Center for the Arts

Gallery Exhibitions

Guajiros Retratos de Otoño, an exhibition of work by Lázaro Niebla

Lázaro Niebla, a resident of Trinidad de Cuba, documents the connection to the past through reverse woodcut portraits of those that understand it best: his elders. His process begins by collecting discarded colonial window panels that were used to protect the homes in Trinidad de Cuba during the Spanish colonization. He then photographs his subjects, capturing them in a spontaneous moment. Working off of his photograph, Lázaro meticulously carves layer after layer from the repurposed panel, exposing the perfectly preserved wood under the surface. Using acrylic paint, Lázaro adds touches of color to the piece, choosing to leave the skin of the subject wood tone — connecting the person he has chosen to portray to the material that he has chosen to work with. The life of the tree, the window shutter, the home it protected, the subject portrayed, and the artist are all represented in each piece of art.

NEW!!! Opening Reception - RESCHEDULED FOR November 10 from 6pm - 8 pm | Pollak Gallery

Gallery Exhibitions

PAT CRESSON – Taking a Leap –The Power of the Natural World – 45 Years of Creative Work

This retrospective show, PAT CRESSON Taking a Leap –The Power of the Natural World 45 Years of Creative Work is a combined visual statement of over 45 years of artmaking. It covers 21 different categories ranging from painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, and digital imaging to sculpture. CRESSON have always been interested in a broad range of art topics, styles and techniques and has followed her heart and not limited herself to just one or two topics, series or styles.

Closing Reception and lecture/walking tour: Thursday December 7 - Tour begins at 4pm; Reception from 5-6pm

Adult Education Series

British Invasion Part 2: First Wave, 1963-1967

This two-session virtual course taught by Kit O’Toole will survey some of the major artists of the First Wave period, from 1963-1967. It will cover genres from pop to the beginnings of psychedelia, and will examine other acts such as the Who, Dusty Springfield, the Animals, the Hollies, and many more. In addition, the class will study the impact of the First Wave on the charts and on American pop and rock music. Finally, how did the First Wave set the stage for the psychedelic and hard rock sound of the Second Wave?

Class Schedule: Thursdays - December 7 & 14 | 7:30 - 9:00 PM

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas

Sung in Spanish and inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, Mexican composer Daniel Catán’s 1996 opera focuses on an opera diva, Florencia Grimaldi, who returns
to her native Brazil to perform and to search for her lost lover, who has vanished into the jungle. The Met premiere stars soprano Ailyn Pérez as Florencia in a new production by Mary Zimmerman that brings the mystical realm of the Amazon to the Met stage. The distinguished ensemble of artists portraying the diva’s fellow travelers on the river boat to Manaus features Gabriella Reyes as the journalist Rosalba, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the ship’s captain,
baritone Mattia Olivieri as his enigmatic first mate, tenor Mario Chang as the captain’s nephew Arcadio, and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and baritone Michael Chioldi as the feuding couple Paula and Álvaro, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin’s verse novel follows the fates of three men and three women. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it also portrays a large cast of other characters and offers the reader many literary, philosophical, and autobiographical digressions, often in a highly satirical vein.

Performing Arts Series

The Doo Wop Project’s Christmas Show

The Doo Wop Project boys will get you into the Holiday Spirit! Hear old school Holiday Classics like The Drifters’ White Christmas, The Temptations’ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town along with “Doowopified” contemporary hits like This Christmas and Last Christmas. It’s sure to be a jolly good time.

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Verdi’s Nabucco

Ancient Babylon comes to life in a classic Met staging of biblical proportions. Baritone George Gagnidze makes his Met role debut as the imperious king Nabucco, alongside Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska reprising her thrilling turn as his vengeful daughter Abigaille. Mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova and tenor SeokJong Baek, in his company debut, are Fenena and Ismaele, and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy repeats his celebrated portrayal of the high priest Zaccaria. Daniele Callegari conducts Verdi’s early masterpiece, which features the ultimate showcase for the great Met Chorus, the moving “Va, pensiero.”

Tuesday Night Record Club

The Eagles’ Hotel California

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature The Eagles’ Hotel California.

Gallery Exhibitions

Journeys of Interdependence: Portraits of First-Generation Identity in Higher Education

The lives and experiences of students, families, faculty and professional staff who identify as first-generation are the subject of increased attention in higher education across the United States. The success of programs, initiatives, and interventions mostly focus on measurable student “outcomes” but may often miss the complicated narratives of aspiration, sacrifice, accomplishment and identity work first-generation students, families, faculty, staff and communities navigate.  Portraiture can make visible the triumphs and challenges of being first in the family in higher educational spaces. This juried exhibition features works that highlight the  first-generation college experience through portraiture and welcomes portraits made in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, video, performance, and time-based media.

