Memories of the Past

Today the paper included a story about a recently discovered painted advertisement in Long Branch on the side of a building, which advertised Coca-Cola.  Large painted ads like that were once common, and some remnants are still out there, such as a Thom McAnn shoe ad on top of the side of a building in Asbury Park- they had owned the building back then, and put their name on the building in those days, and though they are long gone (new tenants have come and gone over the years), the painted name remains as historic, and I think it's still known as the Thom McAnn building because of that famous sign.  The Belmar Arts Council has been involved in a number of wall based paintings, art more than commerce, and I either participated in them or documented them for the blog, or both.  Some of these are gone now.  For example, one celebrating Belmar was on the back of the Friedman's Bakery building, which was torn down years ago.  I participated and documented another mural, Reflections of Belmar (a beach seen partly reflected in sunglasses worn on a giant portrait that filled the wall), which was on the side of a building that has housed a series of food places and overlooked a gas station, which was overpainted with white a few years ago.  If you want to see it, you can see the mural in progress at the BelmarArts blogsite, starting in July of 2011.  Once in Italy I photographed a faded wall sign painted in the days of Mussolini, and left up as a reminder not to ever let anyone rule the country like that again.  I believe that photo is in storage, like most things I have owned. 

The reason that this Coke ad was recently discovered is that it had been hidden by the building of a very adjacent factory building, just torn down recently.  That old factory building I have been inside, as it also once housed SICA, the shore art gallery and studio space that was founded to bring NYC style art to the shore area.  The board decided to sell that location and move to Asbury, a short walk from my Studio, back in 2011.  I know, because I helped paint the new space on Cookman Ave, in exchange for some pizza, which always gets my attention.  Unfortunately, that location closed in 2013, ending the gallery.  My first thought upon reading of the end of that old factory building in Long Branch was whether or not SICA founder Doug Ferrari knew about it, but then I realized he had actually died back in 2017 (see November of that year on this blog for the full story of our interactions over the years), and thus no longer cared.  (In between he had resurfaced at the Arts Guild in Rahway, and had curated Molly and I into a show there once, his last act in Asbury.)  The tearing down of the old factory (which had housed a lot of different businesses over the decades) is to make room for something else, and has now revealed a vintage sign.  Will it be saved?  I guess it depends on what needs to be done.  Would there be an effort to repaint the sign. or leave the painting as it is?  Will the sign even be seen once the new project is built, or is it to be covered up again, and its rediscovery renders moot?  I have no idea, but it's a story I have links to, so maybe an update will appear here someday.