SEWARD JOHNSON ON BROADWAY: Famed sculptor and philanthropist J. Seward Johnson will be in New York City’s Garment District today, Wednesday, June 24, to open an exhibition of of 18 of his most iconic and popular pieces, selected from Grounds for Sculpture’s “Seward Johnson: The Retrospective,” which was scheduled to close last September, but has proved to be so popular that it has been extended to July 1 of this year (www.groundsforsculpture.org). “Seward Johnson in New York, Selections From the Retrospective,” can be seen in Garment District plazas on Broadway, between 38th Street and 39th Street until September 15. (Image courtesy of Seward Johnson Atelier, Inc.)

If you’ve strolled down Broadway through New York City’s Garment District in recent months you will have observed some intriguing public art on display in the city streets. Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein’s colossal bird sculptures constructed out of maple saplings stopped pedestrians in their tracks between 36th and 41st streets.

The latest artwork to be unveiled there promises to do the same. Eighteen life-size sculptures by J. Seward Johnson will be on show on Broadway between 38th Street and 39th Street.

Mr. Johnson will open the exhibition, today, June 24, between 11 a.m. and noon, at a reception at which he is expected to reflect on a lifetime of creative achievement. The New Jersey artist has been paying homage to American society through realistic bronze sculptures for almost half a century.

The artwork on display has been selected from the retrospective of Mr. Johnson’s work at Grounds For Sculpture (GFS), the sculpture park and arboretum he founded on the site of the old New Jersey Fairgrounds in Hamilton.

Mr. Johnson led the team that transformed the once derelict site into a showcase for prominent and emerging artists. The park evolved as an offshoot of Mr. Johnson’s foundry, The Johnson Atelier.

The renowned sculptor and philanthropist has dedicated his career to public art. His life-like bronze and monumental figures are familiar sights throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. His best known works are lifelike sculptures in his “Celebrating the Familiar” series, which draws attention to the details of ordinary life: a nap on a park bench, a trip to the grocery story, the pleasure a child takes in an ice cream cone.

GFS opened its doors to the public in 1992 with works by Mr. Johnson and contributions from notable artists such as Clement Meadmore, Anthony Caro, Beverly Pepper, George Segal, and Isaac Witkin. “Seward Johnson: The Retrospective” opened there in May of last year. Although it was scheduled to close last September, the show drew so many visitors that it was extended to July 1 of this year.

“There has been a remarkable response from both the media and the continuing flood of visitors to the park, local and international,” said Paula Stoeke, the exhibition’s guest curator. “This gathering of sculptures will never be seen all together again and I encourage everyone to plan a visit.”

The GFS exhibition sculptures chosen to spend their summer in the city include several of the artist’s signature “man on the street” bronzes. Princeton residents are familiar with such works. One of the artist’s first public pieces, The Newspaper Reader, was made for the municipality and sits outside Monument Hall. Another, Out to Lunch, is in Palmer Square. Both were created in the 1970s, when Mr. Johnson hoped to encourage people to “get back out-of-doors” at a time when a crime wave had them avoiding public spaces. “I wanted to put sculptures into parks to act like decoys and entice people back to parks,” he explained in a 2012 Princeton Magazine interview.

In addition, tourists and New Yorkers alike will be able to enjoy one of Mr. Johnson’s most charismatic trompe l’oeil painted bronzes, a three-dimensional version of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York’s Times Square on VJ-Day at the end of World War II. Perhaps his most famous work, Unconditional Surrender, has been displayed in Times Square, San Diego, Sarasota, and Rome.

Incidentally, owners of the copyright to the image, made famous by LIFE magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, refused Johnson permission to use it, so Johnson based his work on a slightly different photograph of the kissing couple taken by another photographer and in the public domain.

Among the iconic pieces on show in the Garment District is his Forever Marilyn, a three dimensional version of a photograph of the star with her white skirt billowing around her legs from the updraft of an air vent from the New York subway; a scene from the movie, The Seven Year Itch.

Also on view on Broadway will be some of Mr. Johnson’s well-known 3-dimensional life-scale tableaux of paintings by the French Impressionists. Visitors to GFS are fond of inserting themselves into his take on Renoir’s The Boating Party, titled Were You Invited, from his “Beyond the Frame” series. The park also boasts the artist’s rendition of Claude Monet’s Garden at Sainte-Addresse and Edouard Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe. 

The general popularity of these works stands in marked contrast to the reception that met Mr. Johnson’s first major show at the Corcoran Gallery. “Beyond the Frame: Impressionism Revisited,” was panned by critics, one of whom likened the feeling it gave him to that of riding a Ferris Wheel after eating a sardine milkshake.

The artist relishes the memory of that response and credits the critic for doing him an enormous favor. “People flocked to the show to see what all the fuss was about,” he once said.

At 85, Mr. Johnson has more than 450 life-size cast bronze works featured in city parks and museums worldwide including in London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Kiev, Sydney, and Osaka. Often hailed as “America’s most popular sculptor;” he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2013.

