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This article by Pat Summers was prepared for the May 22, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
In the Galleries
A new art gallery in town is one thing. A gallery featuring
Caribbean art, with an ambiance visible and audible from the street
— that’s quite another. So some Friday or Saturday soon, drive
up or down Alexander Street to No. 286, park along the street, and
walk toward what until very recently was a dignified old house.
Now that house has figuratively ripped off its jacket and tie and
kicked back with a rum punch. Its green porch columns are festooned
with brightly-colored fabric, the sign on the front lawn is multi-colored,
and the music you hear will probably be the sound of steel drums.
A few trees made of wire and branches, and decorated with unusual
ornaments and lights, sit on the porch.
These are "SweeTrees," and this is "SweeTree Gallery,"
the new Caribbean kid on the block and the right-brain child of Pamela
Groves, a Princeton resident who was born and grew up in Jamaica.
Open since May 10, SweeTree is offering "a festival of Caribbean
art" exhibit, through mid-June, and more of the same after that.
Open Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m., and other days "by
chance or appointment," the gallery welcomes visitors to multi-colored
rooms where two and three-dimensional island art is displayed: oils
by Etzer Desir, originally of Haiti and now a Trenton resident; pictures
by Canute Caliste, an 88-year-old self-taught artist with a mermaid
muse who lives, paints, and plays the violin in Carriacou, Grenada;
Angold Thompson’s acrylics on canvas; and ceramics by Jamaican Marjorie
Keith.
"Everything has just fallen into place very easily," says
Groves, as she looks around her gallery. She is artistic if not an
artist herself — witness those wall and floor shades, her novel
window treatments, her wall and handout signage — and she has
artist friends and relatives. "Part of what I think I do well
is create beautiful things using inexpensive materials," she says.
She notes how Third World citizens have few resources, yet still manage
to make art.
Only last summer, Groves started making her "SweeTrees,"
each one different and all personalized to celebrate various occasions
in their buyers’ lives. "They did so well from October to December
that I thought it would be nice to have a gallery for the trees. Then
I thought, why not have art."
It all came together last February, when Groves and her family visited
Trinidad at Carnival time.
"The whole idea of Carnival arts came up, and that’s very exciting,"
she says. "I knew I wanted to do a big theme around Carnival,
so I thought I could just celebrate it in Princeton later this year."
After Groves returned from Trinidad with a big, beautiful green feathery
headdress, things started to happen. She knew immediately she wanted
to line up Etzer Desir, whom she already knew, and then the contacts
with other artists "just sort of happened," thanks to Groves’
local and island networks.
Desir, whose Princeton show a few years ago was a virtual sell-out,
is represented at SweeTree by 11 oil paintings, including his own
take on "Field of Dreams," a lushly lovely "Corn Field,"
and his large "Eden," with a flora and fauna cast of thousands.
The story of Canute Caliste, 88-year-old Grenadian artist, is every
boy’s dream. At an early age, he met a mermaid who gave him the gifts
of art and music. With that, he quit school to concentrate on painting
and playing the violin. He still lives near the sea in Carriacou,
where he fishes and builds sailboats, gardens and tends to his animals.
A self-taught artist, he began making images with house paint, and
over many years of work, has been credited with chronicling Carriacouan
life — its work, play, and worship. Characterized by titles written
across the lower margin, often with idiosyncratic spelling, his paintings
are appealingly child-like, ranging from a line of children flying
kites to people dancing, and from fantastic demons to a mermaid wearing
what resembles a zip-up tail. (When mentioned in a title, the mermaid
is invariably "the maid.") Caliste has 23 children and more
than 200 grand and great-grandchildren, and he is reported to paint
every day.
"The Mermaid Wakes: Paintings of a Caribbean Isle" (The art
and life of Canute Caliste) was published in 1989 by Macmillan in
London, and a copy is on display at the gallery. It was adapted into
a musical produced in New York in 1991, with music and direction by
Elizabeth Swados. Caliste’s music has been recorded, and he has produced
cover art for a record album. His work has been widely exhibited and
collected.
Besides poetry readings possibly tied in with this year’s Dodge Festival,
and art by "funky twins" Nicole and Sara Funke, SweeTree Gallery
will bring Carnival to Princeton for two weeks of "music, art,
and more" in September. Starting in October, Groves says, she
will focus more on her trees, which are available in three sizes.
Last year, some people bought a trio, or tree-o, of them for unusual
vari-sized Christmas trees or just "a holiday thicket."
Because Groves’ husband, a psychiatrist, uses two upstairs rooms for
his part-time office practice ("We’re never here at the same time,"
she says), Groves hung a sign on the front door announcing that fact
— in bright Caribbean colors. Of SweeTree and Caribbean art and
ambiance in Princeton, Herman Wouk’s book title says it best: "Don’t
stop the carnival."
