have used color as the primary thrust of their expression, and in which color is perhaps the most moving aspect of the viewing experience regardless of content, form, or imagery. The curators’ intention was to highlight the surprising, and often delightful, visceral impact that color against color can have upon the viewer.

Consider the controlled frenetic spinning blast of kaleidoscopic color in Marilyn Stevenson’s manipulated photograph, Fearful Symmetry, and Deborah Ugoretz’s Notan Blue, a lyrical ribbon of bright cobalt against a sharp orange red background; the two colors flicker and flare as they play off of each other, with the blue making a bold statement of strength and purpose. Vurtego Pogo by Jodi Csaszar Zielinski is anything but a typical painting of boys on a pogo stick. The colors are just slightly shrill and off-reality enough to make the brain work to adjust the color balance; but then the brain gives up and the viewer just goes with the pure joy of the unexpected color play.

This show is not just about bright and vibrant color, as is seen in two works by Andrea Geller, Solitary Man and The Journey. These are two moody, vaguely articulated landscapes with small gesture-rendered figures that seem to be enveloped in the light and storm-filled colors of the atmosphere that surround them. Krista Svalbonas also uses tints of color in her encaustic collage, Constant 3, which is a layered whisper of calm colors in a delicately balanced geometry, suggesting gentleness and integrity.

The art in this exhibit is very diverse, not only showing many genres of style, but also diverse usage of mediums in both traditional and non-traditional applications. Judith Shneyer’s two watercolors from the Fire Garden Series are anything but traditional; from her bold brush strokes of watercolor on synthetic yupo paper, this work is fresh and innovative and environmentally conscious.

The wire bowl sculpture by Madeline Giotta at first glance appears to be made of colored paper clips; but upon further inspection, one can see that each piece of wire has been hand-twisted and laboriously attached to perfection.

Whereas much of the photography in the exhibit consists of manipulated images, the work of Kristin Krongard is the opposite. Her two photographs of flowers are beautifully shot and meticulously printed portraits of flowers that are so real that they appear out-of-this-world.

The artists featured in this exhibit are: Sarah Canfield, Pamela Deitrich, Andrea Geller, Madeline Giotta, Joan Goldsmith, Alyce Gottesman, Donna Grande, Betty Guernsey, Catherine Kinkade, Kristin Krongard, Amy Martin, Clarence Mather, Arthur Paxton, Christine Parker, Ellen Reinkraut,  Judith Shneyer,  Marilyn Stevenson,  Krista Svalbonas,  Lynne Toye , Deborah Ugoretz, and Jodi Csaszar Zielinski.

Deborah Ugoretz, Notan-Blue, Acrylic on Paper, 30"x40"

Jodi Zielinski, Vurtego Pogo, oil, 36"x36"

Bonnie Maranz, Structures from a floating World, 50x50” Charcoal on Canvas

9/16 – 12/21, 2011

Black & White

Opening Reception:
Friday, Sept 16, 6–9pm

SMI Gallery @ Academy Square
33 Plymouth Street
Montclair, NJ 07042

HOURS:
Monday-Friday
9am-5pm or by appointment

973-744-1818
studiomontclair@aol.com

“Black & White,” curated by Elizabeth Smith Jacobs and Pam Cooper, explores the vast range of color that exists between these two opposites. Many renowned artists have employed this black-to-white range in their work, including Ad Reinhardt’s “black” paintings, Robert Ryman’s “white” paintings, Ansel Adams’ iconic photographs, William Kentridge’s drawings and videos, Louise Nevelson’s sculptures, and the prints of Chuck Close. Black and white distills an image to its essentials. For the artists in this exhibit the use of black and white is an aesthetic choice.

The curators consciously chose black and white artwork for the exhibit that represents a wide variety of mediums, styles and subjects, including realistic photographs, abstract pastels, simple line drawings, lush landscapes and detailed collages. Donna Levinstone’s pastel, “Eternal Waters II” and Bonnie Maranz’s charcoal drawing, “Structures from the Floating World” both convey immense space and grandeur, contrasting sharply with Raul Gil’s photograph depicting three Boggle players, deep in concentration, staring at the brightly lit iconic game in the middle of the table. Like Gil’s piece, Robin Fruchter’s linocut, “Cozy Chair,” depicts a homey scene. With its deep shadows, the effect is slightly claustrophobic and somewhat less than cozy. Heidi Sussman’s digital photograph, “Silent Stix” is pure and simple – a black branch in stark relief against a white background. Yvette Lucas’ “Barbed Tree and Egg Rock,” also portrays a tree branch but emphasizes the light and shadows, the subtle grays between the two extremes.  The pieces in the exhibit have translated the theme of black and white in surprising, innovative and remarkably interesting ways.

Artists featured in this exhibit are: Marion R Behr, Ron Brown, Angela Cali, Buel Ecker, Leslie A. Ford, Robin Fruchter, Raul Gil, Alice Harrison, Joyce S. Hollander, Phyllis K. Huggett, Charles Hunter, Peter Jacobs, Jill Kennington, Catherine Kinkade, Donna Levinstone, Monica Litvany, Yvette Lucas, Bonnie Maranz, Clarence Mather, Nancy Ori, Isabella Pizzano, Ruby Reichardt, Hilary Shank-Kuhl, Caren Sommer-Lazar, Heidi Sussman, Peter O. Tilgner, and Diane Whitebay.

