G
reetings from
Summit Public Art
! Since our last newsletter, our world and our community have changed in ways we could never have imagined. Here at Summit Public Art we have been busy working to keep public art relevant, current, and accessible. At times like this we need art more than ever to help us connect, engage, and share our experiences as a community. We hope you'll find in this email something to inspire you during this challenging time. If you like what you read here, please forward it to your Summit-area friends and neighbors. And, as always, thank you for supporting Summit Public Art!
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S
ometimes a single image can perfectly capture a moment in time. For many of us that moment came a few weeks ago when someone placed a mask on one of our public art works downtown,
James Tyler
's "Brickhead LOVE."
The sight of this familiar face hidden behind the same sort of mask many of us now find it necessary to wear, made for a powerful image and reminded us that we all need to do our part to help one another during this difficult time.
After the mask came down, Summit Public Art immediately commissioned a new one to replace it. Thanks to SPA board member
Cheryl Barr
and the seamstress talents of our Summit neighbor
Terry Jacobs
, the mask now has a proper replacement, a small gesture that we hope will remind everyone that we are all in this together and that whatever we do, even if it is something as simple as wearing a mask, we do not just for ourselves but for each other.
In recent weeks Summit Public Art has focused on creating even more initiatives that directly address this unprecedented moment in the life of our community. These include
In This Together
, a specially commissioned collaboration with photographer Joanie Schwarz chronicling life in Summit during the pandemic, and our new city-wide
Chalk the Walk
art contest, specifically designed to engage Summit families and inspire young artists at home.
Our goal at Summit Public Art has always been to bring art to our community that will enrich and inspire us all. To all of our friends and neighbors, we want you to know that our hearts and thoughts are with you and especially with those who are caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, and doing what needs to be done during this difficult time. We hope that in the weeks and months to come, as our community slowly begins to heal, we can all draw strength from the unique power art has to inspire, comfort, and bring us together.
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Above: James Tyler's Brickhead LOVE wearing new mask sewn by Summit resident Terry Jacobs.
Photo by Joanie Schwarz.
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Brickhead LOVE wearing original mask. Photo courtesy of tapinto.net.
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SPA board members Shally Saini and Estelle Fournier attach the new mask to Brickhead LOVE. Photo by Joanie Schwarz.
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A New Collaboration with Photographer Joanie Schwarz
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he photographer Robert Frank once said that there is one thing that every great photograph must contain: “the humanity of the moment.” To that end, Summit Public Art has commissioned a new series,
I
n This Together
, a collaboration with photographer
Joanie Schwarz
that we hope will capture this unprecedented moment in the life of our community.
Schwarz, whose work has been on the covers of
Time
magazine, the
LA Times
, and the
New York Times
magazine, has spent the last few weeks walking the streets of Summit and chronicling the life she finds there. Empty storefronts and parking lots predominate in the first few shots, conveying the necessary space between us. But here and there we see signs that life still goes on as we all try to get through this difficult time together.
“When you see the emptiness of the streets,” Schwarz says, “don’t see the negative, see it as people staying home in order to keep each other safe. It is an active expression of Love.”
Recent installments include photos of "Giving Tuesday," a weekly program sponsored by GRACE and the Junior League of Summit, which provides food and essential supplies to hundreds of families each week, as well as other images of neighbors helping neighbors that inspire hope and remind us all to look for the smile behind the mask
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Above: Union Place, the heart of downtown Summit, finds itself suddenly empty.
All photos by Joanie Schwarz (@joanieschwarz).
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A girl and her dog find a message of hope--LOVE IS LOVE--as they walk through Memorial Field.
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At the Summit train station the benches are rolled back and police tape covers the walls, another sign of life during quarantine.
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Amanda Block from GRACE food pantry helps a team of volunteers distribute food and essential supplies to over 500 families in one night.
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Summit families wait in line for food from GRACE pantry at Summit's Memorial Field.
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Life During Quarantine for SPA Artists
"In times of social isolation we all need the creative distraction artists provide. Art is an essential service."