Opening Reception: January 19 from 5-7 pm

Tuesday Night Book Club

William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice. The author’s last novel, it concerns the relationships among three people sharing a boarding house in Brooklyn: Stingo, a young aspiring writer from the South, Jewish scientist Nathan Landau, and his lover Sophie, a Polish-Catholic survivor of the German Nazi concentration camps, whom Stingo befriends.

ArtNOW: Performance, Art, and Technology

I will dance with those oak trees as long as

In March of 1988 in Halabja, Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s regime attacked Kurdish peoples through the use of chemical weapons, as part of the Anfal ethnic cleansing campaign. Set in a carpet store at this time, I will dance with those oak trees as long as takes us on a poetic voyage into the life of three Kurdish women, inspired by the poetry of Kajal Ahmad and the characters Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and Ninsun from the world’s most ancient epic poem: Gilgamesh. Carpets, chairs, and strings create the environment in which two actresses interpret the three different women and how they react to a violent and unstable outside world.  Accompanied by soundscapes inspired by traditional Kurdish music, this international duo uses objects, puppets, and a multilayered world of reality, dreams, memories, and visions to explore the question of what it means to be a hero when you have no other choice. 

Adult Education Series

British Invasion, Part 3: The Third Wave

This two-session virtual course taught by Kit O’Toole will survey some of the major artists of the Second Wave period, from 1967 through the 1970s. It will cover genres from psychedelia through blues rock, progressive rock, glam rock, and much more. How did the First Wave of the British Invasion lead to the different sights and sounds of the late 1960s? The course will explore artists such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd , Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees, Van Morrison, Elton John, David Bowie, and Yes, and their impact on both British and American music. Finally, how did the Second Wave set the stage for the new wave, punk, and pop sound of the Third Wave?

Class Schedule: Tuesdays - Jan. 25 & Feb. 1 | 7:30 - 9:00 PM

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD

Bizet’s Carmen

Acclaimed English director Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut, reinvigorating the classic story of deadly passion with a staging that moves the action to the present day, amid a band of human traffickers. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina leads a powerhouse quartet of stars in the touchstone role of the irresistible femme fatale, alongside tenor Piotr Beczała as Carmen’s lover Don José, soprano Angel Blue as the devoted Micaëla, and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the swaggering Escamillo. Daniele Rustioni conducts Bizet’s heart-pounding score.

Great Art on Screen

Jeff Koons: A Private Portrait

This is not just a documentary but an amazing journey inside the mind of the most controversial artist of our time. Jeff Koons is widely regarded as one of the most influential, popular and disputed artists of the last 30 years. This film will show the hidden mechanisms lying behind the person, the artist and the Koons brand. It’s an intimate exploration of Jeff Koon’s consciousness aiming to discover what motivates him and shapes his incomparable vision. With exclusive access to the Koons family home in York, Pennsylvania, the documentary investigates Koons’ roots and everyday life, follows him to New York City to his vast studio where tens of painters, sculptors and graphic designers are based, and then on to Qatar and Europe, to the Greek island of Hydra during his 2021 five exhibitions tour.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Meet the Beatles

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Meet the Beatles.

Tuesday Night Record Club

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s Ella & Louis

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s Ella & Louis.

World Cinema Series

Last Train Home

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 200 other million peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world’s next super power.
There will be a post screening Q&A hosted by Professor Chris DeRosa with special guest speaker Prof. Mel Brzycki.

Performing Arts Series

On A Winter’s Night

Presenting the Reunion Tour of “On A Winter’s Night” from veteran singer-songwriters PATTY LARKIN, CLIFF EBERHARDT, JOHN GORKA  and LUCY KAPLANSKY, that remain among the brightest stars of the singer/songwriter movement for the past three decades. In 1994 Christine Lavin gathered them together, along with folk and Americana artists to showcase music of the Winter Season on the now-classic On A Winter’s Night CD, followed by several years of touring collaborations. These artists have released dozens of recordings and toured steadily through the decades, with fond memories of their touring days together. The winter season is again celebrated by these unique and popular performers, back together by popular demand.

Tuesday Night Book Club

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.

National Theatre: Broadcast in HD

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together. In defiance of their feuding families, they chase a future of joy and passion as violence erupts around them. This bold new film brings to life the remarkable backstage spaces of the National Theatre in which desire, dreams and destiny collide to make Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy sing in an entirely new way. Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Judy) and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) play Juliet and Romeo. The award-winning cast includes Tamsin Greig, Fisayo Akinade, Adrian Lester, Lucian Msamati, Deborah Findlay.

Tickets on sale October 25 at noon.