SMI unveils its new gallery space at Academy Square with two inaugural shows that celebrate the rich past and bright future of visual arts in the Monclair area.

“Of Three Minds” opens Sept. 24 at the  SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery, on the second floor of the new Academy Square office building. The show will include work by three SMI members: Ekaterina Ermilkina, Ruth Bauer Neustadter and Bill Westheimer. It will be curated by founding president and gallery director, Virginia S. Block.

Ekaterina Ermilkina is a painter who was born in Yalta, Ukraine, and studied art in St. Petersberg, Russia. She works with a palette knife to create colorful cityscapes inspired by her new home near New York.

Ruth Bauer Neustadter’s rich multimedia works are born out of her former career in dance. Much of her work breaks away from the traditional picture plane and moves into sculptural forms on the wall. Of her work, she says, “I want a kinesthetic response; a desire to touch, sensuality and ultimately, I want the observer to be pulled into and around each piece as in a dance.”

Photographer Bill Westheimer uses technologies as varied as 19th century wet-plate collodion negatives and 21st century digital capture and manipulation to create his “photograms.” He uses the shape and shadow of objects to create mysterious yet recognizable and distinctive images.

The SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery will be dedicated to showing work from under-represented and emerging artists.

Exhibits at Academy Square will run concurrently three to four times a year. The galleries will be open to the public from 9am-5pm Monday through Friday or by appointment. The first shows, which run through Jan. 2, 2011, will open with a reception Friday, Sept. 24 from 6-9pm.

SMI’s business offices will remain at the group’s former exhibition space in the historic Clark House (108 Orange Road, Montclair).

Exhibition Dates: September 24, 2010 to January 2, 2011

Artist Reception: Friday, September 24, 2010 from 6 – 9pm

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm or by appointment
Address: 33 Plymouth Street, Montclair, NJ ~ 07042 ~ 973 744 1818
Email: studiomontclair@aol.com

THE SMI VIRGINIA S. BLOCK GALLERY –  Second floor of the Building.

The SMI Virginia S. Block Gallery will show the work of under-represented or emerging artists.

“Of Three Minds”

Featuring the work of SMI members Ekaterina Ermilkina, Ruth Bauer Neustadter and

Bill Westheimer

Gallery Director and Curator: Virginia S. Block

Assistant Gallery Director: Karen Nielson-Fried