The retrospective at Grounds for Sculpture includes works indoors and out. One of the most monumental pieces is The Awakening, a 70-foot long giant emerging from the earth whose 17-foot arm extends dramatically into the sky. For this and other works such as his interactive rendition of Mona Lisa called A Reason to Smile, and Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring á la Johnson titled The Nature of Obsession, you will have to visit Grounds for Sculpture before the show ends on July 1. For more information, visit www.groundsforsculpture.org.

“Seward Johnson in New York, Selections From the Retrospective” at Garment District plazas on Broadway, between 38th Street and 39th Street, will run until September 15.

CUBAN LIVES: Alina Bliach’s photograph of Ardelio is one of 45 portraits of Cuban immigrants from the past 50 years on display at the Mercer County Community College Gallery from June 13 through June 24. An opening reception with Ms. Bliach, a 2006 alumna of the MCCC Photography program, will be held Saturday, June 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit: www.mccc.edu/gallery.

A special photography exhibition featuring Mercer County Community College (MCCC) alumna Alina Bliach (’06) opens with a reception in the Gallery at MCCC on Saturday, June 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will continue through June 24.

“A Voyage of Many,” includes images and stories of 45 Cuban immigrants over the past half century in their new American homeland. Each photograph is accompanied by a printed excerpt from interviews Bliach conducted. The photos and narratives tell stories of forced exile, escape, loss, hope, and triumph.

Ms. Bliach notes that many of those who came to the United States in the 1960s are now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s, and most of their stories remain unrecorded. “Since the 1960s more than one million Cubans have immigrated to the United States — the children of the Peter Pan flights, the people of Camarioca, the Freedom Flights, the Mariel Boatlift, the people known as the Balceros, and the Immigration Visa Lottery winners …. Their’s are the stories of sacrifice, perseverance, and survival in their ultimate quest for freedom. These are their portraits,” she said.

Ms. Bliach’s portraits are rich in detail that connects their subjects to their Cuban heritage. “Forced to leave their homeland, their love for family, art, religion, and music is often apparent throughout their homes. Photographs of loved ones, brightly colored art and religious relics are proudly displayed …. More than decorations, these objects reveal the deep relationship between these immigrants’ cultural background and the new lives they built for themselves in America,” she said.

The photographer’s work has won numerous awards and honors: as a finalist in Best of Photography 2013; First and Second Prize honors in the Pollux Awards; Merit Awards in the Professional Photographers of America International competitions; PPA Loan Collection honor; Hasselblad Photographer of the Month; and several International Photography Honorable Mentions. Her work has been exhibited at the Borges Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina; The Room in SoHo, N.Y.; Arts Council of Princeton in Princeton; Grounds for Sculpture; Phillips Mill in New Hope, Pa.; Artworks in Trenton; and Art Along the Fence in Hoboken.

The MCCC Gallery is located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Gallery hours for “A Voyage of Many,” are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, June 20, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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CHAIRMAKING IN THE GARDEN STATE: Morven’s latest exhibition “Of the Best Materials and Good Workmanship: 19th-Century New Jersey Chairmaking” examines the chairmaker’s craft from the 1790s to the end of the 19th century. Guest curator Joseph W. Hammond documents the work of chairmakers who once worked in virtually every corner of the Garden State, with examples of their work, period photographs, and advertisements in four rooms on the museum’s second floor. The exhibition will be on view at Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, through October 18. For more information, call (609) 924-8144, or visit: www.morven.org. (Photo by L. Arntzenius)

Where else but Princeton’s Morven Museum & Garden would you find an exhibition devoted entirely to the history of chair-making in New Jersey?

Even though the museum’s staff is currently working behind the scenes on what promises to be a landmark show this fall, they have brought in a guest curator for a small and informative exploration of the history of chair making in New Jersey that will run through the summer until mid-October.

In spite of its cumbersome title, “Of the Best Materials and Good Workmanship: 19th-Century New Jersey Chairmaking” (derived from an 1828 newspaper advertisement of Morristown chair maker J. D. Humphreyville), the exhibition showcases some of the most sleek and elegant examples of the chairmaker’s craft from the 1790s to the end of the 19th century.

The show came about after the museum was contacted by a New Jersey collector who offered his chairs for display. “We saw his collection and thought it was an excellent idea; to his items, others were added,” said Morven’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Elizabeth Allan.

Formerly of Winterthur and now engaged in New Jersey historic projects, guest curator Joseph W. Hammond was called in to review and make selections from the private collection and to seek out appropriate additions from sources across the state. About half of the items on display come from a single private collection and the rest from multiple sources. “It’s not just about chairs but about chair-making in New Jersey, including regional characteristics,” said Mr. Hammond. “Chairmakers once worked in virtually every corner of the Garden State, from large cities and towns to small crossroad communities and 35 examples are on display here along with chair-making tools and stencils, portraits and photographs, period advertisements, and plates from sales catalogs.”

Mr. Hammond has enhanced the display with period advertisements from the early part of the 19th century for some of the hundreds of craftsmen known today through census records, business directories, account books, and research conducted by furniture students and local historians. He will discuss the exhibition during a gallery talk on September 17.

