Close Close

  • “Classical Realism” with master painter – Scott Nickerson

    This exhibit features work by painter Scott Nickerson and his core group of advanced students, and is a great example of the powerful influence one master painter can have on a school of artists.

    Scott Nickerson was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in the fall of 1970. His passion for the art world evolved as he matured and he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts, New York City in 1996. Scott studied under many extremely talented instructors at SVA, including renowned figure painter and draftsman, Steven Assael. He continued his studies after graduation at the Art Students League, New York City and Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia with distinguished artist and teacher, Nelson Shanks.

    In 1997, Scott began to share his knowledge and love of painting with his own students, teaching classes at several locations across Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Many of his courses work directly from live models, allowing the students an extensive study of each pose. When not teaching, Scott can be found working at his Ocean Township Studio on commissioned portraits. His work is displayed worldwide in private and public collections, including universities and government agencies.

    Classical Realism is an artistic movement in the late-20th and early 21st century in which drawing and painting place a high value upon skill and beauty, combining elements of 19th-century neoclassicism and realism.

    Opening Reception: October 28 from 5 pm to 7 pm. RSVP for the reception here

    **Please note the gallery will be closed November 24-November 27 for the holiday weekend.***

  • Jeanine Pennell: Stepping Off the Page: Stories in Clay

    An exhibition of work by artist Jeanine Pennell

    Artist Statement:
    I began this year journeying away from the studio. I left behind my bags of clay and my work tools. Bringing with me only a sketchbook and watercolors. It was the first time since the pandemic that I was away from clay.

    I was in search of a new creative process. All of my early sculptures were created in short spurts of time, capturing the fleeting magic of a creative idea, much like gesture drawing. But this process did not serve when I began to push the boundaries. As the sculptures grew and I was creating without a clear end in mind, I found myself stuck. Clay figures draped in plastic shrouds collected in the corners of my studio.

    During this time away I turned the process around. I began drawing small intuitive drawings. The sketches were quick, with no purpose or expectation. Capturing the essence of ideas that would float up. Later I would return to color them in and to excavate the meaning behind the art. What did the masks mean? The sharp teeth…faces and more faces? What did it all mean?

    I then developed the ideas from my sketchbook in 3-D or clay by creating small maquettes. Once the sculptures were completed early mornings found me sitting with the art to write what I saw. The stories came out. Slowly at first, but with practice more steadily.

    This collection is a record of that journey. In the main gallery is a collection of the largest, finished sculptures. As you descend to the lower gallery you will encounter the beginning of the journey. On display are the original drawings, maquettes and early sculptures as well as the stories behind the art.

    Opening Reception September 30, 2022   7 PM – 9 PM | Ice House Gallery

  • Tell Pharaoh

    Produced by DUNBAR REPERTORY COMPANY, Tell Pharaoh is a concert drama about Harlem, our nation’s foremost Black community, from the time of slavery all the way through the 21st century. Written by playwright Loften Mitchell who was part of a groundswell of writers that contributed to the Black American theatre movement in the 1960s, the play is a masterfully crafted and poetic recitation of a history that began long before the slave trade.

    “Mitchell reached his artistic heights as a dramatist in TELL PHARAOH, an eloquent ‘theater-at-the-lectern’ history of black people.”  —Darwin T. Turner, Contemporary Dramatists

    Directed by:
    Mark Antonio Henderson
    Starring:
    Darrell Lawrence Willis, Sr.
    Lorraine Stone
    Kirk Lambert
    Takia Clayton
    Featuring singers:
    Janet Clarke Graham
    Jazmin Graham
    Viveca Graham

  • Tell Pharaoh

    Produced by DUNBAR REPERTORY COMPANY, Tell Pharaoh is a concert drama about Harlem, our nation’s foremost Black community, from the time of slavery all the way through the 21st century. Written by playwright Loften Mitchell who was part of a groundswell of writers that contributed to the Black American theatre movement in the 1960s, the play is a masterfully crafted and poetic recitation of a history that began long before the slave trade.

    “Mitchell reached his artistic heights as a dramatist in TELL PHARAOH, an eloquent ‘theater-at-the-lectern’ history of black people.”  —Darwin T. Turner, Contemporary Dramatists

    Directed by:
    Mark Antonio Henderson
    Starring:
    Darrell Lawrence Willis, Sr.
    Lorraine Stone
    Kirk Lambert
    Takia Clayton
    Featuring singers:
    Janet Clarke Graham
    Jazmin Graham
    Viveca Graham

  • Cherish the Ladies

    One of America’s most heralded Irish music ensembles for the last 37 years, Cherish the Ladies has won the hearts of audiences worldwide with their rousing blend of traditional music, captivating vocals, and propulsive step dancing. Under the leadership of Joanie Madden, these extremely gifted women create a moving experience with a blend of virtuoso instrumentals, beautiful vocals, traditional and original arrangements along with stunning step dancing — all presented with extraordinary talent, creativity, and humor.

