Art Notes, June 6 – The SandPaper

ALTER-REALITY: Joan Gantz uses acrylic paint, graphite, marker and collage to bold effect, à la ‘Pink and Proud.’ Meet her at Wildflowers Too. (Artwork by Joan Gantz)

Buy, Buy, Love: The sixth annual Beach Haven Art Walk is Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fine art, music and community are the themes of the day as vendors line the sidewalks through the borough’s downtown. Organized by the Beach Haven Chamber of Commerce, the juried event celebrates art and culture with an eclectic mix of visual delights. Guests are urged to enjoy other nearby dining, entertainment and shopping experiences while visiting.

The Summer Solstice Craft Show at St. Francis is Saturday, June 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Over 60 artists, crafters and makers will showcase and sell their creations. Enjoy a chance auction, food and refreshment. Admission is $2.

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‘Celestial Spoons’ (Artwork by Joan Gantz)

Wild About Art: Wildflowers Too owner-curator Cricket Luker has reimagined the Barnegat Light art gallery’s look and plan for this summer, with a series of short-term shows set to launch this month, featuring a different artist every three to four weeks through mid-September. First up in the series is contemporary abstract artist Joan Gantz, gallery manager Maggie Roedema announced this week.

“We’re very excited to be showing Joan’s fresh, bold, colorful new work,” she said.

The gallery’s new groove “has a more sophisticated feel,” Roedema continued. “We are featuring deeper collections of our artists. Wildflowers’ trademark eclecticism is still very much in evidence, and the result of all this is really stunning.

“We’re excited about this new season, about the idea of having an ongoing collection as well as new artists to show every few weeks.”

Gantz’s show opens Saturday, June 15 at 3 p.m. with an artist talk about her work and process.

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Author-illustrator Katy Tanis is a biologist and wildlife expert. (Supplied Photo)

Color-Full: During Pride Month, author-illustrator Katy Tanis offers a series of adult art workshops called “Pride and Picture Books” at area libraries: Berkeley, Saturday, June 8 at 3 p.m.; Jackson, Monday, June 17 at 3 p.m.; and Little Egg Harbor, Thursday, June 27 at 2 p.m.

Two library branches, LBI and Brick, will host a Keith Haring retrospective workshop called “Radiant Hearts” this month, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on June 7 in Surf City and June 14 in Brick. Learn about his life and create a keepsake in his style.

(Artwork by Keith Haring)

Teens are invited to show support for Pride Month by making a unique painted project at multiple branches of the Ocean County Library, all starting at 6:30 p.m. “Pride Painting for Teens” will take place at Barnegat on Wednesday, June 12; at Brick on Monday, June 17; and at Manchester on Tuesday, June 25. Register online for the only Southern Ocean County event at tinyurl.com/OclBarnegatPride.

Elsewhere in the library system, the works of Ocean County-based tween artist Jason B. are on display through the end of August at the Ocean County Library’s Jackson branch. B. has studied art for more than half his life. Reserved and unpretentious, the budding artist has let his imagination flow through his hands practically since he first held a crayon. As he recalled, blank paper allowed him freedom of expression.

“I just picked it up and thought, ‘Hmmm. This could be fun.’ And instantly, I developed a bond,” he said.

With enthusiastic family support, B. joined art clubs in Waretown, Barnegat and Manahawkin. He developed fondness for watercolors and found the more he learned, the more he wanted to explore.

‘Cardinal in Winter’ (Artwork by Jason B.)

His work was seen in an exhibit by Barnegat Recreation’s “Young Picasso” program in the OCL Barnegat branch. As a first-grader at his community’s Founders’ Day festivities, he captured Best in Show and first prize in his age group for a crayon rendering he titled “Cardinal in Winter.”

B. finds satisfaction in people relating to the art that emerges from his emotional core. It’s his own de-stressing mechanism.

“I just go in my room and start to draw,” B. said. “It calms me right down.”

He’s increasingly working from real life, bringing his own fertile imagination to what he sees.

Meanwhile at the Toms River branch during June and July, take a look at places in and around Ocean County as depicted in the photographs of Nick DiGiacomo.