The exhibition is presented in four rooms on the museum’s second floor and comprises sections on, “The Craft of Chairmaking,” “Windsor Chairs,” “Common and Fancy Chairs,” and “Factory Made Chairs.”

The first of these introduces visitors to the process of making 19th-century chairs, including the technique and tools for traditional rush seating.

Most of the equipment and tools on display have been drawn from an important collection assembled in the late 1920s by William H. MacDonald of Trenton. Period photographs illustrate how many of the tools were used.

Check out the chairmaker’s bench, a rotating stand for weaving rush seats, color grinders used in Allentown for preparing paint, and decorative stencils from several shops in the Allentown and Englishtown areas.

Replications of several stencils on loan from the Monmouth County Historical Collection are cut from scrap paper. “It’s amazing that they have survived at all, some of them are so delicate,” said Ms. Allan as she pointed out some for crest rails, some with corner designs and one bearing a chair-maker’s name. They’d be used to apply painted designs. Beside them are some patterns that would be copied by hand.

Eight Windsor chairs made between 1790 and 1835 range in form from fan-back and bow-back to rod-back styles, some with bamboo-shaped turnings popular in the early 19th century. They were made in Trenton, Pemberton, Moorestown, Salem, and Monmouth County by Ezekiah Hewes, William Bowen, Samuel Jaques, Samuel Roberts, William McElroy, Ebenezer P. Rose, and others. Brands were often stamped on the undersides of chair seats and can be used to identify the work of specific craftsmen.

Throughout the 19th century, a wide range of common and fancy chairs were made in all parts of New Jersey and there are 15 examples of these in the exhibition. Seven of them were produced by the renowned Ware family of South Jersey, who made slat-back, rush seated chairs in the Delaware Valley tradition in Cumberland and Salem counties. Nineteen Wares over four generations engaged in chairmaking from the late 18th century to the 1940s. The techniques passed down in the family remained so similar that it is often difficult, if not impossible, to tell the work of one craftsman from another.

After the Civil War, chair production in New Jersey shifted from small shops to factories. Three of the most prominent were the Gardner Manufacturing Company of Glen Gardner, Hunterdon County; the Tunis R. Cooper chair factory in Bergenfield, Bergen County; and the Collignon Brothers in what is now River Vale, Bergen County. Twelve examples from all three factories display the special characteristics developed by each, including the Collignan Brothers’s patented folding chairs.

Highlights include the hand-painted crest rail depicting a compote of berries on a Windsor side chair made by Ebenezer P. Rose, Jr., of Trenton, ca. 1815-25, and the graceful bow-back Windsor armchair made by William McElroy of Moorestown, N.J., ca. 1795-1810.

One period photograph shows Samuel Sloan Ware (1848-1920) on the porch roof of his second floor chair shop in Alloway, New Jersey, ca. 1875, which comes from the Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera at the Winterthur Library.

Another, by Edward W. Humphrey, records the interior of Dan Ware’s chair shop in Woodstown, Salem County, circa 1895.

Miniatures made between 1960 and 1985 by Ware family descendent Allen M. Loveland, Jr., of Camden, are on loan from the Salem County Historical Society,

“Of the Best Materials and Good Workmanship: 19th-Century New Jersey Chairmaking” will be on view at Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, through October 18. Hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Admission: $6, adults; $5, seniors/students; free to children 6 and under and Friends of Morven. For more information, call (609) 924-8144, or visit: www.morven.org.

And the landmark show coming up in the fall? “Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Couple of an Age,” the first large-scale exhibition to explore the vices and virtues of this prominent couple, will open November 13. For a sneak peek, visit: www.morven.org.

TARASCON STAGECOACH: Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 painting will be back in Princeton this fall when it will be showcased in the exhibition “Cézanne and the Modern: Masterpieces of European Art from the Pearlman Collection,” opening in September at the Princeton University Art Museum. The painting, which has been held by the art museum since 1976, has recently been on tour with other 19th and 20th century masterworks by the likes of Cézanne, Degas, Manet, and Modigliani. The Princeton University Art Museum is open to the public at no charge. Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call (609) 258-3788 or visit: artmuseum.princeton.edu.

A major exhibition of masterworks by Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Modigliani, and Van Gogh will be on view at the Princeton University Art Museum from September 12, through January 3, 2016.

The exhibition, “Cézanne and the Modern: Masterpieces of European Art from the Pearlman Collection,” will feature works collected by American businessman Henry Pearlman (1895–1974) in the years after the Second World War. Fifty modern masterworks from the late 19th through the early 20th century will be on view.

Princeton is the concluding venue for the exhibition, organized by the Princeton University Art Museum in cooperation with the Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, and the culmination of the first international tour of the entire collection since Henry Pearlman’s death 40 years ago.

The exhibition showcases works by leading Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and School of Paris artists, including Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, as well as the collection’s centerpiece: a stellar group of oil paintings and watercolors by Pearlman’s favorite artist, Paul Cézanne.