  • As We Forgive

    Join us for a World Cinema Series film screening/discussion illuminating the theme “Wartime Lives: Enduring and Transcending Violence and Occupation” by analyzing the message and impact of the film As We Forgive (2009).

    Directed by Laura Waters Hinson and narrated by Mia Farrow comes the award-winning documentary of two Rwandan women who struggle with the face-to-face encounter with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. These women and men speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government released 50,000 perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution of reconciliation. Come experience through their eyes the journey from death to life through forgiveness.

    (District of Columbia: Image Bearer Films, 2010), 54 minutes

    The discussion of the film will be led by Claude Taylor, Director For Academic Transition And Inclusion.

  • Quo Vadis, Aida?

    Join us for a World Cinema Series film screening/discussion illuminating the theme “Wartime Lives: Enduring and Transcending Violence and Occupation” by analyzing the message and impact of the film Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnian, 2020).

    Quo Vadis, Aida? (lit. Where are you going, Aida?) is a 2020 Bosnian film written, produced and directed by Jasmila Žbanić. An international co-production of twelve production companies, the film was shown in the main competition section of the 77th Venice International Film Festival. It was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards and has won the Award for Best Film at the 34th European Film Awards.

    The film dramatizes the events of the Srebrenica massacre, during which Serbian troops sent Bosniak men and boys to death in July 1995 led by Serbian convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. Named for its protagonist, Quo Vadis, Aida? exposes the events through the eyes of a mother named Aida, a schoolteacher who works with the United Nations as a translator. After three and a half years under siege, the town of Srebrenica, close to the northeastern Serbian border, was declared a UN safety zone in 1993 and put under the protection of a Dutch battalion working for the UN.

    The discussion of the film will be led by Christopher DeRosa, Associate Professor in the department of History and Anthropology and Marina Vujnovic, Professor,  in the department of Communication.

  • Budrus

    Join us for a World Cinema Series film screening/discussion illuminating the theme “Wartime Lives: Enduring and Transcending Violence and Occupation” by analyzing the message and impact of the film Budrus (Israeli/Palestinian/American, 2009).

    Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites Palestinian political factions and invites Israeli supporters to join an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today.

    In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolent strategies to confront a threat. The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor of Control Room and co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, Director of Encounter Point).

    The discussion of the film will be led by Claude Taylor, Director For Academic Transition And Inclusion and Saliba Sarsar, Professor in the department of Political Science and Sociology.

  • The Clay Bird

    Join us for a World Cinema Series film screening/discussion illuminating the theme “Wartime Lives: Enduring and Transcending Violence and Occupation” by analyzing the message and impact of the film The Clay Bird (Bengali, 2002).

    The Clay Bird is a 2002 Bengali War-drama film was written and directed by Tareque Masud. It was his debut feature film. Based on Tareque’s story the screenplay was co-written by Tareque and Catherine Masud.

    Set against a 1960’s backdrop leading up to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan, THE CLAY BIRD tells the story of Anu, a boy sent away by his father to an Islamic school. Far from his family and the warmth of his region’s Hindu festivities, Anu struggles to break out of his shell and adapt to the school’s harsh monastic life. As the political divisions in the country intensify, an increasing split develops between the school’s students, just as Anu’s parents find themselves growing apart. Rather than be torn in half, Anu must decide which side he falls upon in this complex tale of tolerance, diversity, and the practice of Islam in a crises-ridden world.

    The discussion of the film will be led by Dr. Rekha Datta, Professor in the department of Political Science and Sociology and Dr. Golam M. Mathbor, Professor in the School of Social Work

  • Korkoro

    Join us for a World Cinema Series film screening/discussion illuminating the theme “Wartime Lives: Enduring and Transcending Violence and Occupation” by analyzing the message and impact of the film Korkoro (France, 2009).

    In this passionate WWII drama, a tightly-knit family of Gypsies journeys through occupied France, trying to avoid the violent Vichy patrols. Directed with wit and vigor by Tony Gatlif (Latcho Drom), Korkoro unearths the hidden story of the Romany people’s joys and struggles during the war.

    Along the way a young French orphan named Claude (Mathias Laliberté) joins their ranks, and is initiated into their culture. Under the tutelage of acrobatic wild man Taloche (James Thiérrée), Claude learns to love his adoptive family. As the Vichy government passes a law restricting their movement, they avoid capture with the help of a local mayor and schoolteacher, who also have ties to the Resistance. But the longer they avoid arrest, the more dangerous their lives become.

    With free-spirited humor and soaring emotion, Korkoro is a revelatory movie about a little known chapter in WWII history. The phenomenal performances, especially Thiérrée’s intensely physical efforts, truly make history come alive.

    The discussion of the film will be led by Christopher DeRosa, Associate Professor in the department of History and Anthropology and Mihaela Moscaliuc, Associate Professor in the department of English