—
Artist Donna Dodson
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I
f you follow Summit Public Art on Facebook or Instagram, you may have noticed a new feature: "
Quarantine Art
," a weekly series showcasing art made by SPA artists. Recent posts have included pandemic-inspired paintings by
Kate Dodd
, wall murals by
Paul Santoleri
, "Post Punk" paintings by
Hellbent
, and several evocative abstract portraits by
Emil Almazora
. With traditional galleries and museums closed indefinitely, these and other online exhibitions offer valuable exposure to many working artists who might otherwise have no way to share their art. Recently we checked in with some of our SPA artists to see how they're coping and creating during this difficult time.
Brooklyn-based artist
Hellbent
(JMikal Davis), who created the colorfully-patterned four-story mural that stretches across Summit's Springfield Avenue parking tier, reports that he has been making the most of his time during lockdown, spending time with his family and working hard on his new "Post Punk" series, a collection of paintings (some of which can be seen below) based on collages of painter's tape that he makes in his sketchbook. Asked how the pandemic has affected his work, Davis says, "I think I have been opening up and getting looser with my 'rules,'" which is why he is enjoying working on this latest series, which, he says, feels "less chaotic with more room to breathe."
Though he likes seeing all the "quarantine art" being posted online these days ("It's a great way to keep up with what everyone is doing"), Davis suspects that when this is all over "we are really going to appreciate seeing work in person again, at least I hope so." Until then, he plans to keep on "experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn't." The bottom line, he says, is "do the work": "Make work when you got the feeling but especially when you don't feel like it. It's a full time job. Now get to work!"
Joni Younkins-Herzog
, whose flower sculpture "Vuida" can currently be seen at City Hall, has also been keeping busy at home in Athens, Georgia, but admits that the pandemic has been "cancelling out my inspiration." She explains: "
We generally spend a lot of time alone and working, but it feels sad to be forced to isolate from colleagues and friends.
To me," she writes, "quarantine art has not manifested yet."
Nevertheless, she recently completed a metal sculpture titled "Bliss" (pictured below) and hopes to start work soon on a "new VW bug-inspired creation" using spare Volkswagen parts left over from a recent commission. For those struggling to create, she offers this advice: "Keep going! Do something everyday, be nice and smile. I can always tell if someone smiles behind their mask."
For Massachusetts artists
Donna Dodson
and
Andy Moerlein
, the creative duo behind "Long Last Love," the pair of cardinal sculptures on the Summit Village Green, the pandemic has already begun to affect their livelihood. Since the lockdown, two of their upcoming commissions have been postponed and a scheduled exhibition in New York has also been put on hold.
Yet, as Dodson explains, the pandemic has also given an unexpected context and meaning to their art. "[We] use bamboo and sustainable materials in our work and we think very deeply about our carbon footprint and environmental impact. With the world shut down, nature has rebounded in some very powerful and surprising ways that validate our thinking and messaging in our large public outdoor art projects."
Dodson and Moerlein have continued to work diligently throughout the lockdown, recently finishing two large 30 ft. tall phoenixes for the Phoenix Festival in Camden, NJ as well as various solo works, including a striking wooden "Amazon" sculpture inspired in part by Dodson's Aunt Alice, one of the first women to serve in the Women's Auxiliary Air Corps during World War II.
Despite the professional challenges all artists now face, Dodson sees a way through: "Take full advantage of the time this pandemic offers and make your very best work. The future may be a challenge for us all, but art thrives if one works with materials and means at hand. In times of social isolation we all need the creative distraction artists provide. Art is an essential service."
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Above:
Artist Donna Dodson puts the finishing touches on the head of a 30 ft. tall phoenix sculpture.
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Clockwise from top: "Bliss," metal leg sculpture by Joni Younkins-Herzog; 4 shots of hanging "Night Light" by Jason Peters; Untitled painting by Hellbent.
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Clockwise from top left: Untitled studio wall paintings by Paul Santoleri; Untitled oil painting by Emil Alzamora; Untitled painting by Hellbent; Plastic bottle-inspired work by Kate Dodd.