“We are proud to have been the custodians of this superb collection since 1976, and now to have shared the collection with venues in four countries,” said James Steward, Nancy A. Nasher-David J. Haemisegger, Class of 1976, director. “Its return to Princeton is an auspicious moment, marking the first time in decades that our visitors will have the opportunity to discover the whole of the collection at one time, and thus to appreciate the Pearlmans’ passion for some of the 19th and 20th centuries’ most important artists.”

Among the exhibition’s highlights are Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire (ca. 1904–6), Van Gogh’s Tarascon Stagecoach (1888) and Modigliani’s portrait of Jean Cocteau (1916). The Pearlman Collection is especially known for an exceptional group of intimate works: 16 watercolors by Cézanne, forming perhaps the finest collection in the world in terms of their quality and condition, as well as the continuing freshness of their colors. Due to the delicacy of the medium, the watercolors can be shown only rarely, so this is likely to be the only opportunity for decades to see them in the context of Cézanne’s oils. Other artists represented in the exhibition include Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier, Oskar Kokoschka, Wilhelm Lembruck, Jacques Lipchitz, Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

A richly illustrated catalogue, published by the Princeton University Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, accompanies the exhibition.

The Princeton University Art Museum is located on Princeton campus; admission is free. Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. The Museum is closed Mondays and major holidays.

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THE GODDESS: That’s the title of this work by the late Jeanne Calo who will be remembered as a talented artist and generous spirit at an exhibition and sale of her work at the Princeton Senior Resource Center at 45 Stockton Street this Sunday, April 19, from 3 to 6 p.m. Ms. Calo donated her artwork to the Center and the exhibition of her colorful and highly stylized works will be on view through Friday, April 24. For more information, call (609) 924-7108; or visit: www.princetonsenior.org. (Image Courtesy of PSRC)

The life and artistic creativity of the late local artist Jeanne Calo will be celebrated at the Princeton Senior Resource Center (PSRC) with an opening reception for an exhibition and sale of her work this Sunday, April 19, from 3 to 6 p.m. The public is invited to view Ms. Calo’s vibrant paintings, the sale of which will benefit the Center.

Ms. Calo, who passed away at age 98 in the spring of 2014, was a longtime resident of Princeton; she donated her paintings to the Center.

Born in Tunis in 1916, Ms. Calo took up painting later in life following a career at The College of New Jersey where she taught French. She traveled widely in Tunisia, Mexico, Ecuador, Indonesia, Morocco, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Thailand, acquiring objects from markets, festivals, dance, and music events. Such finds served as inspiration for Ms. Calo’s paintings, imbuing them with the essence of the countries and the cultures of the artist’s travels. She was also influenced by her love of Gauguin, Matisse, Derain, and Bonnard.

By many accounts, Ms. Calo was a remarkable woman with an indefatigable spirit. Her friends remember her as modest, unassuming and genuinely surprised when her paintings were appreciated and sought out by museums.

Long before she became an artist, Ms. Calo lived in Tunis as a young wife and mother. She moved to the United States with her cardiologist husband and children in 1958. After teaching for a while at a private school, she enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in order to obtain a PhD degree so that she might pursue a career as a professor of French.

It wasn’t until her retirement at the age of 70 that she took up painting for the first time. It would become her major interest and a source of joy and achievement. According to her friend Paola Blelloch, Ms. Calo attended art courses at Mercer County Community College every week until shortly before her death last year. She studied under the famed New Jersey realist painter and teacher Mel Leipzig and discovered a favorite medium in acrylics. She quickly developed her own style which, said Ms. Blelloch, well-represented her personality. As artist, Ms. Calo favored strong colors and often added touches of humor.

Ms. Calo’s paintings have been exhibited in many museums and galleries. “Various institutions asked to exhibit her paintings which she did willingly, always giving the proceedings to charity,” said Ms. Blelloch.

“But her greater gift to me and her other many friends was the way she made each of us feel special, her optimism was contagious and her advice invaluable as it was always wise,” recalled Ms. Blelloch in a written account of her friend of 35 years. “The quality that can better sum her up is her ‘generosity,’ not only with presents that she gave to everybody in abundance, but with what she gave of herself. All her friends benefited from that.”

The exhibition and sale of Ms. Calo’s highly stylized works will be on view and available for purchase at the Princeton Senior Resource Center at 45 Stockton Street through Friday, April 24. For more information, (609) 924-7108; or visit: www.princetonsenior.org.

ELISHA’S MIRACLES: Bible enthusiasts have a treat in store at the Princeton Theological Seminary’s Erdman Center at 20 Library Place where illuminated images like this one of “Elisha and the Six Miracles” by renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson (here in collaboration with Aidan Hart) are on display in an exhibition of prints from The Saint John’s Bible project. The exhibition runs through May 10 with several educational events open to the public as well. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 1:30 to 9 p.m. For more information, call (609) 497-7990, or visit: www.ptsem.edu. (Image Courtesy of Erdman Center)

The idea of a handwritten illuminated Bible conjures up the image of a heavy leather-bound tome reverently presented for display in a glass case in some hushed library. Most of the examples we see today were created by monks laboring for years.