(Photograph by Nick DiGiacomo)

The exhibit in the branch’s Second Floor Gallery reflects the Toms River native’s skill in digital and film photography and reflects the thrill of new discoveries in familiar surroundings. Hundreds of his works have attracted avid followers online.

“I’ve always felt an inspired connection with the storytelling and visuals created in movies, songs and books,” DiGiacomo said. “To go out and make new experiences, through aimless discovery or directed intention, with a full tank of gas or a few friends, serves such a fulfilling joy that I will always chase. These photos are from some of these moments throughout a few years of practicing this desire.”

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See Shores: Pine Shores Art Association member artists have work on display in continuous rotation at three locations throughout Southern Ocean County. The show currently hanging at the Manahawkin gallery is “Spring Fling.” Meanwhile, at the PSAA Tuckerton Art Center, the exhibit up through June and July is “Artists’ Choice.” At the Beach Haven Borough Gallery is an exhibit called “Summer Fun,” on display through Sept. 24.

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Mellow Fellow: Application is open for the 2025 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in the categories of choreography, crafts, music composition, photography, play/screenwriting, poetry and sculpture; rules, instructions and application are now available. The deadline to apply is July 16 at 5 p.m., and application assistance webinars are scheduled for June 13 and 25.

Fellowships are awarded to practicing New Jersey artists through an anonymous, competitive application process to help them pursue their artistic goals. Awards have ranged in the past from $4,000 to $32,000. The amount is determined annually by the State Arts Council based on funding provided through the New Jersey Hotel/Motel tax. Fellowships are awarded to applicants who demonstrate the highest artistic skill, with no cap or quota per artistic discipline.

In 2024, from a total of 692 eligible applications, 160 fellowships and finalist awards were granted in six categories, totaling $1.7 million, according to the Arts Council.

Awards are decided based solely on artistic quality as determined by a panel of specialists in each discipline. Program application assistance resources, including links to register for the webinars, are available at midatlanticarts.org.

The webinars allow applicants to attend a scheduled training session online and offer opportunities to ask general questions about the program and application. Registration is required to participate in the webinars. Registrants will receive the Zoom information and instructions via email.

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Hone in: Take a “Master Class” at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences on Friday, June 21. Better yet, take two. Register at lbifoundation.org.

The first is a mixed media workshop on “Water and Sky, Peace and Calm” with Jane Zamost from 1 to 3 p.m. The questions at hand are: “What about the sea and sky brings you to Long Beach Island year after year? How do you connect with the view of sea and sky? Many of us discover inner peace when we walk along the beach, enchanted by the sea, mesmerized by the roar of the water, and connected to the sand between our toes. In this workshop, we will create our very own version of the sea’s importance in our lives. Feel free to bring pictures from magazines and/or your own photos, along with materials you enjoy – paints, crayons, and ephemera. We will explore it all in this workshop and gain connection.” A $15 materials fee is due to the instructor on the 21.

Zamost is a painter and mixed media artist intrigued with the healing arts and their profound effect on the human spirit. She has gained community recognition for her involvement in the healing arts, creating and leading workshops that foster optimism, calm and social justice. Formerly, Zamost was the healing arts program coordinator at Capital Health, one of the founding partners of LUX Gallery, and, in her earlier career, senior vice president at Projects In Knowledge, a medical education/communications company. Her works have been shown in five solo exhibits and more than 70 two-person/group exhibits based in the United States and Canada.

The same day, from 4 to 6 p.m., learn “The Essentials of Art Materials” with Sarah Becktel in a free 90-minute, hands-on presentation focusing on various art materials and their relationship to paper surfaces, empowering artists with the knowledge to choose the right materials for their own practice. The presentation will cover all aspects of art papers: how paper is made, weight, sizing, fiber content and surface texture. Becktel will discuss mediums such as graphite, watercolor, acrylic and others. Attendees will receive a selection of Strathmore, Canson and Arches papers and literature, plus drawing, painting and water-soluble materials and a Princeton watercolor brush.  —V.F.