Stuart Opening Winter Art Exhibit
Posted January 11, 2010
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart will celebrate the printed page with the opening of an exhibition of work February 7th in the school’s Considine and Hamill Galleries.
The exhibit, entitled Off the Page, will feature visual artists, poets, writers and printmakers who showcase their work in book form. Stuart will host an opening reception on February 7, 2010, from 1:00 to 3:00. The exhibit will run from January 28 to March 4, 2010. The participating artists are from the Princeton area, as well as New York and Pennsylvania. Miriam Schaer will sign copies of her book at the opening reception. Prior to the reception, there will also be a film screening at noon featuring, A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art, an award-winning documentary.
Rebecca Kelly, a Ringoes-based book artist and storyteller, is curating the exhibit. “The work in Off the Page appeals to a wide audience. Both kids and adults enjoy seeing new ways to look at books,” says Kelly. “Book arts are a springboard to excite interest for any other subject.”
Kelly teaches children’s literature at Raritan Valley Community College and at the College of New Jersey. She is also a teaching artist for Young Audiences of New Jersey, where she shares bookmaking with children. She said, “The artists in this show pay homage to the book form with strong architectural and engineering concepts. They tell stories that evoke classic fairytales. And they break the rules of bookmaking by creating covers of fur and pages made of sun bathing mats. The work delights and invites a strong viewer response.”
Seven other artists in the show represent a broad view of books in the art world.
Eileen Foti from Skillman, New Jersey wrote and co-produced A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art, an award-winning documentary about papermaking and embroidery projects used for poverty alleviation and HIV/AIDS awareness programs for women in rural and urban communities across South Africa. It has been screened extensively at international film festivals and has aired on PBS stations across the country.
Miriam Schaer is a multimedia book artist. She uses stiffened clothing to conceal books and other objects to explore social issues. She is a recipient of a NY Foundation for the Arts Artists’ Fellowship, and has exhibited worldwide.
The exhibition also highlights the work of Mark Wangberg, Debra Weier, Sarah Stengle, Elizabeth Mackie, and Maryanne Riker. These artists have work in private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, Princeton University, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