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Celebrating Earth Day 2020 through Public Art
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T
his month marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. To celebrate we're featuring some of the SPA artists making fantastic eco-friendly public art.
Aurora Robson
is a multi-media artist and founding member of Project Vortex, an international collective of artists, designers, and architects who work in innovative ways with plastic debris. “We think of plastic as disposable when it is precisely the opposite,” says Robson, “so I extract it from its problematic destructive fate and utilize its potential to become a source for enjoyable reflection.... I see creative stewardship as a future positive way of art making that provides elements of creative problem solving and present day relevance to any studio practice.” Summit residents will soon have a chance to see Robson’s eco-friendly creations up close when she installs some of her work on the Village Green later this year.
NJ artist
Kate Dodd
has exhibited her artwork nationally and also here in Summit, where locals will remember her work “Cloudscape,” on view last year above the fountain in Promenade Park. Dodd has worked with repurposed materials for many years, using everything from discarded books to styrofoam cups to create installations for a variety of venues, from museums and parks to schools and train stations. Her work will be seen once again in Summit later this spring with the arrival of “Efflorescence” (a detail of which can be seen below), a site-specific piece consisting of fourteen flowerlike stalks created from bundles of repurposed single-use water bottles.
Sarah Langsam
grew up in New Jersey and found her true passion for sculpting while attending the University of Delaware. Her organic material arrangements have earned multiple awards and have been exhibited across the country, most notably at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Local art lovers know Langsam as the creator of the "Togetherness Trail," which spans the pathway along the Summit Park Line’s upper Overlook Road entrance. Measuring a tenth of a mile, this large-scale installation combines repurposed branches and hundreds of multi-colored plywood rings to display a mosaic design that can be seen from Morris Avenue. Langsam’s commitment to making art from repurposed materials is evident in her one of her most recent creations, an as yet untitled mosaic (pictured below) made from dried pieces of paint and adhesive left over from her work on the Togetherness Trail.
In addition, Summit residents can also look forward to new work by
Andrew Light
, who fuses scrap metal and discarded machine parts to create surprisingly graceful sculptures, and
Tom Fruin
, who uses repurposed plexiglass to create colorful stained-glass houses and other illuminated life-size structures. With these and other eco-friendly works slated to arrive in 2020, SPA's upcoming season promises to be its greenest ever.
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Above: "Troika," welded plastic debris sculpture by Aurora Robson.
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Collage of repurposed bottles in plastic netting by Kate Dodd.
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Above: entrance to Togetherness Trail; below: untitled mosaic made from scrap material from the trail by Sarah Langsam.
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Artist Tom Fruin, "working at home" in one of his repurposed plexiglass houses.
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Stuck inside? Need a little art in your life? Explore our online gallery at www.summitpublicart.com to see inspiring works from both the past and the present.
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Or visit us on Facebook and Instagram where you'll find family activities to inspire the young artists in your home as well as special features like our
Close-Up
and
In This Together
series and the latest
Quarantine Art
from SPA artists. You can also join us on a
virtual aerial tour
of the public art works currently on view around Summit. Simply click on the video link below and enjoy your flight!
(Video courtesy of Birch & Willow Productions)
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For the all the latest info on Summit Public Art,
follow us on Instagram or Facebook
by clicking the links below:
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From our followers:
"Particularly at a time like this, we need art to help us stay in touch with our community."
"Public art adapting to its community and community engagement with its art are things to be proud of. "
"Wonderful to see Summit Public Art in support of protecting and loving our special community. Bravo!"
"Thank you to all the artists! Keep creating!"
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Summit Public Art Needs You
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A
s a 100% volunteer-run, donor-funded, non-profit organization, we rely entirely on the generosity of Summit residents to provide the public art and community projects that you, your families, and visitors to our town enjoy on a daily basis. If you would like to help us continue to enrich and inspire our community through public art, please click on the button below:
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Stay safe and stay inspired!
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Summit Public Art | summitpublicarts@gmail.com | www.summitpublicart.com
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