“Tawa at 45: Celebrating the Art and Artists of the Trenton Artists Workshop Association” opens at the Trenton City Museum in Ellarslie Mansion with a public reception on Sunday, October 8, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) is a nonprofit arts organization serving the Trenton area and beyond. Its 45-year history of organizing includes exhibitions at the Trenton City Museum, New Jersey State Museum, Artworks Trenton, Prince Street Gallery in New York City, and the ongoing exhibitions at the Trenton Free Public Library.
The organization, whose membership has been a roster of leading regional artists, was responsible for an arts exchange with the Soviet Union, the two-month-long “Eyes on Trenton” project, and for helping with the establishment of the Trenton City Museum and Passage Theater.
The exhibition on view through December 3 has been coordinated by artist and TAWA presidents Elizabeth Aubrey, Aubrey Kauffman, David Organ, and Mary Yess. Upcoming public events include a “Mingle with the Artists” afternoon on Saturday, November 11, 1 to 4 p.m., and a “TAWA History Talk with Mel Leipzig,” the nationally known Trenton artist active throughout the organization’s history, Sunday, November 12, 2 to 3 p.m.
Trenton City Museum, Cadwalader Park, Trenton. 609-989-3632 or www.ellarslie.org.
The Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) and the Trenton Free Public Library will present the exhibition “Patterns and Rhythms” at the library through November 25.
Andrew Werth from West Windsor has been exhibiting his philosophically inspired “organized organic abstraction” paintings at galleries throughout the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania area since 2005.
Léni Paquet-Morante has shown her work both locally and internationally. Based in Hamilton, she has been working on a new series of “abstracted landscape” monoprints.
Florence Moonan was born in Trenton and raised in Lambertville. Her home and studio are located in Stockton, where she uses venetian plaster and mixed media to explore her love of abstraction.
Adriana Groza is originally from Romania and currently lives in Hamilton Township. She will be showing acrylic works on canvas from one of her art series called “The Floral Fusion,” which delves into the interplay between chaos and order, reflecting the rhythm of nature’s growth.
Trenton Free Public Library, 120 Academy Street, Trenton. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 609-392-7188.
The New Jersey State Museum is continuing its New Jersey Artists Series with “Caroline Burton: Way Finding,” on view on the museum’s second floor through March 31, 2024.
The Jersey City-based artist draws on architectural and agricultural forms, nature, and elements of chance for inspiration. Her often-experimental painting practice includes rejoining torn canvases with thread and using discarded afghan blankets and scarves as matrices for printing directly on canvas.
According to Sarah Vogelman, the museum’s assistant curator of fine art, “The unique and enigmatic patterns left behind by these handwoven knits capture the gestural traces of the original maker, whom Burton considers a silent collaborator. Each work is a delightful and unanticipated chance encounter between canvas, paint, and textile, between Burton and an unknown artistic partner.”
“Wayfinding” is a term used for informational systems, like maps or signage, that help people navigate through the physical environment of public spaces like this museum. The exhibition features some of Burton’s most recent work, including a series based on the mid-century architecture of the State Museum building.
New Jersey State Museum, 205 West State Street, Trenton. Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Free. www.statemuseum.nj.gov.
