BAC @ Spring Lake Show

I spent most of the day up in Somerset County today, a scheduled work related training.  Luckily, the timing of this and for the drop off for the latest Belmar show worked out that I could take care of both.  For the moment the home base of the Belmar Arts Council is still the Boatworks, the abandoned space we occupied and fixed up starting almost a decade ago.  However nothing is permanent, and we don't own the property, so there's always a chance they will kick us out of there someday.  And it always occurred to me that if we ran out of places in Belmar to meet  (the two that were used before the Boatworks have been torn down), nearby Spring Lake might be a good place to look for space.  This new show may have nothing to do with a search for potential gallery locations, and just may be an opportunity for members to get exposure.  Deadline to enter was a few weeks ago, and last night I was wondering when we were going to hear what was accepted.  Went to our website and found the list of accepted entries, and information that the drop off would be November 16th.  Working in my favor was that I tend to work in common sizes, so that I had a frame at home that would fit my entry, so I spent a few minutes last night swapping it out.  No particular theme, and I've never shown there before, so I had many options.  Spring Lake is a traditionally Irish town, lots of Catholics, so I thought maybe go with a saint.  Could lead to some interest somewhere.  What I ended up selecting was St Calepodius, a martyr whose beheaded body was brought up by a fishing net- a nice print and a fishing boat could also spur some interest in this seaside town.

What I did not realize until this morning was that I had been in the location before.  Turns out that the Spring Lake Theater is part of the same building as the Spring Lake Library, what appears to be a rambling mansion on one of the town's main streets.  A few years back Molly informed me of her plan to do a series of art lectures at Spring Lake Library, so I got word out to the critique group.  Not surprisingly, the first lecture would be about herself, so she brought over stacks of her prints, and there was a long photo session.  I entered through the library, then followed a twisting path up to a very large room on the 2nd floor where she held the talk.  No one else from our group showed, but there was a pretty large crowd and it was an enjoyable evening.  It was the last such event- never knew if it was Molly or the Library that ended the planned series.

Another potential issue- it was noted this morning that a lot of works was selected for this show (almost 80 pieces) and many of them are large pieces.  And while that room we were in today is large, the walls aren't really designed for hanging art.  The hanging committee has their work cut out for them.  At least my piece is small and can fit anywhere.  Anyway, this show opens on Sunday, November 20th, with a reception from 5 to 7 pm.  and remains on display through the spring.