Thanks to the efforts of one contemporary calligrapher who is scribe to Queen Elizabeth II’s Crown Office at the House of Lords in London, England, the form has been revived. Donald Jackson has been commissioned by a Benedictine monastery to create the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible since the invention of the printing press more than 500 years ago, the most extensive scribal commission the world has seen since the Middle Ages.

Mr. Jackson suggested the project to the monks at a monastery in Wales and he can be found talking about the project and demonstrating his skill with hand-cut quill and ink that he makes himself on You Tube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK9oCX5lBLQ). A team of scribes, artists, and crafts-people in a Welsh scriptorium worked on The Saint John’s Bible for more than 13 years.

Prints on loan from The Saint John’s Bible are currently on display in the Princeton Theological Seminary’s Erdman Gallery. The exhibition runs through May 10.

The Erdman gallery exhibition, which is free and open to the public, is a rare chance to view a unique project intended to “ignite the spiritual imagination of Christian believers throughout the world and illuminate the Word of God using ancient traditions and today’s technology for a new millennium.” It features 25 approximately 22 by 30 inch giclée prints from the illuminated Bible that was commissioned in 1998 by the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Standout prints include Jacob’s Ladder by Donald Jackson in collaboration with Chris Tomlin; Faithful Friends by Diane von Arx with scribe Brian Simpson; Donald Jackson’s Village of the Dry Bones and The Life of Paul; and two works by Thomas Ingmire: Messianic Prediction and The Ten Commandments. For the latter, the artist’s brief was to combine five different passages from Exodus into one single illumination. Mr. Ingmire’s is a modern take on his subject. While the top half of the page depicts traditional images of burning bush, the first Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the twelve pillars of Israel with Biblical texts arranged across them in gold lettering, the bottom half of the page contains the Ten Commandments in letters that are stenciled rather than penned, or should we say “quilled.” The result emphasizes the authoritative nature of the “laws.”

Don’t miss Chris Tomlin’s Monarch Butterflies, alongside which helpful wall notes explain the symbolic significance of the butterfly in Christian art. You will also learn that that the margins of medieval Bibles were often decorated with plants and animals that had symbolic meaning and that all of the species of flora and fauna depicted in the margins of the Saint John’s Bible are either native to the Minnesota woods surrounding St. John’s University or to the Welsh countryside near Donald Jackson’s home. Mr. Tomlin, a specialist in botanical and nature illustration, went to Minnesota to research marginalia subjects.

Along with the show, the Seminary plans three special events that are also open to the public. On Wednesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. Tim Ternes, director of The Saint John’s Bible at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, will recount the story behind the project and discuss the art on display. His interactive presentation, “From Inspiration to Illumination: An Introduction to The Saint John’s Bible,” takes place in the Erdman Center. To attend, register at www.ptsem.edu/stjohnbible.

Working directly with the project’s artistic team, Mr. Ternes facilitates exhibitions for the original pages and reproductions, as well as curating and caring for the original folios of the Bible. He travels extensively offering presentations, exhibitions, and educational programs for the Bible project and library collections. “They’ve brought together a team of theologians and artists who thought through the entire project,” said Dayle Rounds, associate dean of continuing education at the Seminary. “It’s amazing to hear Tim [Ternes] walk you through each of the images on display.”

Following Mr. Ternes’s presentation, there will be a reception and a demonstration of techniques used in the creation of the Bible by calligrapher Diane Von Arx, whose own work is among those on display.

A native Minnesotan, Ms. Von Arx has been a graphic designer for more than 25 years. She specializes in creative lettering and calligraphy and conducts workshops throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Australia. She has published three beginning calligraphy workbooks and her work has been included in numerous exhibitions and private collections.

One of only three U. S. calligraphers asked to participate in the creation of The Saint John’s Bible, Ms. Von Arx will share her experiences as an artist working on this more than a decade-long project as well as her personal insights on the creative process and the challenges of going from word to image with sacred texts.

For those interested in delving deeper into the project and even trying their hand at grinding inks and using hand-cut quills, the Seminary is offering a 24 hour retreat, “Seeing the Word: A Retreat with The Saint John’s Bible” on April 22 and April 23.

Led by Mr. Ternes and Ms. von Arx, participants will examine the creative and artistic processes involved and “enter into a deeper understanding of the scriptural passages with the new, exciting way of experiencing God’s Word: visio divina.” The cost of the retreat is $145 and includes the program and three meals. For a complete schedule or to register, visit www.ptsem.edu/stjohnsbible.

The Erdman Art Gallery is located in the Erdman Center at 20 Library Place, Princeton. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 1:30 to 9 p.m.

For more information, call (609) 497-7990, or visit: www.ptsem.edu.

PRINCETON OBSERVED: Local artist Jay McPhillips’s paintings of familiar spots around town feature in an exhibition opening at Small World Coffee, 254 Nassau Street, April 7. The show, which continues through May 9, is titled “Princeton Studies, Paintings of Princeton & Beyond,” and features original oil paintings. The artwork is for sale along with some of Mr. McPhillips’s Prince-Ton tote bags and mugs. For more on the artist, visit Prince-ton.com and JayMcPhillips.com. (Image Courtesy of the Artist)

Paintings of familiar scenes around town by local artist Jay McPhillips will feature in a display of his paintings opening at Small World Coffee, 254 Nassau Street, on April 7. The exhibition will continue through May 9.