— Pat Summers
"A Festival of Caribbean Art" runs through June 16. Gallery
hours Friday and Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m.; also "by chance or by
appointment."
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Art in Town
Deborah Almeida Land and Madelaine Shellaby, recent work. Land is
an art instructor at Princeton Day School; Shellaby is a printmaker
and art teacher at Stuart Country Day School. To May 24.
day for "From Fifth Avenue to Harlem," an exhibit of some
of the best known images of New York by photographer Fred Stein (1909-1967).
Educated as an attorney in Germany, he settled in New York in 1941,
where he worked as a freelance photographer until his death at age
58. Gallery hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. To
May 31.
Nassau Street, 609-921-6748. "From Tow Path to Bike Path: Princeton
and the Delaware and Raritan Canal," an exhibition that looks
at the history and creation of the canal, the life of death of its
workers, and more recent environmental and preservation issues. Open
Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Show runs to March, 2003. Free.
Photographer Phil Kramer’s benefit show, "Heroes Among Us."
Kramer spent five months traveling around Princeton community photographing
people who give of themselves through humanitarian efforts, philanthropic
actions, or selfless public service. Admission to exhibit is $15,
donated to one of the charities honored in exhibit. To June 1.
Police, firefighters, counseling services, family services, government
organizations are among the groups represented and profiled in the
exhibit. Open Tuesday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In the dining room, exhibit of paintings by Doris Keller Terris, a
member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Garden State Watercolor,
and American Artist Professional League. Part of proceeds benefit
the Medical Center. Show may be viewed daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To June 27.
"The SoHo Blues," Allan Tannenbaum’s show of images of Bruce
Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Keith Richards, as well as
his 1980 photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. To June 3.
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Art in the Workplace
609-252-6275. "Mind-Body," an invitational group exhibition
of works by artists who explore the subject of science and medical
technology using such tools as MRI, X-rays, and microscopic photography.
Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and weekends
and holidays, 1 to 5 p.m. To June 23.
Exhibiting artists from New Jersey are Abbie Bagley-Young, Catherine
Bebout, Janet Filomeno, Eileen Foti, Frances Heinrich, Maria Lupo,
Tim Trelease, and Debra Weier. Also featured: Rick Bartow, Justine
Cooper, Irina Nalchova, Fredericka Foster Shapiro, Marina Guitierrez,
Jeanne Jaffe, and Inigo Manglano-Ovalle.
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Art In Trenton
Princeton Photography Club exhibit of both color and black-and-white
photography including nature photography, double exposures, still
life, landscapes, and portraits. In the main lobby, to June 14.
Ellarslie Open XX, the 20th annual Ellarslie juried exhibition, selected
by Anne Fabbri, founding director of the Noyes Museum and now director
of the Paley Design Center at Philadelphia University of the Arts.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday,
1 to 4 p.m. To June 16.
609-586-0616. Tenth Anniversary Year Spring Exhibition features artists
who have had one-person shows at Grounds for Sculpture over the past
decade. In the Domestic Arts Building: Richard Wright, photography.
Regular park admission $4 to $10. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10
a.m. to 9 p.m., year round; Sunday is Members Day. Adult admission
$4 Tuesday through Thursday; $7 Friday and Saturday; and $10 Sunday.
Annual memberships. Shows run to July 14.
Represented by one sculpture each, some created especially for the
anniversary show, are Magdalena Abakanowicz, Bill Barrett, James Dinerstein,
Leonda Finke, Red Grooms, William King, Wendy Lehman, Robert Lobe,
Marisol, Jeffrey Maron, Robert Murray, John Newman, Beverly Pepper,
Andrzej Pitynski, Robert Ressler, Michael Steiner, Dana Stewart, Strong-Cuevas,
Jay Wholley, and Isaac Witkin.
609-292-6464. "Cruising Down the Delaware: Natural History You
Can See," an introduction to New Jersey’s natural features by
way of the historic waterway. Included are specimens of bears, bobcats,
salt marsh turtles, and ancient fossils; to November 3. Museum hours
are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Sunday noon to
5 p.m.
Also: "Jacob Landau: A Memorial," a selection of 36 works
from the museum’s holdings, in honor of the New Jersey artist who
died last November; to June 30. "Art by African-Americans: A Selection
from the Collection" to August 18; "American Indians as Artists:
The Beginnings of the State Museum’s Ethnographic Collection,"
to September 15.
On extended view: "New Jersey’s Native Americans: The Archaeological
Record"; "Delaware Indians of New Jersey"; "The Sisler
Collection of North American Mammals"; "Of Rock and Fire";
"Neptune’s Architects"; "The Modernists"; "New
Jersey Ceramics, Silver, Glass and Iron."
