Goodbye and Hello

 

Today I went up to Ocean Grove, but not to make artwork.  There was a farewell party for Nichole, the executive director at the Jersey Shore Arts Center for the past several years.  I had signed the card for her last week (a framed photo of her in a chicken suit, which I was told she would love). but today was the official event.  We hoped she would show up, but she was told about it to make sure she would.  Maybe about a dozen people there, most of whom I did not know (people don't come down to the basement often), but there was cake and other desserts, and at least I was able to talk to a few people.  

One person I did have a chat with was her replacement.  Elyse didn't know if we had met yet, but I knew we had, introduced in the office before she ran off to get some coffee and I never saw her again.  But this time she wanted to talk to me, and see some of my artwork.  The latter I could do, as I always have some things in the Studio.  So after cake, we went down to the basement, and to my space.   The first thing she noticed was how humid the basement is.   Actually today it wasn't bad at all, but will probably be a problem soon.  She wondered about air conditioners and dehumidifiers.  Well, we don't have either in our studio, though there is a dehumidifier in another part of the basement, which does make a difference.  She was impressed with my artwork, especially the colored boardwalk print, which I had in two copies there in my space- the framed one I was copying color from, and one of the copies I made last month.  I had a few other color pieces as well, which resulted in her commenting that I showed very good knowledge of color (a surprise to my supervisor at grad school, who felt that any school that would hire me to teach color would be in big trouble) but I showed her some black and white pieces as well.  She was also impressed with my print of a narwhal, which I had done as a wall hanging sculpture for my niece, but I pulled a few proofs before I gave her the block.  Elyse had never heard of such a thing, and assumed I had made it up.  She also remarked how the humidity must be bad for paper, a big part of my materials. I looks like she's going to be on our side about that.

Though her new office is also in the basement, she has not been down there much, so I gave her a tour of the place, showing the active studio spaces, the old cafeteria space (which has a dehumidifier), and its connection to the the theater and how it gets used (no theater productions right now, but that may change in the future), and how the painted markings on the floor can provide guidance if she gets lost.  I then showed her how to find her office, and left her there.  I stopped back in my studio to put away the prints we had looked at, then locked up.  On the way to the elevator, I passed Nichole, using a cart to push the remains of her cake, which led me to believe things had ended up there. When I did get up there, I saw that it was dark and decided to get out of there and head home.