“Princeton Studies, Paintings of Princeton and Beyond,” will feature original oil paintings, including Princeton locations and some New Jersey shore scenes. Some unframed oils on panel will be available for under $350.

Mr. McPhillips will also offer a complimentary digital file of the paintings to any local businesses for a limited usage should they purchase a painting. Also, the show will feature some of Mr. McPhillips “gift shop items” including Prince-Ton tote bags, mugs.

The award-winning artist has been celebrated for over a decade in the Princeton, New York City, and Bucks County areas.

Highlights of his art and design career include work for Comedy Central TV, The Guggenheim Museum, Chiat Day TBWA Ad Agency, and Princeton’s Tony Award Winning McCarter Theatre.

This year Mr. McPhillips work was featured on George Takei’s Facebook page (over 150,000 likes), Reddit.com, Buzzfeed.com, and Mo Rocca’s TV show My Grandmother’s Ravioli.

He is currently working on a book of his Princeton paintings to be Princeton Studies, Paintings of Princeton. His paintings can be viewed at Prince-ton.com and JayMcPhillips.com.

For more information (including pre-show orders), visit: Prince-TON.com.

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MARKING LOCAL HISTORY: George Frisbie captured the Southbound Trolley at North Main and Delaware in this vintage print from the collection of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society’s George H. Frisbie Collection that will be on display in the exhibition, “Pennington Comes of Age” at the Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art from March 27 through April 25. There will be a special reception Wednesday, April 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition is part of the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of Pennington Borough and features vintage images from 1890 to 1915. Silva Gallery hours are: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; or by appointment. For more information, call Gallery Director Dolores Eaton at (609) 737-4133. (Image Courtesy of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society)

An exhibition of historic photographs from the Hopewell Valley Historical Society’s George H. Frisbie Collection goes on show at The Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art Friday, March 27. “Pennington Comes of Age,” will run through April 25 and there will be a special reception on Wednesday, April 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Curated by Jack Koeppel, the Historical Society’s archivist, the exhibition is part of the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of Pennington Borough and features vintage images from the first twenty-five years of the Borough’s incorporation, 1890–1915.

During these years George Frisbie, who had grown up in a family-run business on South Main Street, captured the world around him through the view-finder of his big wooden camera. His images not only document people and places, but record many of the changes that took place over this span of time. Descendants of Mr. Frisbie still reside in Pennington Borough, and in 1986 Alice Frisbie and her daughter, Mary Thornton, donated eight hundred negatives to the Historical Society.

The images selected for the exhibition will be accompanied by narratives written by Society historians Larry Kidder, Jack Davis, and David Blackwell. Areas in the display will discuss changes in architecture, transportation, and technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Images of the railroad, street railways, and horseless carriages will be accompanied by quotations and information gleaned from early newspapers and artifacts in the Society’s Archive of Hopewell Valley History.

Many of the photographs are being exhibited for the first time, including some showing important local Pennington residents such as Joseph Thompson, the flag crossing guard, and Charles Hendrickson, the town’s lamp-lighter.

Pennington Borough Council Member Catherine “Kit” Chandler and former Councilman Edwin Weed Tucker co-chair the Pennington 125th Anniversary Committee, which welcomes volunteers, sponsors, and patrons. For more information contact Borough Administrator Eileen Heinzel at (609) 737-0276 or eheinzel@penningtonboro.org.

The committee is working with other community organizations to plan events throughout the year.

For the latest information, visit: www.pennington125.org or visit Pennington 125 on Facebook.

Founded in 1838, The Pennington School is an independent coeducational school for students in grades 6 through 12, in both day and boarding programs.

“Pennington Comes of Age” will be on view at The Pennington School’s Silva Gallery of Art Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; or by appointment. All events and exhibitions at the Silva Gallery are free and open to the public. For more information, call Gallery Director Dolores Eaton at (609) 737-4133.

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES: The wit and whimsy of children’s book illustrator Matthew Cordell will be on display in an exhibition at Princeton Day School’s Anne Reid ’72 Art Gallery later this month. The artist’s “Hello! Hello!,” from Disney Hyperion Books, 2012, shown here, is part of “Drawing and Drawing Again,” which opens March 30 and runs through April 23. There will be an artists’ reception on Monday, April 20 from noon to 12:30 p.m. For more on the artist: visit: www.matthewcordell.com. Part of the school’s “Imagine the Possibilities” guest artist series, the exhibition is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday when the school is in session, and by appointment on weekends. For more information, call (609) 924-6700, ext. 1772, or visit:www.pds.org.

The Anne Reid ’72 Art Gallery at Princeton Day School is pleased to present “Drawing and Drawing Again” featuring the artwork of book illustrator Matthew Cordell from March 30 through April 23. There will be an artists’ reception on Monday, April 20 from noon to 12:30 p.m., which is free and open to the public.