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Area Galleries
Sculpture, drawings, and paintings by Hyung Jun Yum. Gallery hours
are Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To May 30.
"Window Works" by Marilyn Anderson, black-and-white cityscapes
taken in London, Dublin, Rome, Prague, and New York. Also "Thirty
Plus Years of Imaging Snow" by Jay Goodkind, enhanced montage
prints of snowscapes photographed over three decades. Gallery hours
are Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. To May 26.
Solo exhibition of Sandra Nusblatt’s watercolors, "From Hopewell
to the Jersey Shore." Open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To June 28.
908-996-1470. "Ed X 3," an exhibit by painters Ed Baumlin,
Ed Bronstein, and Ed Letven. Open Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. to
5 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
To June 10.
Road, 609-921-3272. "Words & Pictures of the Vietnam War,"
a prizewinning exhibition of photographs by the late Steven H. Warner,
a Montgomery resident killed in Vietnam in 1971. Produced by Gettysburg
College and the Pennsylvania Humanities group, the exibit appeared
at the Smithsonian Institute in 1995. In the Upstairs Gallery: Hetty
Baiz, watercolors, pastels, and mixed media. Both shows to May 31.
Warner, whose father was a judge in Montgomery Township, attended
Montgomery and Princeton Schools in the 1960s. After graduating from
Gettysburg College and attending Yale, he was drafted in 1969. During
his three years in Vietnam, he photographed soldiers and wrote about
what he saw; both pay homage to the soldiers there. Warner was killed
in an ambush in February, 1971.
Rachel Bliss, "Portraits," figurative works that come from
her life experiences living for the past 15 years in an urban community
in North Philadelphia. Gallery talk is Saturday, May 18, at 3 p.m.
Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday,
noon to 5 p.m. To June 8.
Utilities Office, Route 130, just south of Route 33, 609-259-3502.
Fourth annual art exhibit selected by Terri McNichol, artist and teacher
at Mercer County Community College. To June 21.
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Art by the River
609-397-0275. "2002 Boxes," an exhibition of assemblages by
Ann Thomas. Works that begin with ephemera, become small narratives
that made a dramatic impact. Gallery hours are Monday and Thursday,
1 to 9 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday 1 to
5 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To June 29.
"Blood, Sweat and Roadkill," a shared show featuring collages
by Stacie Speer Scott and copper and bronze sculpture by Bernard Mangiaracina.
Gallery hours are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To June 2.
609-773-0881. Group show by Jill Biros, John Boyd, Sheila Coutin,
Catherine DeChico, Marianne Ham, Donald Henderson, Don Jordon, Carol
Magnatta, Jeane Nielsen, and Bill Smith. To June 2. Gallery is open
Thursday to Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
"Layers of Time and Space," an exhibit of works on paper curated
by Barry Snyder and featuring Diana Gonzalez Gandolfi, Margaret K.
Johnson, and Joan B. Needham. Gallery is open Thursday to Sunday,
noon to 5 p.m. To May 27.
Washington Crossing, 215-862-2021. "Canal Imperssions," juried
exhibit of art inspired by the Delaware Canal, sponsored by the Friends
of the Delaware Canal. Works in oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel,
photography, collograph, stained wood, and wood sculpture. Tuesday
through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To May 25.
Annual Spring Exhibition features pastels by Nancy Silvia and watercolors
by Charles R. Ross. Open Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. To May
26.
609-397-4590. Solo exhibition of silver prints by multi-media artist
Victor Macarol. "My images are gently humorous, often ambiguous,
vignettes on the foibles of humans and other living creatures who
are desperately fighting for survival in an impersonal world,"
says Macarol. The artist is recipient of a New Jersey State Council
on the Arts distinguished artist award. To June 15.
215-862-5300. "Figure and Ground: Work by Jonathan Hertzel,"
a show of works on paper and figurative sculpture. Gallery is open
Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
and by appointment. To June 29.
Hope, 215-396-7040. 10th annual show, juried by Sandra Davis, Jeff
Hurwitz, and Laurence Miller, features 130 images selected from a
field of 700. Open 1 to 5 p.m. daily. $3. To June 2.
609-397-5679. "Light Conversation," an exhibition of new work
by Robert Beck. By appointment to June 2.
"Play It Cool," an exhibition of new and rare prints by California
artist Shag. Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. To May 27.