Elizabeth Smith Jacobs is an artist and a teacher who has been a part of the Montclair arts community for over twenty years. She has a BFA from SUNY Purchase and a Masters in Art Education from NYU. She owns and operates The Clay Studio in Montclair and has created a variety of community public art projects throughout town.

Pam Cooper is a mixed media artist employing sculpture, papermaking and printing. She has curated exhibitions for a number of non-profit organizations in the metro area and has also served as a corporate art consultant and curator for the past five years.

Donna Levinstone, Eternal Waters II, 24"X28", Pastel

Raul Gil, The Boggle players, 10" x 20", Photograph

Robin Fruchter, Cozy Chair, linocut

Instructor Marcie Cooperman

Color Theory #1

November 10, 2011  7-9pm

Color Theory #2

November 12-13, 2011  2:30-4:30pm

Studiokids Art
211 Glenridge Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042

Registration Deadline: November 4th, 2011

DOWNLOAD REGISTRATION FORM

Studio Montclair presents two workshops on color theory taught by Marcie Cooperman, whose work will be on exhibit at the Montclair Public Library November 3 through 28, 2011, as part of Studio Montclair’s “Meet the Artist” series of exhibits and programs. During the opening reception for the exhibition, “The Value of Trees,” which will take place Thursday, November 3 from 6 to 9 pm, Ms. Cooperman will give a presentation about color theory at 7:00 pm.

Marcie Cooperman is an adjunct professor at Parsons, The New School for Design, and leads seminars on color theory and marketing for L’Oreal and other corporations, independent business owners, and other groups. She also teaches at the Newark Museum. She has taught color theory at Pratt in the industrial Design department and the Graduate Communications Design department. Ms. Cooperman is an artist who has been exhibiting her art for many years and is also Owner and Senior Artist of Fresh Interiors, which specializes in murals and trompe l’oeil for commercial and residential projects. Ms. Cooperman has a B.S. in Fashion Design from Drexel University and an M.B.A. in Marketing and International Business from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Her textbook “Color and How to Use It,” about color theory and its applications, will be published this spring by Pearson Prentice Hall.

Color Theory Workshop #1

Thursday, November 10, 7–9 pm

In this workshop students will gain an overview of color theory and color relationships. Discussions will include the effects of compositional elements on color.

Color Theory Workshop #2

Saturday, November 12, and Sunday, November 13, 2:30–4:30 pm

In this workshop students will obtain deeper insight into the workings of color theory, learning through hands-on exercises. Basic terms, color relationships, and 2-D compositional elements and how they influence color will all be explored.  By the end of the class, the student should understand the basics of color theory, bolstered by first-hand experimentation.

Deborah Ugoretz, Notan-Blue, Acrylic on Paper, 30"x40"

Congratulations to the award winners: Best in Show, Michel Modell; Second Place, JC Lenochan;
Third Place, Daniel Petraitis; and Honorable Mentions, Kurt Dyrhaug, Edward Fausty, Linda Brooks Hirschman, and So Yoon Lym.

Thank you to the award sponsors: CoCo, an experience, FastFrame, Gretchen Prater, Karen Kadus, MTS Frames, Oneida Mendez-Laws of Coldwell Banker, Montclair Art Museum, Ruby Reichardt, and Sonyia Woloshyn.

On June 11, Studio Montclair held a “Conversation with the Juror” at aljira with juror Rocío Aranda-Alvarado and participating artists JC Lenochan, Maria Lupo, and David Mazure.

Exhibit Chair Phoebe Pollinger and Juror Rocío Aranda-Alvarado

To see more photos from the reception, please visit the Studio Montclair Facebook page.

Katy Murphy, Bumper to Bumper

Considering Collage

& Next in Line

Academy Square

33 Plymouth Street

Montclair, NJ

May 20 to August 12, 2011

Reception: Friday, May 20, 6 – 9 pm

Studio Montclair (SMI) is pleased to announce two new exhibits, “Considering Collage” and “Next in Line” on exhibit from May 20 to August 12, 2011, at the SMI Galleries.

Considering Collage at the SMI @ Academy Square Gallery (first floor) features the work of artists who work primarily in the collage medium. Each was selected by curator Pam Cooper to “reflect the range of the possibility of collage.” Featured artists are Emily Barnett, Virginia S. Block, Circe Dunnell, Cecily Firestein, Linda Ippolito, Elizabeth Smith Jacobs, Rachel Leibman, Katy Murphy, Barbara Straussberg, and Paula Stark.

“Next in Line” at the SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery (second floor) features the work of Montclair High School graduating senior AP art students who plan to pursue careers in art fields. The show highlights the impressive skills and diversity of talents of these young people, who are literally “next in line” as emerging artists. Collectively they are students of art teachers Joanne Petrigliano and Stefanie Nagorka. The featured artists are Jordi Artigas, Anna Berlin, Gabi Dennis, Izzy Devine-Carter, Kayla Ephros, Rebecca Firkser, Faythe Hansen, Chelsea Jenkins, Rebecca Klein, Ian Langehough, Emma Mierop, Sean Mullins, Rebecca Yellin, and Julia Rachel Zeff.The show was curated by Gallery Director Virginia Schaffer Block and Assistant Director Karen Nielsen-Fried.

The show will be open to the public Monday Through Friday, 9 am – 5 pm