Mr. Cordell has been drawing and making art for as long as he can remember. He has illustrated many books for children, including works of poetry, novels, and picture books. He has written and illustrated Trouble Gum, Another Brother, Wish, and Hello! Hello!, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book. Mr. Cordell lives outside of Chicago with his wife, author, Julie Halpern, and their two children. (For more information, visit: www.matthewcordell.com)

The exhibition is part of the “Imagine the Possibilities” guest artist series at Princeton Day School, which is made possible through the generosity of the John D. Wallace, Jr. ’78 Memorial Guest Artist Series Fund.

The series has brought in celebrated authors, poets, and illustrators to work directly with Princeton Day School students for the past 20 years. Imagine the Possibilities coordinator Bev Gallagher remarked, “What a delight it has been working with this program for the past 20 years. It truly is inspiring to welcome amazing artists to our campus and watch teachers, students, and parents enjoy the experience. We are certainly thrilled that Matt will be with us this year — our 20th anniversary year!”

“Drawing and drawing again” is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday when the school is in session, and by appointment on weekends. For more information about the Anne Reid ’72 Art Gallery, please call Jody Erdman, Art Gallery Director, at 609) 924-6700 x 1772 or visit www.pds.org.

MCCC RETROSPECTIVE: Work by the acclaimed local artist and MCCC educator Frank Rivera, such as his “Liar, Liar,” shown here, is part of a retrospective of his work at the Gallery at Mercer County Community College. There will be an opening reception tonight, March 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The show will run through April 2. Gallery hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit: www.mccc.edu/gallery. (Image Courtesy of MCCC).

There will be an opening public reception tonight, Wednesday, March 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the gallery in Mercer County Community College (MCCC) for an exhibition of work by the acclaimed artist and former MCCC professor Frank Rivera.

The Gallery is located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.

“Frank Rivera Retrospective: Selected Works 1945–2015” will continue through Thursday April 2.

Mr. Rivera taught art at MCCC from 1967 to 2003 and is now professor emeritus there. A resident of Hightstown, he has lived and worked in Mercer County for more than 40 years. His work has been exhibited prominently in the United States, including exhibits at the Whitney Museum, the Luise Ross Gallery, and the Abington Art Center, as well as numerous venues in Paris, where Rivera regularly spends time painting. He is a graduate of Yale Art School, with an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania.

According to MCCC Gallery Director Dylan Wolfe, the show will include work from all phases of the painter and educator’s creative career, which in earlier years featured large-scale abstractions, while in more recent times has focused on smaller narrative pieces inspired by storyboard graphics and computer art. The exhibition even includes a few pieces preserved from Rivera’s childhood.

“The work … has been arranged by theme and subject rather than by chronology. It is the persistence of these themes and subjects – not always linear – that has shaped my vision over the decades,” notes Mr. Rivera in the exhibition catalog,

The artist’s previous exhibitions have drawn glowing reviews. “There is an iconic quality to his pieces, recalling the carefully wrought panels and religious icons of medieval art,” wrote Cathy Vikso, of the Trenton Times. “Rivera says [his] paintings are autobiographical, but each [work] seems more like a distillation than a rapidly jotted down memory, and their complexity in such small dimensions is made the more interesting for their visual clarity, though their meanings are often elusive,” said Dan Bischoff of the Newark Star-Ledger. Dallas Piotrowski, former curator at the Chapin Gallery, has noted that “paintings of Rivera are for the mind.”

Gallery hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit: www.mccc.edu/gallery.

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AZUL II: Simply titled, this 47 by 47 inch cement and acrylic on canvas painting by Mexican artist Emilia Sirrs can be seen by appointment only in an exhibition of the artist’s work in the home gallery of Ilana and Mauricio Gutierrez in Princeton. Ms. Sirrs’s paintings establish a rapport with the viewer through an empathic use of texture and color to convey emotional content. To make an appointment to view the exhibition, which will be on display through March, call (822) 275-6586, or email: gutierrez.ilana@gmail.com or yslebi@yahoo.com. (Image Courtesy of the Artist.)

Using rich traces of rust with cement and ash, Mexican artist Emilia Sirrs creates depth and color in her large abstract canvases.

The artist’s bold technique is shown to good effect on the walls of a home gallery in an ultramodern home on Random Road in Princeton.

Ms. Sirrs has found a unique showcase for her work in the home of Ilana and Mauricio Gutierrez where the Mexican artist presents her most recent exhibition of work through March.

The artist’s palette is one of earth hues that evoke the familiar and have a soothing quality with touches of azure and crimson for dramatic effect.

Although born in Cincinnati, Ms. Sirrs defines herself as a Mexican artist. She has lived most of her life in Mexico; it is where she developed as an artist while engrossed in the cultural richness of that country.

Since 1990, she has experimented in diverse media and more than 40 individual, collective, and social responsibility events in Mexico, United States, Asia, and Europe have provided international visibility for her work, which has been shown in the Ibero American Art Fair, Seoul; Acento Gallery and Ghaf Gallery, Dubai; Fisher Island Design Center, Miami; Galeria Crisolart, Barcelona; and Galeria Johanna Martinez, Belgium, as well as at various events in Mexico.