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Area Museums
New Brunswick, 732-846-5777. "From the Old World to the New World,"
an exhibit of recent additions to the museum collection featuring
works by nine Hungarian Americans, all of whom emigrated to the U.S.
between 1920 and 1957. Artists are Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Bertha and
Elena De Hellenbranth, Sandor Sugor, Emil Kelemen, Willy Pogany, Tibor
Gergely, Zoltan Poharnok, and Vicent Korda; to April, 2003. Also,
original art and text from the book "Light From the Yellow Star,
A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust" by Robert O. Fisch. To June
9. Museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday,
1 to 4 p.m. $5 donation.
732-745-4177. "Uncommon Clay: New Jersey’s Architectural Terra
Cotta Industry," an exhibition of artifacts and written and oral
histories of New Jersey’s once booming architectural ceramics industry.
Open Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
On view to May 30, 2003.
908-735-8415. Annual National Juried Print Exhibition selected by
Eileen Foti of Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper. Also
on exhibit, "Eileen Foti: Images of Extinction." Both shows
to June 23. Museum hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
215-340-9800. Bucks County Invitational V, the annual show of contemporary
works features Vincent Ceglia and Lisa Manheim, paintings; sculpture
by Karl Karhuma; and the photography of Claus Mroczynski; to July
7. Outdoors, a group of minimalist sculptures by Maria A. Hall, to
June 30. Open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday &
Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Wednesday evenings to 9 p.m. $6.
Brunswick, 732-932-7237. "India: Contemporary Art From Northeastern
Private Collections," the largest exhibition of its kind to be
held in an American museum. Show features more than 100 works from
20 collections, with an emphasis on the post-independence era, 1947
to the present. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday
and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission $3; under 18 free; museum is
open free to the public on the first Sunday of every month. To July
31.
Indian artists include members of the Progressive Artists Group, F.N.
Souza, M.F. Husain, Krishna Ara, and Syed Raza. Also first and second-generation
Indian modernists Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, and Ganesh Pyne.
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Campus Arts
Van Dyck: `Ecce Homo’ and `The Mocking of Christ.’" Also, "In
the Mirror of Christ’s Passion: Images from Princeton University Collections."
Both shows to June 9. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5
p.m.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Free tours every Saturday at 2 p.m.
Also "Klinger to Kollwitz: German Art in the Age of Expressionism,"
an exhibit of prints and drawings that comprises an overview of late
19th and early 20th century German art, to June 9. "Contemporary
Views: Photographs by Paul Berger, Sarah Charlesworth, Barbara Ess,
and Ray K. Metzker," to May 26. "American Drawings and Watercolors,"
to July 21. "Guardians of the Tomb: Spirit Beasts in Tang Dynasty
China;" to September 1.
Pastorals: Images of the American Landscape."
and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Library Place, 609-497-7990. "Natural Rhythms Stilled," an
exhibition of photographs by John Hess, a photographer and biology
professor at Central Missouri State University. Gallery hours are
Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 2 to 8 p.m. To
June 28.
Lawrenceville, 609-896-5168. Annual exhibition of works by Rider
students in all mediums. Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday, 2 to
8 p.m.; Friday to Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. To August 11.
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Auditions
for its pre-professional performing company headed by director Heather
Bach at its studio on South Main Street, Lambertville, on Saturday,
June 1, from 10 a.m. to noon. Dance students age 10 and above, from
any dance school, may take the audition class. Audition fee is $5.
Preregister at 609-773-0099.
individuals for crew for the cable TV series, "Kaleidoscope,"
taping in Princeton, weekends and occasional evenings. Crew will be
needed over the summer months into the late fall season. Needed are
those with camera operation (S-VHS) and boom operator experience.
Production and set assistants do not need experience. Tapings occur
on the weekends and there are also occasional early week evening tapings.
Positions are non-paid. Opportunity for student internship, community
service hours, resume credit, or those who want to learn TV production.
Send a letter of introduction, stating your schedule availability,
and a resume highlighting relevant experience to Mala Wright, president,
Staircase Productions, Box 22531, Trenton 08607 or E-mail staircaseproductions@yahoo.com
Top Of Page
Call for Entries
10th annual short story contest for horror, science fiction, fantasy,
and mystery. Entries must be unpublished, and not accepted by any
publisher at the time of submission; length not to exceed 4,000 words.
First prize is $100 and The Graversen Award; second prize $50; third
prize $25. To enter, submit three copies of the story by mail to GSHW
Short Story Contest, Box 156, Chatham 07928-0156.
Each entry must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope
for score sheets and critiques, and entry fee of $10 per story. Postmark
deadline is August 31; winners announced October 19 at the Monmouth
County Library, Manalapan. Write for guidelines or go to gshwgravesite.tripod.com
or E-mail mlf20@msn.com
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Participate Please
a workshop in Digital Imaging and Photoshop led by Don Connors and
Tony Kurdzuk on Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8. Limit 10 participants.
Fee is $295. For information and registration, 908-874-6004, ext.
11.
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