2019 Kean Faculty Exhibition on location

The East Meets West show has another month to go, but that's not the only show going.  I have another one happening soon and this past week I put in a lot of work toward it.

Back last fall during the reception for the Kean Faculty Exhibition I was approached by one of our few full time art faculty left and invited to be part of another related show.  It turned out that our department had received an invitation to exhibit at the Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences.  A little surprising as Union is nowhere near Long Beach Island, but apparently this arts organization has been doing such shows with other New Jersey schools and now it's our turn.  One reason I was asked was because I am actually a Jersey Shore resident, so closer to the location than most of the faculty.  I expressed a willingness, and shortly after that e-mails went out to a bunch of people requesting information for such a show, which I provided.  I knew the show was tentatively scheduled for some time in April.

And then I heard nothing for a long time.  A few weeks ago I was talking to another professor who lives down here in Monmouth County, who will also be part of this show, and he asked me if I knew anything yet.  Wanted to start setting up his schedule for the spring and I don't blame him. So I sent an e-mail to my original contact, who assured me it was happening as planned, despite the lack of communication from the host.  Over the weekend we finally got the first official request from the gallery for exhibition information, so I guess it's going to happen.

Back last fall when I agreed to be part of it I had to consider what I would be sending.  Artists are always concerned with how we schedule things.  Because this is a faculty show, I figured I should treat it as such and select work with the same concerns as I would for pieces in our department gallery.  So basically, things of a certain level of quality that I haven't shown in a faculty show yet.  In our department gallery I would be at least a little concerned with work that would be beneficial for the students to see, but I don't know if any of our students will be making that trip to LBI.  The one group that I expect to see the show will be my fellow faculty (at least the ones in the show), so I want to show things that they will respect. And of course I had to make sure there was no conflict with any other show I have at the same time, like that East Meets West show.

In the end I selected two pieces, which is about the number they figure they need from everybody.  I wanted one black and white piece, as these are very typical of printmaking and tend to show off my skills with details and space.  I went with Death on the Highway, which I had shown recently in the tenants show in Ocean Grove.  It was well liked in that location, so I figured it would work further down the shore as well.  Plus, it was already in a frame, ready to go.

Over the past several years I have chosen a number of the Boardwalk prints for those faculty shows- they are well made, a subject recognizable to gallery visitors and appreciated by them, large and bold enough to really hold a wall, and a good size to transport and hang in a show.  Checked through the blog to see which ones I have shown in this exhibition before, and found one I hadn't, but still a good one to show, which turned out to be the arcade scene, based on my memories and impressions of Belmar Playland, a large beachfront arcade that was torn down around the time I moved to the area.

I could never find any photos of the arcade anywhere on the internet (this was the pre-digital age) and it had closed for good before I could go do a recent observation.   So I collected memories from other people, plus my own many visits as a child, and visits to other surviving boardwalk arcades as I was beginning this series.  I was surprised at how these places did not seem that fun.  There was still skee- ball lanes, which I always enjoyed, and some claw machines, which never interested me, but most of the games that might require some skills (shooting, air hockey, pinball, and even early video games) were now replaced with dance games or quarter drop games, where quarters are converted to tickets that can be turned in for prizes, but the good prizes would take a whole season's worth of tickets.  My guess is that home video games are now more sophisticated than what arcades would have (not the case in my youth), so kids are less likely to pump a lot of quarters into them.  My print has a lot of detail, implies space, includes the highlights (as I see them) of such places.  It's called The Floating World: Boardwalk Arcade.

And with my art choices made, I set it all aside for a while.  Had lots of other things to deal with the past few months.  Then over the weekend we finally heard form the LBI host, and now I had a reason to get more done.  We were asked to provide an artist statement and bio, so I typed those up.  Can knock those out in my sleep.  I don't know if these images meet whatever needs they think they have, but at least they'll know what to expect, and if they want something more, I have unframed copies to rephotograph.  We were forwarded a name and contact information, and an online loan form, which I will attempt to deal with in the next few days.

As of now, the show is scheduled to open on April 16, 2019, and run through May 19, 2019, when there will be a closing reception.  That way we don't have to go back down there again.  (for someone like me who lives in the shore area, it's still quite a journey; for those from North Jersey or NYC, it's a round trip that will take hours)  So I had to write all that stuff, revise it, and the boardwalk piece I chose is the one that wasn't framed, so I had to swap it for one that isn't going.  At least I didn't have to cut a new mat.  Delivery is still a few weeks away.  If I learn anything more, I'll pass it on.