Building Community through the Arts: Student-artist Victoria Wayland of Princeton, with the poster she designed for the Arts Council of Princeton’s 50th anniversary. (Photo courtesy of the Arts Council of Princeton)

By Doug Wallack

On Saturday, September 16, the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will host a community-wide 50th birthday party, featuring food from local vendors, live music, games, a community birthday cake, and more. The event is intended to be a celebration of the organization’s mission: Building Community Through the Arts. more

“RGB”: This digital composite print by Kristin Furbeck is part of “Art in the Digital Age,” a STEAM-related exhibit at the West Windsor Arts Center from September 11 through November 3. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, September 10, from 4 to 6 p.m.

“Art in the Digital Age” is the second in an annual STEAM-related series (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) juried art shows held at the West Windsor Arts Center that explore the relationships of each discipline with art and open up a dialog and wonder related to the ways each informs the other. An opening reception will be held Sunday, September 10 from 4 to 6 p.m., and the exhibition runs through November 3.  more

The Center for Contemporary Art’s fall schedule of art classes and workshops begins September 11 and runs through December. There are over 45 classes and workshops for adults and over 15 classes for children ages 5 through teens. Classes are offered for artists with all levels of expertise in a variety of media including oil and acrylic paint, watercolor, drawing, photography, and ceramics.  more

SEW EASY: Alexa Cavalli of Montgomery works on an apron at the Pop In Space at 10 Hulfish Street. Ms. Cavalli is no newcomer to sewing, having even made a headband for her cat, but she was glad to exercise her skills in textiles on Monday.

Maria Evans, artistic director for the Arts Council of Princeton, had long had plans to host a makerspace — a collaborative workshop for all manner of tinkering, building, and fixing, the likes of which have been appearing in ever-increasing numbers across the country for roughly the past decade. Earlier this year, when the Arts Council was offered a large space in the Princeton Shopping Center, her hopes were on the cusp of realization; the large space, less than two miles from downtown Princeton, would be an ideal satellite location. more

“SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE”: Scenes such as this inspired the interpretations by Johnson Park School fourth-grade students now displayed on the Olivia Rainbow Gallery walls, along with actual shells brought into the classroom. “Seashells by the Seashore” is on view through September 6.

D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Olivia Rainbow Gallery presents a virtual seaside stroll in “Seashells by the Seashore” by Johnson Park School fourth-grade students, on view through September 6. For this exhibit, the young artists re-created the spirit of beachcombing along the Jersey Shore, while learning the science of shells.  more

PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOP: Artist Oscar Peterson, right, offers hands-on instruction at a recent Hunterdon Art Museum plein air painting workshop. The Museum will be hosting another workshop on August 20 at 10 a.m. at the Hunterdon Land Trust’s Dvoor Farm.

Create art outdoors on the 40-acre Hunterdon Land Trust’s Dvoor Farm on Sunday, August 20 with the Hunterdon Art Museum’s Plein Air Painting workshop.

Artist Oscar Peterson will teach the techniques to start, establish, and finish a painting en plein air. Fundamental principles of capturing color, light, planes, and structure will all be covered. This workshop, which begins at 10 a.m., is for adults and teens ages 16 and up. more

ALLEY GALLERY: Dohm Alley’s first exhibit features sculpted portraits of Romantic poets, as well as acoustic guitar and birdsongs played over speakers. (Photo by Will Uhl)

After years of planning, the construction and assembly of Design at Dohm Alley’s (DaDA) first exhibit is underway. The public art project seeks to merge Princeton University’s scholarly sensibilities with the public life of the town by adorning the alley with art exhibits. The first exhibit, currently unfolding as the weeks pass, is a tribute to Romantic-era poets.  more

“SALT MARSH, BIRDS”: This painting by Lucretia E. McGuff-Silverman is featured in the exhibit “Celebration III by Creative Collective Group,” running August 6 through August 25 at the Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury. An opening reception will be held on August 6 from 1-3 p.m.

The Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury will host the exhibit “Celebration III by Creative Collective Group” from August 6 through August 25. An opening reception will be held on August 6 from 1-3 p.m.  more

Amelia Chin received First Place and Best in Show honors in the watercolor/non-professional category at the 2016 Mercer County Senior Art Show. This year’s show will run from July 19 through August 4 at the Meadow Lakes Gallery in East Windsor.

“THE MAGIC OF VERNAL PONDS”: Art by young students of Heather Barros of Art Collaborations! is featured in this exhibit running through July 28 at D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Olivia Rainbow Gallery in the Johnson Education Center in Princeton.

The Magic of Vernal Ponds, by students of Heather Barros, fills D&R Greenway Land Trust’s Olivia Rainbow Gallery through July 28. The art may be viewed from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The Gallery is in the Johnson Education Center, One Preservation Place, Princeton 08540. There is no need to call to see if this gallery is open at the time of visit.

D&R Greenway contributor and Princetonian Suzanne Nash donated the vivid poster on life in and near vernal pools to the land trust in early spring. Heather Barros, of Art Collaborations!, immediately set her young students to work to study the vernal paradigm and recreate their varied population.  more

Beginning on July 8, the James A. Michener Art Museum will present “Dedicated, Displayed, Discovered: Celebrating the Region’s School Art Collections,” an exhibition that explores the longstanding tradition of art collecting by public educational institutions in southeastern Pennsylvania. The exhibition will be on view through January 7, 2018.

From the 1890s to the mid-20th century, artists and educators in the Delaware Valley region embraced opportunities to introduce original works in hallways and classrooms, advancing a holistic approach to educating and enriching the lives of students. Now, in collaboration with six educational entities, the Michener Art Museum is presenting the first-ever exhibition of these long-hidden artistic treasures, inviting the public to view these historically significant works and to learn the stories of the schools, artists, and educators behind them. The exhibition will draw from various collections throughout school districts in Bucks and Montgomery counties as well as from The School District of Philadelphia. more

AWARD WINNER: Recent TCNJ graduate Piper Torsilieri is the winner of Princeton Area Community Foundation’s 2017 Thomas George Artist Fund Award. Graduating art majors from Mercer County colleges and universities are eligible to apply for the annual award of $5,000. (Photo courtesy of Princeton Area Community Foundation)

The Princeton Area Community Foundation has named Piper Torsilieri as the winner of the 2017 Thomas George Artist Fund Award.

Ms. Torsilieri, 23, who grew up in Flemington, graduated from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in May. more

“THE SON AND THE HOUSE”: This glitch art painting by Phillip McConnell is part of the “Digital Alchemy” exhibit at The Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury from July 9-28. A reception will be held at the gallery on July 9 from 1-4 p.m

The Gourgaud Gallery in Cranbury presents “Digital Alchemy” by Trenton artist Phillip McConnell from July 9-28. A free reception will be held at the gallery on July 9 from 1-4 p.m.

Mr. McConnell describes himself as a glitch artist with a focus on abstract, surrealist digital art.

“‘Digital Alchemy’ is a project where I blend different aspects of photography (landscape, portrait, urban, nature and macro) with different concepts of glitch art (VHS, aesthetic, vapor wave) to create something new out of something broken,” said Mr. McConnell. “With almost everything in photography being digital, it leads the mind to wonder what can really be done when pushed a step further. more