2nd Annual JSAC Resident Art Show Opens

 

After a few weeks of effort, we finally had the 2nd Annual JSAC Resident Art exhibition.  I had decided that the safest thing would be to get there early, so I would be driving during the daylight hours and would find adequate parking there in the lot.  So I left home around 4:30 pm, and got there around 5 pm.  People who worked there were busy with a lot of last minute things, so I went down to my space, to kill time and to leave my coat there.  I used the time to check out a lot of things in the room, art I hadn't seen in a while.   I had some prints there done in the years before my operation.  I had assumed that they had been in my apartment and since I haven't seen them here, were in storage.  Good to know I had access to them.

Upon first arriving I made a quick check of all the hanging art.  This was the first time I had seen the whole show installed.  Walking around the hallway, I was surprised that I didn't see work from Molly, as I knew she was working on things.  But on my way downstairs I finally saw it, filling the whole hallway on the way to the elevator, including the chalkboard.  I came back upstairs just in time for the 6 pm opening to begin. 

The refreshments were over by the theater doors.  Not much there- a variety of cut cheese pieces, bowls of crackers, and sliced sausage pieces, probably a hard salami type thing.  And bottles of water.  Like I had said, when I told people about the show, I told them to come for the art, not the food.   I was told where in a side room inside a cabinet I could find wine, but I decided to hold off on that for the time being.  I had brought my lined mask with me, as last I had heard, we were still required to wear masks in all public spaces, and that first floor sure seems like a public space.  At first the staff didn't have any, but as the reception was beginning, boxes of surgical masks were put out by the doors, and all visitors encouraged to take one to wear.  (most did, some didn't) As billed, we had live music for about an hour, piano being played.  It had also been announced in email that the whole event would be live streamed on You Tube, and while cameras were set up, apparently if didn't happen.  

For most of the reception, we had about 25 people present, with individuals coming and going the whole time. I knew a few of the artists (12 participants were in the show, with a few to several works from each), but really no one else.  I had invited some people to come, but it was very last minute, so I wasn't surprised that none had showed.  The postcards were finally available, small stacks scattered around the space.  I grabbed about half a dozen to take home, and maybe hand out a few more in the coming weeks.  Part of my reason for going was to promote my classes, and I did get the chance to talk to some visitors about them.  Don't know if anything will come of it, but it's just something I have to do.

Not only was this the first reception I had since my operations, but this was the first art reception anywhere for a while.  Our pandemic had sprung up several months before my lengthy hospital stays and rehab activities, which meant that most art locations had been shut down for almost two years.  A lot of art lovers are very anxious to go anywhere and see some art up on the walls.  People will have the opportunity to do that for the next few months, if they can find a way to get in there.

When I first arrived, there were no artist names or titles up yet, just numbers. one by each piece of artwork.  These did correspond to a list printed on a sheet of paper, but I only found one copy of that list out anywhere.  Early on, a small paragraph about each artist was attached to the chair rails under each, and this listed the titles of all the works.  I did take a few photos of the receptions with my phone, but I still haven't figured out how to get them from my phone to the internet, so I can download them and post them here.  (When I asked at the phone store where I bought it, they insisted it was a problem with my data plan, not the phone itself.  According to my mother, we have a very comprehensive data plan, so this will require some more investigation.)

All in all, I was happy with how it all turned out. The art looked good, and visitors seemed to enjoy it.  The people I talked to about my art all seemed impressed by what I had done, although there was still the situation of people claiming they knew the boardwalk I was showing and that they had been there.  That image came completely out of my head, so either they don't know what they are talking about, or I am just really good at creating the idea of a boardwalk.