The exhibition, which is open to the public, consists of a series of 14 abstract paintings. The artist’s use of metallic rust, cement, ashes, and bold dashes of striking red and blue hues results in work that has warmth and depth. The effect is one of mystery.

“Each of Emilia’s paintings begins with a simple idea that progresses in complexity until the work is finished, with no pre-conceived notions,” said home gallery owner Ilana Gutierrez. As Ms. Sirrs explained, her creative process “starts with an abstract concept that is not constrained by an established purpose, objective, or method. I prepare paints and materials using mundane elements, in this case rust, concrete, and ashes, and then let the brush strokes lead me to the place where my inner feelings reside. The final product always expresses my vision of how to mix innovative materials and techniques in a way that is vividly captivating.”

The paintings demonstrate an artistic style that establishes a rapport with the spectator by sharing and transmitting the abstraction of human feelings through textures and shades of color. Her work aims to establish a dialogue where matter and visual impact do the talking. According to Emilia, sometimes the material aspects of a painting surpass its intellectual or creative intent, which helps to establish an immediate connection.

Together with her husband Mauricio and their three children, Ms. Gutierrez shares a unique architect-designed ultra-modern home on Random Road in Princeton. Besides a large number of windows letting in natural light, the home has a great deal of wall space as well as gallery space dedicated to the showing of art. Ms. Gutierrez’s mother is the Mexican-based art dealer Eva Beloglovsky and the couple has a growing collection of canvas paintings, prints, and sculpture, including some displayed outside.

I have lived with art all of my life,” said Ms. Gutierrez, whose mother has been an art dealer for 40 years. “She always made it a point for us to be involved.”

When the couple moved to Princeton, they found a house that suited their own extensive art collection. Now they are keen to “expose the Princeton community to Mexican and Latin American Art,” said Ms. Gutierrez who was introduced to Ms. Sirrs’s work through her mother.

“My mother loves Emilia’s work and deeply believes in her as a professional artist who is producing abstract work that is emotional rather than purely intellectual. Emilia’s work shows a high sense of emotion as well as great academic standards. She created this work specially for the walls in our own gallery with the thought that it could go into any home, public, or corporate art space.”

Still, not many people would welcome strangers traipsing through their home looking at the artwork on the walls. Intrigued by the idea of a home gallery, I asked Ms. Gutierrez about the concept. “Even though this is not a public space, we feel comfortable sharing this experience with the community. Collectors and art lovers are welcome by appointment,” she said. “This experience is so satisfying we are planning another show sometime in the near future. It has been a great source of inspiration to pursue the idea and share responsibilities with my artistic business partner Yamile Slebi.”

Asked if the business partners might be opening an art gallery in Princeton at some time in the future, Ms. Gutierrez said that she hasn’t ruled it out. “Time will tell and the idea is not disregarded,” she said.

To make an appointment to view the exhibition, which will be on display through March, email: gutierrez.ilana@gmail.com or yslebi@yahoo.com.

LAMBERTVILLE ART SALE: Jacqui Alexander’s painting, titled “The End,” will be on display along with more of her work in the Pop-Up Gallery show at 22 Church Street in Lambertville on Saturday, February 28, starting at noon. There will be an opening reception with refreshments and a meet and greet with Ms. Alexander and her fellow artist in the show, Elina Lorenz, from 5 to 6:30 pm. Proceeds from the sale of the artists’ work will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County. For more information, visit: www.bbbsmercer.org.

A Pop-Up art show at 22 Church Street in Lambertville will showcase the works of two local artists, Elina Lorenz and Jacqui Alexander, on Saturday, February 28, starting at noon. There will be a reception with refreshments and a meet and greet with the artists from 5 to 6:30 pm.

Proceeds from the sale of the artwork will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County (BBBS) in the first ever partnership of this kind for the organization.

“We are honored that these talented artists have chosen to share the proceeds of their art show with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County,” said Susan Dunning, executive director of the organization. “Money raised will enable us to match qualified volunteers with local children who are in need of a caring adult mentor.”

Lauren Helfrich, a graduate student at Rider University in the MBA program, has organized the art show as a part of a project for a management course. She and her fellow group members are passionate about the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters. “The future is in the hands of our nation’s youth; every small encounter, relationship, moment, or event that transpires in these children’s lives affects them immensely,” she said.

Both of the artists live and work in Mercer County. Ms. Alexander’s artwork can be described as a personal narrative, told using symbols and forms from the natural world. Her recent paintings are inspired by the wildlife of her home state of New Jersey, with a healthy dose of wanderlust mixed in. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, she currently lives and works in Princeton, where she is a marketing consultant to businesses large and small.

Ms. Lorenz has been painting since her early childhood. Her style is varied, but she mostly draws her inspiration from the nature and wildlife right outside her window in her home studio in Princeton. She currently also has pieces on display in the ArtJam Pop-Up Gallery. Ms. Lorenz graduated from the Art Lyceum in Kishinev in her native country of Moldova.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County is the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring volunteer organization in the United States. The BBBS-Mercer Mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one matches that change their lives for the better forever.

For more information, visit: www.bbbsmercer.org.